Insights

The transition from entrepreneur to investor can be a bumpy road, especially if you stumble over some common missteps. Learn what to watch out for and what steps you can take to become a more savvy investor.

By Craig Lemoine, Director of Consumer Investment Research At their most basic level, executive compensation plans are designed to attract, retain and motivate top talent and leadership. But truly successful plans are designed to be much more than providing a high salary to a key employee – …

By Brady Marlow, CFP®, AEP®, CAP®, CPWA®, CExP, Wealth Strategist Many business owners are so consumed with growing their business that they have trouble planning for a successful exit. Not just how to eventually exit, but how to do it successfully.

A sale to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is a rarely used Exit Path, but business owners have begun taking interest in the possibilities they provide. An ESOP can be many things, but in its simplest form, it’s a qualified retirement plan that must invest primarily in the stock of a …

Companies have several tools they can deploy in order to retain top talent, and one that is gaining traction is incentive stock options, or ISOs. Much like non-qualified stock options (NSOs), ISOs are a form of equity compensation in private or public companies.

Entrepreneur and political figure Andrew Yang drew an important analogy between parenting and owning a business: “If you knew what it entailed you might not get started. But you’re glad you did.” Like parenting, owning a business involves sleepless nights, cold meals and an unbelievable amo …

401(k), SEP, Simple, Defined Benefit, rollovers, conversions, pre-tax, post-tax – there’s a lot to think about when it comes to retirement plans. This gets even more complex as a small business owner when you’re on the other side of the table. We put together this comparison chart, wh …

There are four challenges that you could face in pursuing a third-party sale that could cause you to change your mind, and some of them are unexpected.

There are plenty of elements that make businesses valuable. But regardless of industry or aims, there are three things that all valuable businesses have in common. Let’s look at these three factors and explain why they’re important for owners and their advisors to acknowledge. Next-level ma …

Selling real estate can be confusing, time-consuming and sometimes emotional. There are real dollars at play, so the stakes are high, but even so, it’s easy to overlook key considerations as you start the process. Be sure to ask yourself these five critical questions.

There are many things to consider as you think about the future of your business ownership: When is the right time to move on? How much money will I need? How do I even sell this business? These questions dovetail into an important decision you’ll try to make early in the process of plannin …