Gary’s Sort-Of Upcoming Retirement

Twice over the last two decades I’ve talked about my retirement in this column. I figured that talking about how I was planning for my future self would be a good way to illustrate the topic. Both times the same thing happened: People began thinking I was retired. I wasn’t. I’m still not, though I do work less than I did. 

Now I have a date in mind. It’s in a couple of years. Sometime before I turn 70, I will mostly be retired. Mostly? Because if the firm needs some help with things, and if I still can do them, I’m quite willing to lend a hand. I like what I do. Fortunately, I also like a lot of other things, so if they don’t need me, I’m quite happy to not work.

This whole process started 17 years ago. At that time, I started a 20-year plan (my profession is planning, after all). A lot of small firms close their doors or are left in a rather precarious position when their owner retires. Many companies were started by the person currently running it. Much of what gets done and the reasons for doing so still reside with the founder. If that person leaves for whatever reason, the employees and their clients can be left in a lurch.

Gary Silverman, CFP® 

Around the time I turned 50, I noticed many of my clients and prospects asked what would happen if something happened to me. It made me wonder if I looked sick. I did have more gray hair than I used to, not to mention a few wrinkles. I thought the combination made me look mature. Apparently, it just made me look old.

Before more folks posed the question, I started to ask myself what was going to happen to the business when I retired. It either was or was not going to continue past me. When Bill Gates or Steve Jobs stepped down from their commanding roles at their respective companies, there was no doubt that Microsoft and Apple would continue. Not so with we mom-and-pop shops. So, I spent some time thinking about it and decided that for the sake of my clients and employees, the company would continue without me.

We’ll go more into what happened next starting in next week’s column, but for now consider that decision. We’ve all seen it: a physician retires and puts an announcement in the paper as to where you can find your records. Your accountant or attorney moves, retires, or dies and you are left to find another to replace them. Maybe they recommend a successor firm, but that trust and the intimate knowledge the original professional has gained about you is not something that transfers along with a letter of introduction.

Yet in many cases that is what must happen. Consider the owner’s dilemma. The kids may not want to take over the business. The employees may be very good at their jobs but don’t have the ability or desire to be the boss.  Or it could be that the owner can’t or doesn’t want to transition the business over to another generation. This might be selfish or due to legitimate considerations. 

Some just don’t have enough money to be able to retire. Others could but are convinced that no one other than themselves can do what they do. They may be right. After all I’m not sure Mozart, Michelangelo, or Poe was going to be able to train someone to take their place. Their “business” did die with them.

We’ll get to why all this matters next week.

Gary Silverman, CFP® is the founder of Personal Money Planning, a retirement planning and investment management firm located in Wichita Falls. He is NOT retired (yet). You may contact him at www.PersonalMoneyPlanning.com