Wealthy Business Owners Don't Want to Retire Early

[retire@40]

43% of wealthy business owners love their work so much that they want to keep working through age 70.

Wealthy Business Owners Live to Work, Regardless of Net Worth, PNC Survey Finds: PRNewswire Business News: PNC - MSN Money

 

[chinaco]

Great. They can keep paying SS and Medicare contributions.

 

[W2R]

I wonder how much of that wealth is on paper, as opposed to tangible jingle in the pocket.

 

[TickTock]

If you love your work, why not keep on doing it?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

If you love your work, why not keep on doing it?

Yep. I agree

 

[Ronstar]

Great. They can keep paying SS and Medicare contributions.

yep , and they pay their social security twice.

 

[Grizz]

Good friend and supplier to my business just sold out last week at age 48 for $8 million and no debt. I think that it may have something to do with a pending divorce. He built it from a small company in his garage in 1990. He's always busy. Although he has 3 big vacation houses around North America, and a lot of toys, he's got few real outside interests and I have no doubt that he will have a terribly difficult time with it since he can only spend about 2 days "relaxing" away from work before he's bored silly.

My prediction....back in some sort of business where he's under constant stress within a year, and happily work 'til he drops.

 

[kcowan]

Yes true entrepreneurs do it for love rather than money. Money just becomes a scoreboard item...

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

not even a scorecard. it is simply their way of life. if mom never got alzheimer's she'd be 77 now and i have no doubt that she'd still be working every day. her secretary was another one, in her 80s and still does the books for my brother. as she never mastered the computer, brother purposely keeps hand written ledgers so that she has work to do. mom's brother is another one. he just loves his accounting. 74 and goes to work every day (well, when he's not on gambling junkets in the islands).

in my world, i'm the lazy odd one out.

 

[CaseInPoint]

Yes true entrepreneurs do it for love rather than money. Money just becomes a scoreboard item...

Correct. Love of starting a business from scratch and seeing it grow, succeed, and get optimized. In other words, love of creating value and being productive.

I often wonder if business owners who sell, do so because they just need a break in the action, rather than wanting to permanently retire.

 

[Meadbh]

I often wonder if business owners who sell, do so because they just need a break in the action, rather than wanting to permanently retire.

Or because they love new ideas and starting and developing small businesses, but don't enjoy the post IPO stage when they have shareholders to answer to....

 

[Grizz]

I had the chance to sell my business about a year ago at age 38. It would have easily allowed me to retire, and we went to the 9th inning on the deal (lots of lawyer, tax lawyer, appraisal and accountant bills). In the end the money was right, and had I been older I'm pretty sure it would have been a slam dunk. Funny, but I think the deal fell through because both parties got cold feet at the end. There was really no reason given from the other side but I have a hunch that one of the reasons they backed away is that they may have caught a "less than excited about the deal" vibe from me.

I had spent literally hours trying to picture myself signing the paper that turned over "my baby" and managing it under someone elses watchful eye. Although I risk scorn from this forum for not taking ER when it was easily within reach, I'm so glad for now that I held on to it.

It was during that episode that I discovered this forum. Spending time here I think really helps one get into the ER mindset since it certainly isn't an idea that society in general supports. Maybe next time I'll pull the trigger but for now I guess I'll remain a "Young Dreamer".

 

[CaseInPoint]

I had the chance to sell my business about a year ago at age 38. It would have easily allowed me to retire, and we went to the 9th inning on the deal (lots of lawyer, tax lawyer, appraisal and accountant bills). In the end the money was right, and had I been older I'm pretty sure it would have been a slam dunk.

We're at that place right now. Final 3 weeks of contract negotiation. Due diligence finished, 2 on-site visits, accounting audit, gobs of documentation, attorney and accountant fees, etc., as well as an enormous amount of time and emotional investment to get here. Plenty more to go in the next few weeks.

In general, I would be almost relieved if things fell through. I would be somewhat disappointed about dealing with the roller-coaster highs and lows of the process and jumping through all the hoops.

But if it falls through, I have a much clearer picture of the future than if it closes. In that case, I really have many question marks about what I'll do in the future.

Maybe next time I'll pull the trigger but for now I guess I'll remain a "Young Dreamer".

I can honestly say that the best part of the sale process is sitting back in my Jacuzzi, listening to iTunes and dreaming about the feeling of having enough money to retire wealthy, with security for me and my family. No more worries, just take the kids to school in the morning, hit the gym, lunch with the wife and/or friends, watch movies in a sweet home theater, float on a pool float sipping a pina colada, etc.

I guess that the best part of anything is the dreaming phase. Like Mr. Spock once said on Star Trek: "After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true."

 

[Grizz]

I wish you the best with the deal and I hope that you let me know how it went and what your mindset is regardless of how it turns out. BTW, if you don't mind, what is your age?

It's kind of reasurring to know that others find it to be an emotional rollercoaster as well. Trying to operate in a business as usual manner doesn't work since everything from promotional items and stationery, to equipment upgrades must be examined. Helping your employees who in my case are fantastic people through it all was awful. Lack of quality sleep, appetite fluctuations, a sore jaw from teeth grinding all night, moments of euphoria followed by those filled with doubt and fear.

As you had mentioned, there is some disappointment in that my staff and I had to jump through lots of hoops, but to be honest the huge relief when it was done overpowered anything else for all of us.

I was flattered when approached, but really had no idea what to expect. I sure ended up learning a lot about the sale process and about myself. I expect Spock is right in many cases.

 

[CaseInPoint]

Thanks, Grizz,

I'm 42.

What you described is exactly what we're experiencing here during the sale process. Other than the stress to us as owners, one major downside was having to tell our employees about the potential sale. That opened up a can of worms, as expected, and it takes a lot of effort to keeps things going as normal, especially with so much time being swallowed up by the due diligence and negotiations.

I guess that in larger companies, they have a CEO and CFO to deal with the sale while others go about their normal business, but in my company, I'm involved with the deal, as well as overseeing the day-to-day business of the company.

But overall, I'm not afraid of hard work, and never expected to find easy money.

So, I head to the gym for stress relief and count down the days till a final outcome either way.

I'm glad to hear that you found some relief by not selling. Chances are that you'll make much more money when you eventually do sell, plus, you get to keep all the profits generated by the company until then with no one to report to, and no one to apologize to in case there's a weak month in sales.

 

[tomintucson]

I'm a former small business owner.

I was in the retail end of the coffee business (my only significant competitor was the rather formidable Starbucks) for 17 years. I sold in March 2007 to family members who continue to run the business successfully, and I retired at the age of 48.

The net proceeds from the sale amount to only about 15% of my net worth. The sale followed many years of living below my means. I had my eyes on early retirement for a long time, but the proceeds weren't make-or-break for my early retirement.

I probably don't fit anyone's mold in terms of why I decided to get out. It simply occurred to me one day that I had enough money. I live a modest lifestyle, which incidentally includes things like frequent overseas travel, and my annual withdrawal rate seems to be 2 to 2.5%. As I said, I just simply had enough money. So then what?

I loved my work. I seemed good at it, my customers were the most wonderful people in the world, and I never ever dreaded going into work, because it never felt like work. I nevertheless found it extremely easy to walk away from. My work was great, but I had other plans as well.

Running a business is in my blood. It's pretty much all I know how to do. But I have no inclination whatsoever to own another business. I've done that, and now it's on to other things. Also, I'm really tuned into risk management, and doubt whether my previous success could be easily replicated. I've taken my money off the table. Life is quite good.

Tom

 

[kcowan]

Running a business is in my blood. It's pretty much all I know how to do. But I have no inclination whatsoever to own another business. I've done that, and now it's on to other things. Also, I'm really tuned into risk management, and doubt whether my previous success could be easily replicated. I've taken my money off the table. Life is quite good.

Tom

I was also faced with that choice in 2002. Starting another business was a 5 to 7 year commitment before selling and walking. I decided to try ER. And guess what, I did not miss being the boss and building another business. The first few years of any new business are filled with challenges and I thought: "Who am I doing this for?" I have 2 sons but I raised them to be independent. So it would have just built a bigger net worth that I could look at once a month.

Sure I could have given more to charity, But there are plenty of people already doing that like Gates and Buffet. And I am thinking of creating a charitable foundation anyway and having my sons join the management of it and take over after me.