Tom founded an industrial services company in the early 1990s. When we first started working with him a few years later, the business generated less than $1 million in annual revenue. But thanks to Tom’s entrepreneurial vision and skill as a salesman and leader, the company was on a trajectory of rapid growth.
Today, the company generates more than $20 million in annual revenue. We have been by Tom’s side for every step of this remarkable journey. We are more than his tax and investment advisor; we are his outsourced personal CFO and a confidant.
Focused on running a business
The demands of running a growing company left Tom with little time to focus on many of the financial details that affected the company’s balance sheet and Tom’s personal wealth. For the past 25 years, we have worked with Tom to plan for the company’s growth and implement tax and investment strategies to support Tom’s personal financial goals.
In addition to providing ongoing tax and investment advice, we helped him identify and capitalize on numerous opportunities to strengthen the company’s financial position. We guided him through the process of securing financing to purchase a new office building and then refinancing the loan. We also worked directly with the company’s bank to increase the line of credit. We advised Tom on decisions that were essential to supporting the company’s growing operations, such as determining the right retirement and healthcare benefits for employees and implementing an inventory control system.
Navigating the nexus of business and personal wealth
As with the many business owners, decisions about the company’s finances and Tom’s personal wealth are very intertwined. We helped him implement strategies that ensured that the business was being managed in a way to support his personal goals.
Getting wealth out of the business in a tax-efficient way is a top priority for most entrepreneurs. Rather than simply maxing out the company’s existing 401(k) plan, we identified substantial tax savings that could be generated by creating a cash balance plan, which has significantly higher annual contribution limits. We also ensured that Tom was utilizing other types of savings vehicles to diversify his tax exposure. We identified ways to add Tom’s children to the company payroll when they were teenagers so they could fund Roth IRAs to kickstart their retirement savings. We also educated the children about opportunities to be involved in the leadership of the company as they got older.
By providing support in so many different areas, we have allowed Tom to focus his time and energy on growing his business and enjoying time with his family.