Transitioning from CEO to Retiree: Why You Need a Five-Year Plan

Three Steps You Can Take Now to Realize Your Goals

Today's 50-something CEOs tend to have vague dreams of more fishing, traveling or sailing when they retire, but they don't know when that might be so they haven't begun planning for it.

That's a mistake, say a trio of specialists: wealth management advisor Haitham "Hutch" Ashoo, CPA Jim Kohles, and estate planning attorney John Hartog.

"Whether you're selling your company, passing it along to a successor or simply retiring, that's a potentially irreversible life event – you've got just one chance to get it right," says Ashoo, CEO of Pillar Wealth Management, (www.pillarwm.com).

A 2012 survey of CEOs by executive search firm Witt/Kieffer found 71 percent of those aged 55 to 59 have no retirement plan, although 73 percent look forward to more recreational and leisure activities when they let go of the reins.

"A lot of baby boomers have the idea that they're just going to work till they stop working," says Kohles, chairman of RINA accountancy corporation, (www.rina.com). "If they hope to do certain things in retirement and maintain a certain lifestyle, they're likely to end up disappointed."

Planning for the transition from CEO to retiree should incorporate everything – including what happens to your assets after you're gone, adds John Hartog of Hartog & Baer Trust and Estate Law, (www.hartogbaer.com).

"Many of my clients worry about what effects a large inheritance will have on their children – they want to continue parenting from the grave. You can, but should think hard about doing that," he says.

The three say smart planning requires coordinating among all of your advisors; that's the best way to avoid an irrevocable mistake. With that in mind, Ashoo, Kohles and Hartog offer these suggestions and considerations from their respective areas of expertise:

Read more...