b'~eProtecting Your Business Wealth? Yon By Kevin Kenrro, Today\'s roofingconJ"actmsareasset - the business - in order tolive in, maybe as dramatically as the.heightened a provide for thener and his family.publicequitiesmarkets.Liquid weatheringone oi the most chal ow securitiesreal estate are highlydegree of lengingeconomicem\'i- F themostpart,youandcare or ronmentsinmanywant to diversity yoursubject to volatile market swings.because a properly decades.So wherewea intomanySo, most of us havelost in the lth is the good news?differentareas- stock market and the value of ourdesigned exit plan, Well,ifyouri.e.allocate yourhomes. Although you may be feel over the next three to businessisstillassets properly - ing squeezed right now, the relative healthy/surviv- in order to protectfact is that the business likely hasfive years, may be ing, it is also likelyyourwealthnot dropped to such aAnd degree.your strongest road to the case that it is theagainsta dropinthereinliesthemostpromising bestholdinginyourvalue in any o cate news; realizingthat withtheright nefmancial recovery and gory.exitplanto tapintothati iquid overallportfoliotoday.11 WiththisinminditmakesUnfortunately,inthelastwealth, youcanb torestoreretirement. egin sense toprotect thisasset withamarketdownturn,\'diversification\'your post-exit dreams and replace heightened degree of care because ameant that you"lost value in all of properly designed exit plan, over thethecategories."But, ifyoulook find next three to five years, may be yourcloser, you willthat the concenstrongest road to financial recoverytrated wealthin your privately held and retirement.business likely sustained much less Are you asking yourself where thedamagethanyourotherassets. ~ottomto this market and econ Accordingly,theneedforyouto is \\.__my? Do you occasionally fear thatbegin your exitin \\_)) planningorder to your wealth has decreased so muchprotect and \'realize\' this wealth and cash that theroadbackis goingtobebegin to turn this asset intois long and hard? Well, ifare look more important than ever. you ingtomeasureyourwealthonaWhy did your privately held busibasis that youcanrely upon,younesssustainlessdamagetoits should firstlooktothe"illiquidvalue?Simplyput,smallprivate wealth"thatislockedinsideyourbusinessesarenotsubject tothe privately held business, because itmomentumofmarketswingsthat is likely that this wealthhasbeenpublicly tradedcompaniesexperience. Your privatelycontract thelosses from your liquid assetspost-exit/retirement goals. In doing better protected and performed bet held ter than your stock investments oring companylikelyhelditsvalueand your real estate. Therefore, it isso,likely to conclude that an you are yourrealestateinthepasttwoand avoided the strong winds of thisimportant to view your total wealthexit plan for the protection and realyears.economy.and ask w your road to recoveryizationofyourilliquid buheresiness In the world of \'wealth\' there areAlthoughthestockmarketiswill begin.wealth is the stron path gesttowards five primary areas, or asset classes.presently recovering, think back toBy establishing an exit plan fromyour personal recovery. th busbusiness, youThe MRCA recognizesisiThey are:Octoberof2007when theDowyourcan begin to take 1.StocksJonesIndustrial Average was atacomfort in thefact that your busi ness challenge and w be devoting ill 2.Bondspeak exceeding 14,000. By Februaryness valuelikely held up strongerseveral educationsessionsatthe 3.Cashof 2009, it had dropped more thanthan your other assets and that youannual MRCA National Conference 4.Real estate50% to less than 7,000. Therefore,still haveto ride the upcomingto the Exit PlanningSuccession timeand solidsuc cate 5.Privately held businessesany allocationof yourwealththatrecovery into aplan for aprocess to edu roofing contracBusiness owners tend to concen youhadinthisbroadmarkethascessful exit from your b tors on this important subject. usiness. trate their wealthin their privatelybeen cut in half. Real estate issep The key to this type of planning isMonetizing thatiness value is abusarate matter. The real estate markettobeyond the horizon and viewprobably the largest finan event held businesses, creating an estatelookcial ohatnot diversified and is highlyhas suffered greatly, and, dependingyour total wealth as one source ofContinued on page 14 is pon the successfund dependent u of oneupon what part of the country youcapital that will eventuallyyour 9'