Earning a living or running a successful business is a full time endeavor.  As you grow your business and achieve your short term financial objectives, the more difficult it becomes to take the time to plan for your retirement. The retirement planning process begins with taking stock of the liquid assets currently available to you and your family, which are earmarked for your eventual retirement. This includes your current investment portfolio, retirement plan assets, cash value of life insurance policies and annuities, etc.

After you have taken a snapshot of current liquid assets dedicated to your eventual retirement, you should perform an analysis of the projected value of these assets from now until your anticipated retirement date, assuming a reasonable rate of return.  Next, you will calculate the projected value of future planned investments and retirement plan account contributions, using the same reasonable rate of return. Remember to only include assets which are specifically designated for retirement purposes.

You now will have a picture of the approximate amount of assets which will be available to generate retirement income to you beginning at your anticipated retirement age.  After adjusting the anticipated cash flow for inflation, you will be in a position to begin to evaluate if you will have adequate retirement income to allow you and your family to maintain your desired standard of living into your retirement years.

It would be fantastic if you own a business or other assets which can be sold, hopefully resulting in the potential to create additional assets for your retirement fund.  But, as we know, life happens.  Businesses do not always succeed, and financial setbacks or unexpected expenses can upset even the best of plans. If you believe that your business may be worth considerably more in the future than it is worth currently, you are strongly advised to consult with a tax advisor who can suggest wats to make the sale of your business as efficient as possible.

In any event, it makes sense to retain the services of an advisor who is familiar with retirement planning, preferably someone who is credentialed to advise in this area, including a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).