Six Tips for the Aged Entrepreneur

The planning considerations for older individuals that are newly starting their own business are unique to their situation, and the advice for their specific situation should be as well. Here are six tips for dealing with financial challenges that can come with such an endeavor:

1. Consider not following the standard advice of delaying Social Security payments in order to begin receiving needed funds to push through the difficult financial period with the new business.
2. Plan work schedules and income carefully to not go over the allowable amounts for still being considered retired for Social Security Benefits
3. Choose securities that have large capital gains to sell first if needed
4. Convert IRAs into Roth IRAs while staying below the 15 percent tax bracket
5. Use Roth IRAs for both savings and withdraws first
6.  Keep the planning flexible and check-in on the financial situation regularly so that different strategies can be used once the business becomes profitable

See Kevin McKinley, Planning for the Self-Employed Client, Wealth Management, Sept. 8, 2014.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.