Get Your Corporate Dollars Doing Double Duty
Owners of very successful private corporations are well aware of the importance of cash flow. Many are protective of how they allocate corporate capital so that business ventures are adequately funded and investment opportunities are not missed.
The Immediate Financing Arrangement offers an opportunity to provide life insurance coverage and accumulate wealth on a tax-advantaged basis without impairing corporate cash flow.
What is an Immediate Financing Arrangement (IFA)?
An IFA is a financial and estate planning strategy that:
- Combines permanent, cash value life insurance with a conservative leverage program allowing the dollars allocated to the life insurance premiums to do double duty by still being available for business and investment purposes;
- In the right circumstances and when structured properly so that all possible tax deductions are used, an improvement in cash flow could result.
The 4 Cs of Conflict-Free Family Businesses
Focusing on growth is harder when your co-owners are your relatives
by Fred Pidsadny for ProfitGuide.com
Family-run businesses are like elastic bands—they can be stretched only so far, in different directions, before tensions cause them to snap. Those who run family businesses know that stress can often be elevated by forces that don’t exist in non-family firms, from hiring obligations and bloodline silos to next-generation financial demands to under-performing family members. It’s one thing to discipline or even fire a stranger, quite another to turf a brother or daughter. For such businesses, finding a successful balance is an ongoing challenge.
So how can family-owned businesses avoid conflict and focus on growth? For a number of years I’ve been working with a company run by three brothers, each with their own family and their own unique take on strategy and succession planning. They have benefited tremendously by learning and practicing what I call the four Cs of strategy execution for owner-managed businesses:
Family Business Planning Strategies
67% are at Risk of Succession Failure
If you are an owner in a family enterprise, the chances of your business transitioning successfully to the next generations is not very good. This has not changed over the years. Statistics show a failure rate of:
- 67% of businesses fail to succeed into the second generation
- 90% fail by the third generation
With 80% to 90% of all enterprises in North America being family owned, it is important to address the reasons why transition is difficult. Read more 
Protecting Your Business
While most business owners realize the benefits of corporate-owned insurance, many do not realize that flexible life insurance products such as universal life can provide them with the protection they need as well as a source of cash for business purposes.
