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Article by Connect Yorkshire partner Rathbones

Faye Church, Head of Rathbones Office, Guildford

You’ve built a business through years of commitment, careful decisions and personal sacrifice. As the horizon shifts, whether retirement feels five years away or closer than that, a different question starts to matter more: is your personal wealth as prepared as your business?

For many business owners, entrepreneurs and company directors, the business has been the financial plan. As retirement, succession or a sale comes closer, it becomes increasingly important to consider what comes next and whether your personal finances will support the future you want.

Faye Church, Head of Rathbones Office, Guildford, outlines the key financial planning priorities that business owners and company directors may want to consider today to help create more choice and confidence for tomorrow.

This information is based on our current understanding of HMRC tax rules in the UK. Tax treatment depends on your personal circumstances, which could change. We don’t provide tax advice; you should speak to a tax adviser if you’re unsure.

1. Have you separated your business wealth from your personal wealth?

For many founders and directors, personal and business finances can easily become intertwined. While common, this can create concentrated risk. If too much of your personal wealth is tied up in the business, a downturn, or simply the passage of time, could put your long-term plans under pressure.

Now is a good moment to review:

• The proportion of your personal net worth held within your business.
• Whether your salary and dividend mix remains tax-efficient.
• Whether excess business cash should be reinvested, moved into personal investments, or directed into pensions.

Clear separation can help make your finances more resilient. It also means that when the time comes to step back, you’re better placed to do so with confidence.

2. Is your tax planning strategy ready?

Tax rules continue to evolve, and proactive planning can play an important role in helping you achieve your long-term goals. HM Treasury has reduced several allowances in recent years, so revisiting your strategy now, rather than at year end, could put you in a stronger position.

Key areas to review:

• Reduced dividend allowances and options for extracting profits efficiently.
• Pension allowances and the opportunities available for company-funded contributions.
• Reduced Capital Gains Tax allowances affecting asset or share disposals.

Planning ahead can help you make the most of the available allowances and retain more of the value you’ve worked hard to create.

3. Could your surplus business cash be working harder for you?

A common question among business owners is how to treat surplus cash held in the company. Cash provides stability. But holding too much, especially during periods of higher inflation, can gradually erode long-term value.

Options worth considering:

• Keeping working capital at the right level for your business, freeing up what doesn’t need to sit idle.
• Making the most of short-term cash solutions to support day-to-day liquidity.
• Exploring longer-term ways to take value from your business, such as pension contributions where appropriate.

The right approach depends on your cashflow requirements, future growth ambitions and, crucially, what you want your personal financial life to look like in the years ahead.

4. Have you started planning for business exit or succession?

Whether you’re considering a sale, a management buyout or passing the business to family, planning early can give you more options. It also provides flexibility as circumstances change. And they often do.

Questions to consider now:

• What does a sale-ready business look like?
• Is the current ownership structure aligned with your future plans?
• Is sufficient personal wealth being built outside the business?

A well-prepared business exit and succession strategy can help you make important decisions with confidence rather than under pressure. It also helps protect what you’ve built for you and for the people who matter most to you.

5. Does your personal wealth plan support life beyond the business?

Entrepreneurs and company directors often place the needs of the company above their own. Yet personal planning is essential, not just for financial security, but for the peace of mind that comes from knowing you’re on track. This is about building personal financial foundations — investments, wealth structure, and long-term planning — that support the future you want, whatever form that takes.

A well-structured personal financial plan helps clarify:

• When stepping back from the business becomes genuinely affordable.
• The level of income you’ll need later in life.
• How your investments should be structured to meet your future goals.
• How to protect your wealth for future generations.

Good planning creates choice. Whether that means growth, succession or simply more time for the moments that matter most, it starts with taking a longer-term view.

6. Turning surplus cash into long-term confidence: a practical framework

Structured planning can help turn uncertainty into a clearer plan. Some owner-managed businesses hold more than a year’s worth of operating expenditure in cash, often more than the business genuinely needs.

If that sounds familiar, you may be asking:

• How much cash does the business actually need?
• How can I protect its value against inflation?
• How does this align with my longer-term personal financial goals?

Here are four steps to take with your financial planner:

1. Ring‑fence working capital

Agree a sensible operating buffer so your business holds what it needs day to day, while freeing up any surplus cash that could work harder for you.

2. Establish a structured extraction plan

Spread director pension contributions across future tax years to improve tax efficiency in a steady, sustainable way without putting pressure on the business.

3. Build a diversified personal investment portfolio

A well-balanced portfolio reduces your reliance on the business for future income and gives you greater personal financial flexibility over time.

4. Introduce cashflow forecasting to plan for financial independence

Clear projections help you understand when stepping back might be financially comfortable and how a future sale could support your lifestyle in the years ahead.

Your business got you here. Your plan takes you further.

Effective financial planning doesn’t need to be complicated. But it does need to be timely. By separating your business and personal wealth, managing surplus cash efficiently, making the most of available tax allowances and planning early for life beyond the business, you can build greater stability today and give yourself more options for the future.

If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur or company director reviewing your financial plans, a one-to-one conversation with one of our financial planners is a good place to start — designed to help you understand where you are today, explore your financial planning objectives, and consider the steps that could support your long-term goals.

 

Article via rathbones.com