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Family business discussion

Family, Business and Wealth

What you need to know to transition your assets and business successfully

You’d like to pass on your business or leave your wealth to your family. What comes next is knowing the steps you need to take to transition successfully. Here we cover three key areas that you should consider when planning the succession of your business and your wealth:

  • Starting point: What are you looking to achieve?
  • Future decision makers: Who would you like to carry out your ambitions 
  • Talking the talk: Sharing your plans with those affected

What are you looking to achieve?

There are many potential objectives you may have in mind for your wealth or your business. Every individual and every family is different. Our experience shows that if you focus first on what you want to achieve both for your wealth and your business, it can be more straight forward to implement your wealth succession plan. The following are some common considerations that we see when helping our clients:

Who are you considering as part of your wealth plan?

Entrepreneurs should consider who they would like to benefit from their wealth. For example, perhaps you would like to have provisions in place for several generations that come after you, or perhaps you want to empower your next-in-line generation to take those decisions in their own way. You may want future generations to completely carve their own path separate from the family business and wealth you have created, and are looking to distribute your entire wealth to charitable causes.
 

What do you see for the future of your business?

If you are a business owner, is your goal to see your business thrive under your future family? Or would you be happy to sell and the resulting wealth is grown and preserved for and by generations to come? Start to consider how you would like your business to support your family or how your family will develop your business in future. 
 

Do you have passions or interests that you want to consider with your wealth plan?

Your adviser can present a range of possible options, including solutions such as strategic philanthropy advice and charitable administration, or values-aligned investing, to help you transform your passion into a defined purpose and achieve your philanthropic ambitions.
 

When do you want to pass on your wealth or your business?

Knowing what you want your wealth to achieve no longer has to be the end of your part in the story. Seeing the results of wealth transfer within a lifetime is becoming more of an expectation for many entrepreneurs. Timing is no longer dictated simply by age. You can determine when you want to pass on your wealth or your business while you are still playing an active part in their development. Advice from HSBC can help determine the right timing for you and your family. 

Read more on where to start with wealth planning here

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