Earlier this year, I facilitated a retreat for a group of business owners to talk about how to know when it’s time to sell their business and retire and how to navigate that transition without regrets. One of them I’ll call “Brian” announced he had no plans to retire – “Not me,” he said. “I’m planning to...
It’s a Transition, Not a Transaction: Selling Your Business Without Regret (Podcast)
Listen: Your Life, Simplified, Podcast with Mariner Wealth Advisors: Transcript: George Fernandez: Thank you for downloading this episode of "Your Life Simplified". My name is George Fernandez, and I'll be your host for this episode. Here at "Your Life Simplified", we strive to bring you relevant and timely topics...
Slaying the Emotional Dragons Lurking Inside Every Family Business
Once Upon A Time … there was a handsome young prince who married a lovely brunette actress … *** It sounds like the beginning to a beautiful story. Yet, when Prince Harry announced that he was stepping down from royal life, the world seemed shocked. So did the Royal family and their advisors. But, should...
Will You Know When It’s Time?
“Now just feels like the right time,” said Steve Croft (age 73) on Sunday as he announced his retirement after 30 years at the CBS News show 60 Minutes. He said he’d been considering when to retire at the end of each of the past four seasons and knew it was finally time. Hearing him say that he wanted to leave...
The Unexpected Danger of Putting a Call on Hold
“Denise, there’s a call on line 1 for you. He wouldn’t give me his name and said ‘you’d know what he was calling about’.” “Can’t you see I have my Do Not Disturb light on?” I replied. “Tell whoever it is I’m busy and I’ll call him back later.” My assistant responded that the caller said he would hold until I was...
Integrity at Work
INTEGRITY AT WORK … Do Your People Care? No, REALLY, Care? For two days, I’ve been trying to catch a little stray dog in my neighborhood without success. I’ve enlisted neighbors and tried to engage passing motorists to help as this scraggly little brown dog would dart away from me toward the traffic on a busy main...
Can This Deal Be Saved? The Art of Asking “What Matters?”
Last week I was talking with a banker about how to save a deal of his that was spiraling out of control. It seemed the Seller had become less and less responsive over the past several weeks and then, suddenly, threw up a wacky deal term out of nowhere that threatened to kill the deal. The entire deal team was left...
The Power of Revealing Who You Are and What You Want
“Finally. At least now I don’t have to go on pretending anymore that it’s really what I wanted to be doing. Now I can finally do what I WANT to do.” That’s what my client Lon said after his business sold. I wasn’t surprised that, after the initial shock of the transition wore off, what he felt was relief....
The Antidote to Burnout – It Isn’t What You Think It Is
"I'm burned out," Mitch told me. "Work shouldn't suck this much." "How much SHOULD it suck?" I asked him. I suggested he check out this humorous video about careers and burnout . It would be funnier if you didn't see yourself in it, right now. Children dream about their futures, they imagine things they can do to...
X Marks the Spot
"I want to leave my mark on this world - something that really shows I was here!" Gary tells me. That's not uncommon. The desire to leave our mark, to show we were here - that we mattered - is nearly universal. So, I ask him, "What would be a meaningful marker to you?" For some people, it's having their name on a...