Tackle your succession plan

It would be impossible to plan for the succession of your practice in one day, but that doesn’t mean we’ll ignore it in our daily tips. After all, you have to start somewhere. Most independent advisors do not have a succession plan in place, says Michael Paley, a managing director for independent broker-dealer Focus Financial Partners. “It tends to be a can kicked down the road, but that’s exactly why you have to start with a day,” he says. Get started today by asking yourself some difficult questions: How is the business prepared to serve clients if something happens to me? How would the staff be affected? How about my family? “These questions help firms address each area and how prepared the firm is for a transition,” Paley says. Paley recommends that advisors write down whatever they come up, with so others are kept in the loop. “Putting it on paper is a great first step,” he says. “You should start today, but it can be a very dynamic plan, something that you come back to regularly.”