Buying a business could help you achieve your retirement goals. Today's economic problems have changed the future for many people who thought they had a job for life (or at least a job until they decided not to have a job). In times like these, finding a new job is not only difficult but maybe even unwise.
Have you thought about buying a job? You can if you buy a business.....but you're thinking "oh, but it's so risky"... I doubt it's any riskier than going to work one day and getting fired because some idiot in New York bet that oil prices would go up forever or bet that people who took out mortgages they couldn't afford would some how hit the Lotto so they could make the payments.
What's the risk in owning your own business? First you might ask... are you smart enough to run it? In my experience with thousands of business owners I can tell you, I.Q. and education have very little to do with success.
Why do small businesses succeed? Because the owners understand what it takes to get people to pay for the product or service they provide. It's not rocket science.
But you say, with the economy so bad nobody is spending money. Wrong, the economy looks like it will be down about 5 % in this last quarter of 2008. Guess what that means? 95% of the money spent last year is still being spent. Have you stopped spending money on EVERYTHING? Electricity? Food? Toothpaste? Beer? Gas? Internet? .....you get the idea.
Just look around your neighborhood. Even in this economy you will see many, many businesses whose owners are doing a lot better than an unemployed person who used to have a job.
What does it take to buy a business? Here's simple formula that can give you a general idea of the financial requirements of a business purchase:
Whatever salary you want to replace, you should have about that much money for a down payment. If you want to replace a $50,000 per year salary, you need about $50,000 for a down payment.... $100k salary...need about $100k down payment, etc.
Where do you get the down payment? There is a tax break for you! You can use money in 401(k) or I.R.A. to fund the down payment (see CPA or got to www.borsaplan.com) with no penalty or taxes for withdrawal.
But you say "that's my retirement money!". First it won't be if you need to withdrawal it to live on and secondly you have no idea if it will increase in value over time.
If you own a small business that could be your retirement..SELLING IT. In fact you are likely to buy the business who is retiring!
Where do you find a business to buy near where you live? First you can check www.sunbeltnetwork.com. There are other business brokers out there but Sunbelt is the biggest with about 250 offices in the U.S.
While you're worried about finding a job, also spend some time worrying about how you can gain the security of owning your own business. I do and you can to.
