Plan a business exit for retirement

If you own a business, its future is part of your retirement picture. On the Business Retirement card in your retirement settings, you tell the projection what happens to each business when you retire — sell it, keep the income, scale back, or close it. This is a Pro feature, and each business is set on its own.

Before you start

• You need Pro with both retirement planning and business tracking, and at least one business added under Businesses. See Track a side business.
• The Business Retirement card only appears once you have a business — if you don't see it, add a business first.
• You need permission to update retirement settings (the account owner always has it).

Steps

1. Go to Retirement (opens in a new tab) and open the Business Retirement settings card.
2. Find the business you want to plan for — each one has its own section.
3. Choose What happens to the business when you retire:
   • Sell it — a one-time payout when you retire.
   • Keep it, someone else runs it — keep the income without active work.
   • Keep working in it — keep the income while still working part of the time.
   • Close it — the business ends and adds no value.
4. If you chose Sell it, enter What it would sell for today — what you'd expect to receive after taxes and fees if you sold now.
5. If you chose Keep it, someone else runs it or Keep working in it, set How fast its income grows each year and drag How much of the business keeps running to the share of today's income you plan to keep.
6. Review the projection to see your choice reflected — a sale shows up as a one-time amount at your retirement age.

How the projection handles it

• Sell it: you enter what it would sell for today. The projection grows that amount to your retirement age using your general inflation rate and adds it to your retirement savings as a one-time boost the year you retire.
• Keep it, someone else runs it / Keep working in it: you tell the projection the business keeps producing income. How much of the business keeps running sets how much of today's income continues (100% keeps it the same, 50% halves it), and How fast its income grows each year grows that amount until you retire.
• Close it: the business stops and contributes no sale proceeds or income to the projection.
• You provide the numbers. The projection uses the values you enter for the business. It doesn't value your business or estimate taxes on a sale for you — enter a sale price that already reflects taxes and selling costs.

Good to know

• One choice per business. If you run more than one business, each gets its own choice — you can sell one, keep another, and close a third in the same plan.
• Choosing Sell it can pre-fill a price. If the business has a valuation set, choosing Sell it suggests a starting sale price from it. Check it and adjust to what you'd realistically receive.
• Changes save as you go and update the projection. Adjust a choice or a number and the projection recalculates — these are planning inputs, not commitments.
• Estimates are only as good as your inputs. Beyond Payday models the numbers you enter — it doesn't value your business for you.
• Guided setup covers this too. The setup wizard's Business step walks through the same choice. See Set up your retirement plan with guided setup.

FAQ

Where do I set what happens to a business when I retire? In the retirement settings, on the Business Retirement card. Each business you've added gets its own choice for what happens when you retire.

What choices do I have? Sell it, Keep it (someone else runs it), Keep working in it, or Close it. Each business is set on its own.

How is a sale handled in the projection? You enter what it would sell for today. The projection grows that amount to your retirement age and shows it as a one-time amount at retirement.

What does "How much of the business keeps running" do? For a business you keep, it sets how much of today's income continues — 100% keeps the same income, 50% cuts it in half. A growth rate grows that amount until you retire.

Do I need to add the business first? Yes. The Business Retirement card only appears once you have at least one business, and business tracking and retirement planning are both Pro features.