Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
I'm covered by my wife's insurance company for health but I realize that I need to get coverage for life and dental. I'd also like to develop some long range investment plans - aside from my websites.
It also occured to me that my websites and web development business exist because I know how to work them. If I died today, my wife would have them but she wouldn't know what to do with them. The thought occurred to me that it would be nice to have some sort of broker or method of allowing her to either hire someone to just complete my client projects and contractual obligations or carry on with my plans as I've laid them out (yet to be done) or liquidate the whole mess and get some financial compensation.
The nature of what I do is specialized enough that not just any one can take it over. That's a big negative when it comes to passing on the wealth/potential should I no longer be here to support my wife and daughter.
I have been asking myself the same questions (mainly because my wife reckoned it was time we made wills, god, its a morbid thought), and have not come up with an answer.
Sure you can make a list of the passwords, sure the cheques would continue (though diminishing) to roll in. However without anyone to "manage" the sites and business, then they are not, in the long run, going to give a return.
It does not help you, lorax, to know I am in the same boat, but I await any answers with interest ;)
You really do need to worry about these things (not that I've done anything yet) if you're self-employed becaause no one will do it for you, unlike (some) regular jobs where your employer makes you think about it.
That's worried me, too. I've purposely involved her in the ad billing and financials ...but the scripts? And what about the secret sauce, who'd explain the recipe to her?
Ya. The whole of what we do requires an ability that takes several years to acquire. Realistically I don't expect anyone to carry on what I do so I'm thinking more along the lines of how could I help my wife liquidate my assets and earn some $$. This comes back to being able to do two primary things.
First: evaluate the worth of the business as a whole or in parts.
Second: be able to find an outlet - preferably one that understand and accepts the worth/value of the whole or pieces of the business.
My wife won't want to deal with this at all and thus will miss out on the revenue so I'd like to make it as easy for her as I can.
(god, this really is morbid to think of!)
Mine is just the opposite, and in some ways, more vexing to me because I know it really wouldn't take much to keep it rolling, at least for a few more years. For reasons other than having an eye towards continuity, I originally set out to have the business be low-maintenance and that's coming into play here. I've even gone so far as to have some of the earlier core management scripts rewritten in perl so that they could be reverse-engineered if need be (note to wife: call Littleman). BUT, there are a few dozen little things that will be daunting --passwords come to mind.
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>completely dependent on your income?
No, she'd do alright, Ivana. Still, I'd hate to see the business just go *poof* because it's virtual.
rc,
I'm still in the middle of "empire building" and haven't gotten to automating the more basic processes. I know this would make my successor's life (as well as my own) easier. I have had fleeting thoughts that my daughter might take interest when she gets old enough but that's several years from now. Within a year I should be there.
But back on the other subjects. What about insurance? Are you covered?
Health and Dental, yes. I set up a group plan within my company (you just need two people to qualify as a group).
Life and Disability, no. Thanks for the reminder, I *need* to get that.
>> develop some long range investment plans
Yes! And also that's one big reason why life/disability is so important. You're building that nest egg by contributing a portion of your income for the next X years. If you die too soon then the nest egg stops growing and may not be enough, so the life insurance should make up the difference.
By the way, there's also something called "key man" insurance for businesses that to cover the loss of a vital person. Know nothing about it though.
(Health insurance from another business.)
As for life insurance, I'm less dependent on that than others might be, i.e., no debt. That said, I did buy something like $250k of 20-yr fixed term from a name-brand insurance co. Relatively inexpensive. BTW, the rates apparently jump (somewhat significantly) in your-age intervals of 5 yrs, 45-50-55, so lock in before you hit one of those.
That sums it up to me. We too, happily, are free of debt, and have substantial other income. So income, insurance, etc is not the problem to me..
..the problem is how to stop a large chunk of web income going, as you say, "poof" if I feel under a bus tomorrow.
A silly example is AdSense requiring one to fill up online tax info early in November, fail to do that and no cheque until someone does. Whilst she would miss me, she would miss the Google cheque ;)
One thing I would recommend would be to set up your own "business admin" page and set that to your work machine's homepage. I keep some of the core access points there (password protected). It's mostly for my convenience and handy for checking on the business while I travel, but it's also occurred to me that a centralized command console would aid in the continuity problem. She knows something of it and has had me develop one for her business as well, so it's not totally foreign to her.
That's a brilliant idea rc - one I was sort of leaning towards but not as far as you've apparently taken it. It would also allow me to post instructions and explanations for my wife and then I could simply provide her a simple set of instructions on how to access it. The rest could be explained within the Admin area.
Q. Does this exist on your webserver or on your local machine?
Both. I have a set of bookmarks, again mostly for my current convenience, kept under "MyDomain management" --it is somewhat repetitive of the page on my server. I use bookmarks to gather in the links I'm currently using then occassionally update the server page with them.
I also keep a wiki-ish page on the server for notes. Handy.
And there is a donationware script that sends out email reminders called remindme. Get it. I use it to manage my business to-do list (like fill in the Adsense W9), and the emails would keep coming as long as someone remembered to pay the server bill.
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I register the money domains for 10 years.
Re the "Will" part of this, I did that last week, after some (years of) precrastination.
US laws are undoubtably different to UK. I looked up online wills, and settled for a firm of lawyers, who get you to fill in the details of what you want online, then they download it and get a lawyer to vet it for legality, then send me a printed copy for witnessing (necessary in UK)
Cost just under $100 for what they call mirror wills - one for me and a mirror for my wife.
Seemed to me to be worth paying a bit more and running it past a lawyer, than doing it myself and risking perhaps invalid or problematical.
rcj you seem very organised in this whole field - puts me to shame!
Absolutely. Do NOT do a will on your own unless you are bankrupt, and even then I can't recommend it. We need to update ours, as the kids are now adults, but the core would still work.
>rcj you seem very organised in this whole field
You'll note the common theme mostly for my convenience. Some things only require a little tweaking to serve a dual purpose.
Well, it's less important for me. I'm only 24, and have no dependents. I have tons of debt (student loans) but those (I looked it up) disappear if I die. I have no other debt.
But, as I set up my business, I do have to start thinking of my plans for retirement. I do have one buddy who's an accountant and another who's a lawyer, and I'm penciling in drinks with them over Christmas to discuss the things i'll have to make actual appointments (the kind you pay for) with them to discuss. And I haven't got a business that could feasibly run without me, either.
But, excellent and thought-provoking thread, guys. You've got me pondering...
When it comes to pensions I think most are scams, Property, real estate, manage your own investment portfolio, dont give your money to a shark.
Oh and when doing the will think about what you want to happen to your mortal remains, dammed if someone is going to do me up like a choclote box all frills and frufru and charge a fortune for it, Plastic bag, cardboard box, 12ft deep and plant an oaktree on top.
As for the online stuff well you got me thinking, the wife's eyes glaze over when it comes to computers.
If you live in the UK, a SIPP (self invested pension plan) is worth considering, you get all the tax breaks, you can decide (within very broad limits) how to invest the money and the continuing costs are comparatively low.
To find out about it look up SIPP on G and get a professional run down from a reputable company
We have similar in the US, though I'm not particularly fond of the idea. Most of these 'tax-postponement' plans (IRAs, etc) rely -at least partially- on the idea that in your 'elder' years you aren't going to be making the same income and therefore you'll be taxed at a lower rate. For the entrepreneurs and business owners I know, that's not been the case. They barrel into retirement with increasing income and/or fewer expenses (kids, mortgage) and their rate of taxation has remained fairly constant. I also don't like the red tape and compliance issues, I pay my accountants enough already.
doesn't that just scream community safety net to you, like it does to me? How about some sort of online-business-professionals association. Sort of, you sign up and you provide a "sealed envlelope" of business secrets, such as passwords and some basic documentation,the guidelines for which would be established by this association.
If something should happen, or at your choice, the whole thing goes up for auction amongst the members, with proceeds going to the benefitiary.
I personally prefer anything I build myself, but might be more capable of monetizing some asset you may have hten your own wife or family.
Just a thought, it'll take somebody greater then me to work it out.
SN
I just figured it'd be good to bring them together, bar all of us should perish at once, there should always be another home for an orphaned online business.
SN
But this is something even people with normal jobs and normal insurance plans should consider more than they do. My boyfriend's father dropped dead in May at the age of 51, in perfect health. He fell out of a boat and drowned, but nobody could say why he'd fallen out of the boat; witnesses said he just fell over.
The insurance company said that since he might've died of a heart attack and not an accident, they wouldn't pay because he was only insured against accidental death, not natural causes, or somesuch nonsense. The lawyers somehow beat them into submission, but can you imagine? It was terrible.
Let me repeat, by the way, he was in perfect health. He was a construction foreman, so he got plenty of exercise. He ate a reasonably healthy diet, and had decent cholesterol. He went to the doctor regularly, he worked out, he did everything you're supposed to. So... 51 is pretty darn young for that to happen, but you never know.
Dental insurance isn't a big deal. You can "self insure" if your employer doesn't offer a package. Dental expenses are rarely high, and when they are, you'll hit the cap on the insurance anyway.
Health insurance is the biggie - it's hard to get a good price on health coverage as an individual or very small firm. As long as your spouse has coverage via work, you are in good shape. If you must look for your own at some point, try to see if you qualify for some affinity group, or if your state has a small-business pool for cheaper rates.
There are options for retirement plans. Being self-employed, you can sock away fairly large sums that qualify as income deductions now. At the very least, a Roth IRA is a good deal - not deductible now, but all withdrawals at retirement time are tax-free.
(Obviously, these comments apply in the U.S.)
The business-continuity issues are significant, and I'm interested to see some of the approaches members have used.
The business-continuity issues are significant, and I'm interested to see some of the approaches members have used.
Would love to hear other POV's on this also.
Personally, I think the smartest thing to do is plan as if the business could not or would not continue. Especially when you're talking about a small business that revolves around one key person. It's one thing for someone to keep the day to day operations alive, it's another for them step into the role as the company visionary or the captain that can steer the ship through rough waters that may lie ahead. Milk it - yes, but I don't know about putting all my eggs in that basket long term.
