What We Did for the Harmons — and What It Might Mean for Someone You Know
How a coordinated wealth transfer strategy protected a family’s business, equalized their children’s inheritances, and prepared for whatever Congress does next.
You may already know that SSG Financial Group helped you address [your specific planning need]. What you may not know is the full range of challenges we work on every day with business owners like you.
We recently worked with a family — we’ll call them the Harmons — who faced a situation that many of your peers in the business owner community might recognize.
The Situation
The Harmons owned a $28 million estate, with roughly two-thirds tied up in their operating business. They had three children, one active in the business. Their estate plan was a basic revocable trust and a $1 million term policy. With the business growing at 7% annually, their estate was on track to exceed the federal exemption within a decade.
The problems: no liquidity to fund the plan at death, no mechanism to equalize the inheritance for the two children not in the business, no protection if the business continued to grow beyond the exemption, and a term policy that was both inadequate and improperly structured.
What We Built
Working alongside their attorney and CPA, we designed a coordinated strategy: an ILIT with a $7 million survivorship policy for liquidity, a grantor trust funded with discounted business interests to remove growth from the estate, and an aligned buy-sell and estate plan that ensured the operating child received the business while the other two received equivalent value.
The result: a plan that works under current law and remains effective if the law changes. Liquidity when the family needs it. Fairness for all three children. And the business preserved for the next generation.
Who Else Might Need This?
If you know a fellow business owner who has most of their wealth tied up in their company, who hasn’t reviewed their estate plan since the exemption was made permanent, or who worries about how their family will handle the business when they’re gone — we’d welcome the introduction.
All it takes is a simple email: “I worked with John Griffin at SSG Financial Group on my planning. I think he could help you too. Here’s his booking link.” We’ll take it from there with a 20-minute, no-obligation conversation.
Know Someone Who Could Benefit?
If you know a business owner, ESOP company, or executive who might be dealing with any of the issues discussed in this article, we’d welcome the introduction. A 20-minute conversation is all it takes to determine if we can help.
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About SSG Financial Group
SSG Financial Group provides integrated insurance and financial planning solutions for business owners, ESOP companies, and high-net-worth families. We work on wealth transfer, business transition planning, ESOP repurchase liability funding, and executive benefits.
