Business Owners: How to Calculate Your Wealth Gap in Minutes

A small-business owner does some calculations on a calculator while looking at his tablet in his flower shop.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 6 March 2025

Editor’s note: This is the second article in a two-part series for business owners. The first article was The Most Important Number for a Business Owner Considering a Sale.

The “wealth gap” is the gap between your current assets and what you need to get from the sale of your business to maintain your current lifestyle. I would argue it’s your most important calculation as you consider selling your business.

Start with what you spend

I recently read an article about a couple in San Francisco living comfortably with a combined income of $200,000. The comment section is absolutely brutal. Anyone who shares their spending habits online is extremely brave. No matter the budget, someone will find a reason to tear your spending apart.

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The potential for such criticism can be a major stumbling block for those considering whether to hire a financial planner or anyone starting to figure out what they spend every month. I’m here to tell you it shouldn’t be. You should never be self-conscious about a budget that includes saving every month and is less than you earn. After you’ve hit your saving goals, the money is there to be spent.

Evan T. Beach, CFP®, AWMA®

At age 26, I earned my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification. I also hold the IRS Enrolled Agent license, which allows for a unique approach to planning that can be beneficial to retirees and those selling their businesses, who are eager to minimize lifetime taxes and maximize income.

OK, now that we’ve addressed the elephant in the room, let’s talk about what you actually spend. There is more and more technology to help you do this, but I have yet to find anything more accurate than what we call the “two-year-statement drill.” Simply look at the total debits across two years of annual bank statements and divide that number by 24. There. You’re done! Yes, that number included a new HVAC system and a family vacation to Europe. But, guess what: You’ll spend that money on something else in the next two years.

Let’s say that number is $20,000 a month.

What you have

This one is simpler but requires clarification. When you talk about what you have, I mean invested assets. This should not include equity in your home or other illiquid assets that you don’t plan on selling.

For many business owners, the vast majority of what they have is tied up in the company. So, once again, this is not something you should be self-conscious about.

What you need

The amount you need, even knowing that you’ll spend $20,000 a month, can vary widely. It depends on:

Your age. The older you are, the more you can withdraw.
Risk tolerance. The more aggressive you’re willing to be, to a point, typically the more you can spend over your lifetime.
Tax rates. This one is sort of obvious.

For the purposes of this article, I am going to meet in the middle for a lot of these numbers. We’re going to use Bill Bengen’s 4% withdrawal research to say you can pull out 4% a year. And we’re going to say, on average, you’re going to pay 30% in taxes on every dollar you pull out.

The wealth gap

Once again, this is basically the gap between what you have and what you need. It is what you need to realize from the sale of your business so that you don’t have to go back to work.

Let’s break it down:

Monthly spending: $20,000
Annual spending: $240,000
Average tax rate: 30%
Gross amount (pre-tax): $342,857
Sustainable spending: 4%
Total need: $8,571,429
Current assets: $1 million
Wealth gap: $7,571,429
Ownership percentage: 80%
Sale amount: $9,464,286

As you can see, the wealth gap is just over $7.5 million. However, it’s common for a business to have multiple partners, so we went one step further when calculating the sale amount.

Use this exercise as a starting point

This exercise is not enough for you to say, “Let’s do it!” It should give you enough information to figure out if you’re in range based on historical valuations you’ve received. This is what I would do if someone said, “You have five minutes with a prospective business owner client to tell them whether or not they are close to retirement.”

To run the actual calculations, which would include personal tax projections, other goals and other income streams, like Social Security, we rely on software. You can access a free version of the software we use online.

If you’re interested in speaking with one of our planners or our investment bank, you can schedule that here.

Disclaimer

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

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After graduating from the University of Delaware and Georgetown University, I pursued a career in financial planning. At age 26, I earned my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification. I also hold the IRS Enrolled Agent license, which allows for a unique approach to planning that can be beneficial to retirees and those selling their businesses, who are eager to minimize lifetime taxes and maximize income.