8. The problem with “My business is my pension” | 10 tips to take care of your future, while you’re taking care of business

If you recognise that idea, don’t feel guilty, it’s common among business owners. As you work hard to build your business, making sacrifices, putting in years of graft and missing out on other things, it’s good to remind yourself it’s not just for glory – it’s for the future, it’s your pension.

“There is a close logical connection between the concept of a safety margin and the principle of diversification.” – Benjamin Graham

Eggs, baskets, etc.

The problem with that, to riff on a well-used metaphor, is that you’re putting one gigantic heavy egg into your basket. So what happens if the bottom falls out of it?

Now that’s a worst-case scenario, but as we’ve said, the worst won’t go away by ignoring it. Investing for the future needs diversification because you can’t place all your hopes on one huge, concentrated risk. If the business were to fail, that would be awful. If it took your future with it, that would be an outright disaster.

The idea of diversification won’t be new to you, but it has to be done right. We need to think big, diversifying across sectors and geographies yes, but also across types of investment.

Diversify

Smart diversification means investing in a way that removes as many holes as possible. Think of it like laying out a net, then a different net on top, and then another. As you overlay them, each net compensates for the gaps in the others, until you eventually have something that resembles an impenetrable surface.

Of course you can’t build a portfolio that’s entirely impervious to shocks, but you can build in the elasticity to absorb them and the resilience to bounce back quickly. Once you’ve built that portfolio it’s important to meet regularly with your wealth planner to make sure the mix of assets stays true to your plan.

We’d never advocate micromanaging – quite the opposite – but we need to make sure the hard work you’re doing continues in the right direction.

Let us guide you

Over the coming weeks we’ll be sharing ten tips to taking care of your future, so that you can focus on taking care of your business safe in the knowledge that it’s all under control.

If you can’t wait and want to get your hands on the guide in full now, you can download it for free here.

But let’s talk about you

We’d love to start that conversation with you, so why not set up a face-to-face meeting today?

There’s no commitment, it doesn’t cost anything to talk through your plans with us and we’ll always be honest – we’ll only get involved if you and Metis Ireland are a clear match, and where we all agree we can add real value to your life.