Millennials Who Want To Get Wealthy, Look to Boomers’ Businesses
Written by
Jordan Rosenfeld
Edited by
Chris Cluff
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
While a good job with a stable income is a great way to achieve a lot of financial milestones, growing wealth often requires bigger financial risks, such as starting a business.
Millennials are doing pretty well financially; however, if wealth is their goal through business development, they own just 13% of America’s small businesses, according to Forbes. While starting a business from scratch can be a costly and slow endeavor, there’s one area where millennials might want to be looking: baby boomers’ businesses.
Not only are the majority of small businesses owned by baby boomers and Gen Xers, many boomers are retiring and looking to sell their businesses.
Boomers Hold the Wealth
It’s no secret that boomers hold a significant amount of American wealth. They were able to take advantage of the years in which wages were more on par with costs of living. They could buy homes and cars, go on vacations and earn pensions by the time they hit their 50s and 60s. Today, boomers reportedly own or operate 51% of all privately held businesses in the U.S., which are collectively worth about $10 trillion.
Time for a Generational Transfer
Now that the vast majority of boomers are entering or considering retirement, many of them are ready to sell off their businesses for a variety of reasons — perhaps they don’t have an immediate “heir apparent” to take over their business. Additionally, capital gains tax rates are at all-time lows, making it more financially lucrative for them to sell.
According to NewEdge Wealth, many boomers don’t have much of an exit plan to their businesses, no transition plan and an unrealistic value of their businesses, which might work in millennials’ favor.
Why Millennials Are Ready To Take Over
In fact, millennials might be the perfect generation to take over businesses, because of their naturally entrepreneurial spirit.
According to Forbes, they tend to be more adaptable, digitally fluent and innovative, among other things. They approach business not only thinking about money, but focusing on things like social impact and work-life balance. They care about the big-picture issues of the day, such as climate change and social inequalities.
An Existing Business May Be an Easier Start
Buying a business may be a lot easier in the long run than starting one, because any good business already has a plan, a set of workflows and hopefully revenue coming in. While you can make changes, update, improve and pivot, millennials who buy existing businesses may be able to step right in to something that’s already working, making it that much easier to grow wealth.
Considerations Before Buying
Of course, just because a business looks or sounds good at a distance doesn’t mean it’s worth your investment. According to the Small Business Administration, you want to be sure to do three key things before you buy an existing business:
- Quantify your investment: Make sure you are getting into the nitty gritty of the numbers. How much will you actually be spending for what kind of return? Will you need to take out loans, invest cash, or otherwise. Do not be caught off guard about expenses you didn’t see coming.
- Review your skills: Just because you like the products or services a business offers doesn’t mean you are the one to run it. Be sure that your skills align with the needs of the business you’re buying.
- Be thorough: Take into account everything you possibly can, from infrastructure to leases, contracts, cash flow, inventory and staff. Get legal or professional consultation if necessary.
While buying a business isn’t something you should do on a lark, if you’ve got an entrepreneurial approach, strong financial sense, skills you can parlay and the willingness to get out there and look for one, your ticket to wealth might just be a boomer away.
More From GOBankingRates
