Seasoned and experience partners

As you have been a partner for a few years now, it might be time to start thinking about where you want to be in the future.

This will look different for each partner depending on the position you hold within the firm and how you want to progress. Balancing this with your personal life can also bring additional considerations.

We have outlined below three key questions you need to ask yourself:

1. Are you prepared for future challenges?

It is important to ensure that you are preparing for any challenges that may lie ahead.

A couple of examples of common future challenges include: 

• Bringing up children 
  • Do you need to employ anyone for additional help at home? 
  • How will you fund any potential school or university fees? 
  • Are you thinking of helping them onto the property ladder when the time comes? 
• Ageing parents
  • Are you providing care in the home or paying for care externally? 
  • Is the equity tied up in their home?

Whatever the future challenges are for you, careful planning will help to reduce the impact that some of these changes may have.

Some questions to ask yourself in the planning stage include:

• What are the costs likely to be? 
• What are the tax implications? 
• How are you going to finance them? 
• Do you have a plan? 
• When did you last review or update your plan? 
• Do you need to discuss the strategy with a financial advisor?

2. What is your role within the partnership?

As you have been a partner for a few years now, you will have a clearer idea of partner hierarchy and the constant challenges and responsibilities facing partners such as: 

• generating new work 
• looking after clients 
• engaging, developing and working with your team 
• achieving your own goals within the firm.

It is now an important time to assess your place in the firm and your direction of travel by asking yourself some questions: 

• Where do you want to go within the partner group? 
• Where are you in the partner hierarchy within the firm? 
• What is your ambition within the firm? 
  • Do you want to be Managing Partner? 
  • Do you want to be head of your department? 
  • Do you want to be the highest billing partner? 
• What are your strengths? 
• Are you a Finder, Minder or Grinder? 
• Who could you team up with to complement your skillset and work together?

Once you have worked out what your ambition is, you will then need to think about what you need to do to achieve that in your desired timeframe, including who you need to involve to assist you and other stakeholders that you need on your side in order to progress.

3. What life events are to come?

The last few years have seen us adapting our working and personal lives to external factors that have been thrust upon us at a moment’s notice. Our lives have evolved and continue to adapt and change as we work in a hybrid way, splitting our working time between an office and home.

Working in an agile way has provided benefits in balancing our lives to cater for those times when it is beneficial to work in a particular location or at a certain time.

Life events, both planned and unexpected, could have a major impact on us and often there is some tax planning that can be done to limit the effect and enable our lives (or those of our close family) to adapt and evolve.

When a life event occurs, you need to think about what tax planning can be put in place to limit the impact. The sort of events that may occur include: 

• moving house 
• moving abroad 
• acquiring a second home 
• receiving an inheritance 
• going through a divorce 
• illness affecting you or a member of your family 
• bereavement.

The next step for you is to ask yourself what your goals are for the next few years. Then ask yourself what you need to do to achieve them. As a partner, goal setting is key to your leadership role.

Remember life is a balancing act, live life and enjoy it.

For more information on the issues discussed in this article or to discuss your individual circumstances, get in touch with your usual Crowe contact.