The One Last Move: An Alternative to Selling Your Practice

Frank LaRosa is literally getting a text about this exact scenario while recording this episode. Frank opens with a real client story, an advisor in his mid to late sixties who has spent a year and a half weighing a full sale against a transition. The multiples sound incredible on paper, ten, twelve, even fourteen times EBITDA but once junior partners, payout structures and sell and stay scenarios come into play, the math gets a lot more complicated than the headline number suggests. Stacey brings in the psychology most advisors never plan for. She explains why so many get stuck at the altar right before retirement, not because the numbers do not work but because their identity and purpose are tied up in the business and they are not ready to let that go. That is where Frank's trademarked concept, dual monetization, comes in. Instead of selling outright, an advisor can transition to a new firm today to unlock a major payout, then set up a succession plan or sale into that same firm years later. Stacey adds important context here, pointing out that transition deals sitting at twenty to sixty percent of trailing twelve just a few years ago are now regularly exceeding one hundred percent. Frank also explains how this same strategy applies to advisors who want to pass their practice down to a son, daughter, or longtime junior partner without forcing them to come up with cash out of pocket and shares a blunt piece of advice about not letting attachment to a specific custodian cost you millions of dollars. The episode closes with a story that sticks with you, a friend of Frank's who left ten million dollars on the table because his junior partners were not willing to do the work required to make one last move. Stacey wraps things up with the reminder that the hardest part of any transition is rarely the mechanics, it is figuring out who will actually take over your clients the way you have for your entire career.   Questions answered in this episode include: What is a one last move for a financial advisor nearing retirement? What is dual monetization and how does it apply to a transition instead of a sale? Why do many financial advisors struggle to actually retire? How much have financial advisor transition deals grown in the last few years? Can a financial advisor pass their practice to a child or junior partner without a traditional loan? Should switching custodians affect a financial advisor's decision to move firms? What is the biggest hurdle for financial advisors thinking about succession?   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: The One Last Move 01:33 What Is the One Last Move 03:39 Redefining Retirement and Purpose 05:37 Introducing Dual Monetization 11:33 Passing the Business to the Next Generation 19:16 Think Before You Sign 20:19 The Ten Million Dollar Lesson 25:20 How to Reach Frank and Stacey   Learn more about Elite and our resources: - Elite Consulting Partners: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com - Elite Marketing Concepts: https://elitemarketingconcepts.com - Elite Advisor Successions: https://eliteadvisorsuccessions.com - JEDI Database Solutions: https://jedidatabasesolutions.com - Elite Wealth Management Insights Report: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/insight-report - Listen to more: https://eliteconsultingpartners.com/podcasts/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elite-consulting-partners/