EP Wealth Advisors: wealth management for owners planning a sale or succession
What you leave each planning season with:
A written estimate of what the sale leaves your family after taxes
A succession plan that says who runs the company and who inherits it
An income plan for the years after your last owner's paycheck
Room in the plan for an aging parent's care and your kids' inheritance
clients as of 10/5/2026,
planning for family and legacy†
†As of 10/5/2026, EP Wealth Advisors serves 390,000 clients and manages $6.8 billion in client assets.
What's different about planning with EP Wealth Advisors?
The first meeting starts with your family, not the company valuation: who depends on you now, who might run the business, who inherits. Before EP Wealth Advisors models any sale price, it writes down what your spouse, your kids and a parent who may require care would each need. After every review you get a one-page summary showing the net proceeds estimate, the beneficiary forms checked and what changed.
Who we work with
390,000 clients† trust EP Wealth Advisors with a combined $6.8 billion†.
†As of 10/5/2026, EP Wealth Advisors serves 390,000 clients and manages $6.8 billion in client assets.
Why business owners work with EP Wealth Advisors
Most of your net worth sits in a company you can't sell in a weekend. The buyer's offer, the earnout terms and the note your successor signs all decide what your family actually lives on later. EP Wealth Advisors prefers to start planning two to five years before a sale, so the price, the tax bill and the will get worked out together while you still have choices about timing.
If a sale or a handoff to family is on your calendar in the next few years, now is a good time to send the form.
What EP Wealth Advisors plans with business owners
A written handoff plan covering who runs the company, who owns it, and when.
An after-tax estimate of each offer, including asset vs stock sale and earnout timing.
Wills, trusts and beneficiary forms checked so the business passes the way you intend.
A monthly paycheck plan from your accounts once the owner's salary and distributions stop.
Business succession planning
A written handoff plan covering who runs the company, who owns it, and when.
Business sale tax planning
An after-tax estimate of each offer, including asset vs stock sale and earnout timing.
Estate planning for business owners
Wills, trusts and beneficiary forms checked so the business passes the way you intend.
Retirement income planning
A monthly paycheck plan from your accounts once the owner's salary and distributions stop.
EP Wealth Advisors wealth management for business owners and family legacy
EP Wealth Advisors is a wealth management firm that guides business owners through company sales, succession decisions, and the long-term stewardship of family assets.
Most founders spend decades pouring every spare dollar back into company payroll and equipment, leaving little liquid capital outside the business. When an exit or a transition to children finally nears, questions shift from operating margins to personal survival: how much tax a stock sale triggers, whether a retired parent can stay in assisted living without draining family savings, and how to distribute remaining shares among children who do not work inside the firm.
- Client households
- 390,000
- Assets managed
- $6.8 billion
- Starting from
- $500K
- Practice areas
- 8 services
- Clients in
- All 50 states
Figures as of 10/5/2026.
How EP Wealth Advisors works with business owners
Owning an operating company means your personal balance sheet and your commercial enterprise are intertwined. EP Wealth Advisors helps owners separate those two worlds without sacrificing tax efficiency or disrupting day-to-day operations.
As of 10/5/2026, EP Wealth Advisors serves 390,000 clients and manages $6.8 billion in client assets nationwide. While our physical office is located at 1844 Folsom Street, Boulder, CO 80302, United States, we work with business owners across the country through scheduled video conferences and phone calls.
Our client relationship begins with a minimum of $500K in investable assets, and advisory fees are always explained up front, in writing. Before suggesting any portfolio adjustments, EP Wealth Advisors examines your corporate tax filings, operating agreements, and legacy wishes so every dollar serves your family directly.
Our step-by-step advisory process from introduction to ongoing reviews
Moving from a corporate exit to a diversified portfolio takes deliberate coordination. Here is how our team organizes your transition over the course of the first year.
- Initial discovery call: We review your current entity structure, liquid holdings, real estate, and upcoming sale or succession timeline.
- Diagnostic blueprint: EP Wealth Advisors analyzes your tax returns, existing retirement vehicles, and buy-sell agreements to identify exposure gaps.
- Written action plan: You receive a concrete roadmap showing required entity adjustments, cash-flow projections, and targeted asset allocations.
- Account setup and funding: We establish custody accounts and execute transfers while tracking cost basis to prevent accidental tax triggers.
- Quarterly reviews: Our advisors hold structured reviews to evaluate portfolio drift, adjust for family health events, and check tax withholding.
Connecting business succession, tax strategy, and family estate plans
Wealth management for private owners cannot treat personal accounts in isolation from commercial contracts. If a company sale closes in December without prior structuring, the owner may face an irreversible federal and state capital gains bill the following April.
EP Wealth Advisors integrates eight core disciplines: business succession planning, business sale tax planning, estate planning for business owners, retirement income planning, investing sale proceeds, planning for aging parents, cash balance pension plans, and charitable giving strategies. When these areas coordinate, the savings compound.
For example, setting up a cash balance pension plan alongside an existing 401(k) can allow an owner to shelter significant pre-tax business earnings during high-profit years before a liquidity event. Meanwhile, planning for aging parents establishes dedicated healthcare reserves early, preventing emergency asset sales during market downturns. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal, so structuring liquid reserves before diversifying remains essential.
A hypothetical succession scenario: sale proceeds and legacy division
Consider a hypothetical owner, Marcus, age 58, who runs an industrial supply company valued at $4,000,000. His liquid assets outside the business total $600,000, his mother requires $7,000 monthly for memory care, and one of his two adult children works in the enterprise while the other does not.
If Marcus sells the operating assets without an advance strategy, ordinary income recapture and capital gains could consume over $1,200,000 in combined taxes. By working through EP Wealth Advisors wealth management strategies prior to letters of intent, he can evaluate an installment sale or staggered share redemption combined with donor-advised funds. The arithmetic below shows how balancing his proceeds safeguards his family commitments.
Hypothetically, reserving $800,000 in short-duration bonds and cash equivalents fully covers his mother's care for nearly a decade, assuming $84,000 annual expenses. The remaining $2,000,000 in after-tax sale proceeds enters a disciplined global equity and fixed-income portfolio. Rather than leaving the inactive child corporate equity that sparks conflict, Marcus uses an irrevocable life insurance trust funded by company distributions to equalize inheritance values.
Questions to ask before selecting a wealth management firm
Selecting an advisory partner requires looking beyond generic market commentaries. You should ask concrete questions that probe an advisor's experience with closely held business exits.
- How do you coordinate with our existing CPA and corporate transaction attorney during due diligence?
- What specific experience do you have handling cash balance pension plans for high-income owners?
- How do you help equalize an estate between children who work in our business and those who do not?
- Are all advisory fees and transaction expenses documented in writing before contracts are signed?
- What cash-management framework do you use to shield our immediate living expenses from market volatility?
What happens during your first 90 days with EP Wealth Advisors
When you schedule an introductory consultation, our team focuses on organizing facts rather than pitching products. The table below outlines the direct deliverables you receive during your initial onboarding window.
| Phase | Advisory focus | Deliverable provided |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1 to 14 | Discovery and document review | Initial financial inventory |
| Days 15 to 30 | Tax and entity modeling | Liquidity and succession roadmap |
| Days 31 to 60 | Custody and asset allocation | Investment policy statement |
| Days 61 to 90 | Family legacy alignment | Estate and healthcare summary |
EP Wealth Advisors advises clients from coast to coast over video and phone; in person at 1844 Folsom Street, Boulder, CO 80302, United States. Get in Touch →
Services
Business succession planning
A written handoff plan covering who runs the company, who owns it, and when.
Business succession planning →Business sale tax planning
An after-tax estimate of each offer, including asset vs stock sale and earnout timing.
Business sale tax planning →Estate planning for business owners
Wills, trusts and beneficiary forms checked so the business passes the way you intend.
Estate planning for business owners →Retirement income planning
A monthly paycheck plan from your accounts once the owner's salary and distributions stop.
Retirement income planning →Investing sale proceeds
A step-by-step plan for the lump sum, starting with taxes owed and cash reserves.
Investing sale proceeds →Planning for aging parents
Care costs for a parent priced into your plan before a crisis forces the decision.
Planning for aging parents →Cash balance pension plans
A look at whether a cash balance plan cuts taxes in your peak profit years.
Cash balance pension plans →Charitable giving strategies
Ways to fund the causes you care about from sale proceeds, with the tax effect shown.
Charitable giving strategies →Recently published
- Selling a Business to Fund Retirement: How Much Is Enough?
- Asset Sale vs Stock Sale: What EP Wealth Advisors Shows Sellers
- Passing a Business to Children: Six Mistakes That Split Families
- The EP Wealth Advisors Checklist Before Selling a Business
- What Is an Earnout, and How Much of the Price Should Ride on It: An EP Wealth Advisors Walkthrough
- Financial Advisor for Selling a Business: Questions to Ask First
EP Wealth Advisors: common questions
The $500K minimum at EP Wealth Advisors counts investable assets: brokerage accounts, IRAs, a SEP-IRA or 401(k), and cash. Equity in a private company isn't an investable asset, but expected sale proceeds affect timing, so mention your plans on the form and we'll talk about starting now or closer to closing.
EP Wealth Advisors explains its fees in writing before you agree to anything, including how sale proceeds or earnout payments that arrive later would be treated. Fee percentages aren't published on this site, so ask on the first call how the fee applies to your accounts today and to money that comes in after closing.
The first video or phone call covers your company, your family and your rough timeline, and you don't need to send any documents for it. Afterward, EP Wealth Advisors lists what it would want to review, usually recent tax returns, account statements and any buy-sell or operating agreement you already have.
Yes, anyone you choose can join the video or phone meetings: a spouse, a child who may take over, or your CPA and attorney. Many owners keep the first call to themselves and bring family in once the succession options are on paper. Either way, you decide who sees which numbers.
EP Wealth Advisors analyzes entity structure, basis calculations, and timing before the purchase agreement is finalized. Our team explores pre-sale charitable remainder trusts, installment notes, and qualified retirement plan contributions to mitigate taxable gain.
Yes, our advisors establish estate equalizations that allocate corporate equity to operating heirs while pairing non-business heirs with outside brokerage assets, real estate, or funded life insurance trusts to avoid family friction.
A cash balance plan allows owners with substantial annual profits to shelter substantial pre-tax sums above standard 401(k) limits. This lowers current taxable income while accelerating personal retirement assets outside company walls.
We ring-fence liquid capital in dedicated short-term reserves to cover assisted living or in-home care bills directly. This protects your operating capital and keeps you from liquidating long-term investments under adverse market conditions.
We review existing buy-sell documents to confirm valuation methods and funding mechanisms match current company worth. If life or disability policies fund the redemption, we verify ownership structures to avoid unintended estate tax exposure.
Proceeds are deployed according to a customized investment policy statement that balances equity growth with capital preservation. We frequently dollar-cost average larger balances over several months to manage market entry risk.
Our advisors hold structured coordination calls with your outside tax and legal counsel throughout transactions. This keeps corporate restructuring, tax filings, and estate documents aligned without placing the burden of coordination on you.
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