for the

farm.

So sad.

And now we're 55 and we can't do anything else.

So as a senior generation, if you are on top of that mountain and you haven't...

yet let go, you have to ask yourself, how long will the younger generation stay in the saddle while I do that? So that's one of the ways, that sort of self-reflection.

The other thing I would say is, you know, we joke about, you know, have you ever been to a farmer retirement party? No.

What you can

Why is succession planning the thing that trips so many people up?

Well, it's hard, David, for a couple of reasons.

Um, the first is that being in a family business can be a confusing experience because you're wearing three hats all the time.

You're wearing the hat as an owner of the business and all of the things that come along with being an owner, thinking about the protection of the business, or thinking about the, the estate planning for the business or, or thinking about, um, [smacks lips] dividends or cashflow, all those kinds of things.

You're also wearing a hat as a manager in a business, and so you're trying to get things done every day and you're trying to, um, plant crops right now or harvest crops or manage employees or take care of marketing-

Lance, before a family ever sits down with an attorney, an accountant, uh, a succession planning expert such as yourself, what conversations should they, should they already be having around the kitchen table? What, what decision, decisions should they already have made? Um, yeah.

Yeah.

Um, what I encourage families to do that requires no outside help, you don't have to meet with an attorney, an accountant, anyone else, and, and particularly when it's a husband and wife thinking about the transition of the farm, is, um, the idea of clarifying your guiding principles.