What goals do you have going into the new year? Do they help you help your clients with their personal plan? Why should you prioritize personal planning? The personal leg of the exit planning stool is often the most neglected, and that’s a problem.
Without a sufficiently developed personal plan, an owner risks becoming a statistic and not a success story. Widely accepted, historic research shows that 75% of owners regret their exit within a year of their exit. This is not because of the way the financials of the deal are structured, but because they had an underdeveloped personal plan.
In this blog, find out how the Exit Planning Institute® (EPI) can assist you, the advisor, in making 2026 your year to become a personal planning expert.
Why Personal Planning?
In the Value Acceleration Methodology™ handbook, Walking to Destiny: 11 Actions an Owner Must Take to Rapidly Grow Value & Unlock Wealth, Exit Planning Institute CEO Christopher Snider explains the importance of having a personal plan in place ahead of a business owner’s exit.
“It isn’t as simple as figuring out how much money you need to pack up the house, move to the beach, and golf four times a week,” Christopher writes. “You owe it to yourself to plan a life after business that sets you up to stay connected with your identity and excel in your new ventures, embracing who you’ve been and who you want to be, and staying relevant.”
Most traditional exit planning discussions focus on financial and operational preparedness, but genuine readiness involves more than just preparing for a sale. It’s about creating a business that enables a business owner’s current lifestyle and sets the stage for their future.
That’s where a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) comes in, helping guide business owners to significance through the Value Acceleration Methodology.
Up Your Personal Planning Game
In 2026, the Exit Planning Summit returns, with a major focus on personal planning. Set for April 19-21 in Nashville, the 2026 Exit Planning Summit will feature keynote speakers Ben Utecht and Tommy Breedlove, who are experts in helping advisors and business owners alike find purpose. To learn more about Ben and Tommy, read our blog introducing them and the themes they’ll speak on during the 2026 Exit Planning Summit.
In addition to these keynote speakers, EPI President Scott Snider will lead a main stage session featuring several CEPAs with expertise in the personal planning aspect of exit planning. Join Scott as he leads a discussion with Cara Gray, Susan Latremoille, Jerome Myers, and Marianne Oesher about how to integrate personal planning into your advisory practice.
While in Nashville, you’ll also have plenty of time and opportunities to network with your exit planning peers. At our structured networking events, make an effort to find advisors with different backgrounds from your own, and pick their brains to learn what they do differently and how you might implement that into your own work.
Continue your Learning Online
Looking for immediate ways to boost your personal planning skills? Check out EPI Academy, which offers several courses to help expand your knowledge. Some options include:
EPI also offers free webinars that cover a wide range of topics, including personal planning. Visit our webinar home page to learn more about upcoming events, and, if you’re a Credentialed Plus CEPA, visit your member center to view previously recorded webinars.
In addition to the webinars already available, as a CEPA, you gain access to exclusive CEPA Think Tanks. These more intimate online sessions let you discuss specific topics, including personal planning, with other exit planning professionals.
Register for the Exit Planning Summit
For more information about the Exit Planning Summit in 2026, visit ExitPlanningSummit.com to view the full agenda, meet our speakers, and register for workshops.
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