Financial Planning for Business Owners in Dallas–Fort Worth, TX

For owners ready to think beyond the business: building personal wealth alongside the company and preparing for an eventual sale, buyout, or succession.

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There's no cost, and nothing expected of you afterward.
Serving Dallas–Fort
Worth families since 2014
Nick Lalonde is a CERTIFIED
FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional
Affiliated with LPL Financial, a Fortune
500 company; Member FINRA/SIPC

Check the background of this firm on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.

“The majority of my net worth is tied up in my business and I haven't built much outside of it.”

Ask most owners what their retirement plan is, and the honest answer is “sell the business.” That's not really a plan. It's a bet on a single asset, a single buyer, and a single moment in time, all lining up together.

For a lot of the owners we work with, the business has been the financial plan by default. It's your largest asset, and it's probably the one asset nobody manages like an asset. The personal side has always been the thing to get to later.

Later has a way of arriving faster than expected. Maybe you're eyeing an eventual exit. Maybe you're sitting on proceeds from a sale that already happened. Or maybe you're just realizing your personal wealth is riding on one asset you also work in every day. Either way, the fix looks the same: build a financial life that doesn't depend on the business alone.

For many owners with $5 million to $25 million in net worth, only 10 to 20 percent of that sits outside the company. That gap doesn't cost anything until the moment it does. A partner wants out. An unsolicited offer lands. A health scare moves up the timeline you thought you had years to plan around.

Does this sound like you?

The majority of my net worth is tied up in my business and I haven't built much outside of it.

I'm thinking about selling or bringing on a partner and I don't know what that means for my personal finances.

I have a successful business but no real retirement plan that doesn't depend on a sale.

I just received an offer for my business and need to understand the tax implications before I agree to anything.

I'm building toward an exit in the next five to ten years and want to be genuinely prepared.

I've been so focused on the business that my personal financial life has been on autopilot for years.

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What a Proper Strategy Looks Like

Your personal financial plan works whether the sale happens on your timeline or three years later than expected.

You know what the business is worth today, and what it needs to be worth for the life you want after it. Your personal wealth is growing alongside the business.

You understand what a sale, buyout, or partnership change actually costs you in taxes before you agree to terms.

Someone else is thinking about the business and your personal finances at the same time, so it's not all sitting on you.

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Business Owner Planning at Third Act Wealth Management

Nick Lalonde holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) designation, and business owner planning at Third Act runs on the value acceleration discipline that credential is built around: identify, protect, build, harvest, manage.

Identify what the business is actually worth and what you've built outside it. Protect what's concentrated: key-person risk, personal liability, a balance sheet riding on one company. Build value in the company that a buyer will actually pay for, while your personal wealth grows in parallel instead of waiting on a sale to fund everything. Harvest the exit, whether that's a sale, buyout, or succession, on your timeline and with the tax consequences understood before terms are signed. Then manage what the sale becomes: a portfolio that has to do the work the company used to.

It's a discipline built specifically for owners, because for an owner, the company is the largest asset in the plan. Every situation is different, so we build individual plans rather than a one-size-fits-all package, and for sale and succession work beyond core planning, you have access to a dedicated HNW specialist team. Planning a retirement that doesn't involve selling a company? See Retirement Planning. Already through your exit and living on the proceeds? That's Retirement Income Planning.

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See the full picture

Every relationship starts with a Complimentary Second Opinion: roughly 10 to 20 hours of real planning work looking at the business and your life side by side. You've spent 20, 30, maybe 40 years building this company. We start with what it needs to become for you to live the life that comes after it.

Our Approach

Build the strategy

We help you build the exit team, set a target everyone works toward, and help keep each professional's advice pointed at the same outcome, so the estate structure, the tax strategy, the investments, and the giving all pull in the same direction. And we pressure-test the tax consequences of an offer before you agree to terms, not after.

Keep it current

Third Act stays in the conversation through the years leading up to your exit, through the sale itself, and for the decades the proceeds have to support.

What We Charge

Third Act operates on a fee-based model, with your advisor fee put in writing before you decide anything. We work with business owners who have $1 million or more in investable assets, whether that sits inside the business or outside it. For complex sale or succession situations, you also have access to a dedicated HNW planning team, subject to eligibility. Third Act does not provide legal or tax advice; business planning strategies are implemented in coordination with your business attorney, CPA, and other relevant professionals.

Why Us

Four Reasons Business Owners Choose Third Act

We help you build the exit team

A well-run exit can involve more professionals than most owners expect: valuation experts, M&A attorneys, CPAs who specialize in transactions, sometimes an investment bank. We help you assemble the right team for your exit, and set a target all of us work toward.

One professional watches the whole picture

Every specialist on your exit team sees their piece. Our job is to help keep the attorney's structure, the CPA's tax work, your investments, your protection, and your giving all pointed at the same outcome, because we're the one at the table whose job is the whole picture.

Your personal wealth doesn't wait for the sale

We build your wealth outside the company in parallel, so your future never depends entirely on one buyer showing up with one offer.

With you before, during, and after

Third Act stays in the conversation through the years leading up to your exit, through the sale itself, and for the decades the proceeds have to support. No handoff at the point it matters most.

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What Our Clients Say

Nick has been a trusted source of financial advice and support for us for years. He takes the time to really understand your goals and risk personality. His knowledge, diligence, and patience in answering questions, make him an adviser I recommend

Debra B

Nick and his team have been great to work with. One of the best decisions I have ever made regarding my money and future!

Mark M

I have been working with Nick for five years now and have been very pleased with his service. Nick is knowledgeable and attentive and truly wants the best for all of his clients. I highly recommend Nick and Third Act

Lance M
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These statements are a testimonial by a client of the financial professional as of the 9/9/26. The client has not been paid or received any other compensation for making these statements. As a result, the client does not receive any material incentives or benefits for providing the testimonial. These views may not be representative of the views of other clients and are not indicative of future performance or success.

Frequently Asked Questions

Most of my net worth is tied up in my business. Can you still help?

Yes, that's the exact situation this service is built for. We build personal wealth alongside the business so your future isn't riding on one asset. We also plan ahead for the tax and timing questions that come with an eventual sale.

What is the value acceleration framework?

It's the five-stage discipline at the core of the CEPA® designation: identify, protect, build, harvest, manage. In plain terms: know what the business and your personal picture are actually worth, protect what's concentrated, build value you can transfer, exit on your terms, and manage the proceeds for the life that comes after.

Do you help with the actual sale of my business?

We work alongside your business attorney and CPA on the personal financial side of a sale or succession. For larger or more complex transactions, you have access to a dedicated HNW planning team, subject to eligibility.

I just received an offer. What should I do first?

Talk to us before you sign anything. The tax and personal-finance consequences of an offer are almost always easier to shape before terms are locked in than after.

Do you provide legal or tax advice for my business?

No. At your request, we coordinate with your CPA and business attorney, but the legal and tax work stays theirs.

I'm five to ten years from an exit. Is it too early to start?

It's close to ideal. The years before a sale are when building wealth outside the business and shaping exit strategy both have the most room to work.

Are you a fiduciary?

Yes, in our fee-based advisory relationships. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Nick is also held to a fiduciary standard under the CFP Board's Code of Ethics.

Still have a question?

The first meeting is free, and it's the easiest place to ask it.

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Let's talk about the business and your personal financial future before an offer forces the conversation.

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Prefer to call?

+1 (214) 764-2095
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