Over the next decade, more than six million baby boomer-owned small businesses will face ownership transitions. Up to five trillion dollars in enterprise value is in motion. The opportunity is real.

So is the debt.

On a recent episode of Ethical Exits, Up & Over Advisors founder Hannah Sandmeyer sat down with Maura Shenker of AllHold Capital, who works at the intersection of economic mobility and ownership design. Maura offered a distinction that every aspiring buyer needs to hear before they sign anything.

"There is no great wealth transfer," she said. "It's a debt transfer."

Understanding why that may be true, and what to do about it, is what this post is about.