The designs that need an actuary.
Cash balance plans
The flagship for high-income owners with a late start. Contributions scale with age in a way a 401(k) never can.
Combo designs
401(k) paired with cash balance, so the pairing outperforms either plan alone.
Cross-tested profit sharing
Many others do this. We do it with a creativity that always surprises the client with how much better it can be.
Controlled groups & multi-entity
Owners with several related businesses, tested properly across the whole structure.
The arcane
Split funded DB, Floor offset, and other designs that other TPA’s won’t touch.
Plan rescues
Arriving broken is fine. We fix through the available correction programs and get it back on solid ground.
BUILT TO HOLD UP
Complex isn’t the same as risky.
Aggressive design doesn’t mean borderline design. It means using the full range the regulations allow, tested before a proposal ever reaches your client rather than after the plan is installed, and documented so it holds up under review. When a plan arrives already broken, we correct it through the IRS and DOL programs instead of hoping nobody looks.
No audit failures
Defined benefit and cash balance plans legally require actuarial certification, and practically require actuarial judgement. Ours is in-house.
Tested first
Every design run through compliance testing before it’s proposed.
Broken plans welcome
Bring us your tired, broken plan, we will give you rest.
The later the start, the bigger the opportunity.
Deductible limits climb sharply with age. A 45-year-old owner tops out around $220,000; by 70 the ceiling is close to three times that. Note the one exception: the limit is flat between 62 and 65, so an owner who waits through those years can fund less, not more. That is the kind of detail worth knowing before a client picks a retirement date.
Maximum Tax-deductible defined benefit contribution by age