Strategies for owners and operators — where the business is the largest single asset, the compensation is structured, and the exit is the biggest financial event of your life.
If 80% of your wealth is inside the business, every personal financial decision is also a business decision. The two pictures have to be planned together.
S-corp salary vs distributions, deferred comp, retirement plan design, fringe benefits — each lever is its own optimization, and they all interact.
Whether the exit is a strategic sale, a family transition, or an ESOP, the planning needs to start years before the close. Last-minute exit planning leaves money on the table.
Funding mechanisms, valuation triggers, insurance overlays, partnership protections — gaps here become disputes later. We coordinate the financial side.
Multi-year exit prep covering valuation drivers, tax structuring (asset vs stock sale, installment, QSBS), buyer pool development, and post-liquidity strategy for the proceeds.
Defined benefit, cash balance, and 401(k) profit-sharing plans designed to maximize owner contributions — often $200K+ annually pre-tax for the right owner.
S-corp reasonable compensation analysis, deferred comp structures for key employees, and an integrated approach to W-2, K-1, and distribution income.
Disability and life insurance to fund buy-sells, key person coverage, and the partnership structure to actually trigger it when needed.
A founder of a 25-employee professional services firm comes to us 3 years out from a planned exit. We design a cash balance retirement plan that shelters an additional $260K annually, restructure his compensation to optimize the sale's tax treatment, and build a 5-year wealth plan for the post-liquidity period — coordinated with his attorney and CPA from day one.
Hypothetical illustration — not a guarantee of results.