Business Owner Planning & Tax Strategies
Your business may be your largest asset, your primary source of income, and a major part of your family’s future. We help business owners identify financial vulnerabilities, protect what they have built, and prepare to scale, sell, or pass on their legacy.
Business Owner Planning Built Around Your Life
Your business may be your largest asset, your primary source of income, and a major part of your family’s future. We help business owners identify financial vulnerabilities, protect what they have built, and prepare to scale, sell, or pass on their legacy.
From key-person insurance and buy-sell agreement funding to executive bonus plans, we help you put protections in place that keep the business running and reward the people who make it succeed.
Request a ConsultationBusiness Protection
Helps identify and reduce financial risks that could impact your company.
Succession Planning
Prepares your business for future ownership transitions or sale.
Growth Strategies
Supports long-term business stability and financial success.
Defined Benefit Plans: One of the Largest Deductions Still Available
If your business is consistently profitable and you are paying more in tax than you would like, a Defined Benefit Plan is often the single largest deduction a business owner can still put in place.
A Defined Benefit Plan is an IRS-qualified retirement plan that promises you a set benefit at retirement. Because the contribution is actuarially calculated to fund that promised benefit, the deductible amount is frequently several times what a 401(k) alone allows. Contributions are generally deductible to the business, and the plan assets grow tax-deferred until you take distributions.
For 2026, the IRS caps the annual benefit a Defined Benefit Plan may promise at $290,000 — compared with a $72,000 total cap on a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) with profit sharing. Owners who are closer to retirement, with steady income and a small number of employees, are typically able to fund the largest contributions.
- Maximize tax-deductible retirement contributions — often $100,000–$300,000+ per year — while building a guaranteed retirement benefit
- Contributions are generally deductible to the business
- Plan assets grow tax-deferred until distribution
- Can be layered on top of an existing 401(k) or profit-sharing plan
- Often paired with life insurance to protect the funding commitment
Pienza Wealth Partners does not provide tax or legal advice. Figures reflect 2026 IRS limits and are shown for illustration only — your deductible amount depends on your age, income, and census. Please consult your CPA or tax attorney.
Who It Fits Best
Profitable owners, often 45 and older, with predictable income and few or no full-time employees.
What It Requires
An annual actuarial calculation and a commitment to fund the plan consistently for several years.
How We Help
We coordinate with your CPA and a plan actuary to model the deduction, design the plan, and put the funding in place.
Life Insurance for an SBA Loan
If your lender says life insurance is a condition of closing, you are not being upsold — and you may also need far less coverage than you have been quoted.
Under SBA SOP 50 10 8, effective June 1, 2025, life insurance is required when a loan is not fully secured by collateral and the business depends on one owner. That describes most sole proprietorships, single-member LLCs, and companies where one person holds the license, the relationships, or the technical skill the business runs on. It is not required on every SBA loan — and on the smaller programs such as SBA Express, it is the lender’s own policy rather than an SBA mandate.
The required amount is generally tied to the collateral shortfall — the gap between the loan and the discounted value of what secures it — not the full loan balance. It is never more than the loan amount and is frequently a good deal less, which is the single most common thing borrowers are never told.
The policy is collateral-assigned, not handed over. You stay the owner, you keep paying the premiums, and your family remains the beneficiary. The lender is recorded as assignee for the outstanding balance only — if a claim were ever paid, the lender is made whole and every remaining dollar goes to your beneficiaries. When the loan is repaid, the assignment is released and the policy is yours alone.
- Triggered by an undersecured loan plus dependence on one owner — not by every SBA loan
- Coverage is sized to the collateral gap, and capped at the loan amount
- A level term policy matching the loan term satisfies the requirement
- Lenders should not require whole life or universal life to satisfy it
- You keep ownership and beneficiaries; the lender is assignee for the balance only
- Documented uninsurability, adequate collateral, or real succession can support a waiver
Want the full walkthrough? Read SBA Loan Life Insurance: What Lenders Actually Require — how the amount is calculated, what collateral assignment really means, and what to ask your lender.
Get SBA Coverage HandledRequirements are set by SBA policy and applied by your lender or CDC, and vary by program, collateral position, and lender overlay. Approval times and underwriting requirements vary by applicant, age, coverage amount, and health history. Pienza Wealth Partners does not provide legal or tax advice — confirm the specifics of your file with your lender.
Often Handled the Same Day
Many applicants complete a short online application in about ten minutes, answer a few health questions instead of taking a medical exam, and have a decision back the same day.
We Handle the Assignment
Once your policy is active, we coordinate the collateral assignment and the carrier acknowledgment your lender or CDC needs — you should not be chasing forms during your own closing.
Complicated Health History
Carriers assess the same history very differently, so we shop it rather than accept one answer. In the rare case coverage is not available, documentation can support a lender waiver.
Business Owner Planning & Tax Strategies FAQ
What Is a Buy-Sell Agreement and Why Fund It With Insurance?
A buy-sell agreement sets what happens to an owner’s share if they die or leave. Funding it with life insurance guarantees the money is there to buy out that share smoothly — protecting both the company and the family.
Does Every SBA Loan Require Life Insurance?
No. Under SOP 50 10 8 it applies when the loan is not fully secured and the business depends on one owner — most often sole proprietorships and single-member LLCs. Smaller programs such as SBA Express leave it to the lender’s own policy. Ask your lender early, because the answer drives how much coverage you need and when you need it.
Do I Need Whole Life to Satisfy My SBA Lender?
Generally no. Permanent insurance — whole life or universal life — should not be required for this purpose. A level term policy covering the loan term typically satisfies the condition at a small fraction of the cost. If you are being told only permanent coverage will work, it is worth a second opinion.
How Does a Defined Benefit Plan Reduce My Taxes?
The required contribution is calculated by an actuary to fund the benefit the plan promises you at retirement, so it is usually far larger than a 401(k) contribution. That contribution is generally deductible to the business and the assets grow tax-deferred. For 2026 the IRS caps the promised annual benefit at $290,000, versus a $72,000 total limit on a 401(k) with profit sharing.
Run Your Own Numbers
Use the calculator below, then bring the result to a conversation with a licensed advisor.
Three Tax Buckets, Two Very Different Outcomes
Most owners accumulate nearly everything in one tax-deferred bucket, then hand the IRS a bill on decades of growth all at once.
This comparison shows what changes when the same nest egg is spread across tax-free, tax-deferred, and taxable buckets instead. The difference is money you keep rather than money you remit.
Review your numbers with an advisorCompare Your Tax Outcome
Educational illustration only — not tax or investment advice. Assumes taxable-bucket gains are ~50% of value.
Related Services
Life Insurance
Provides financial support to help replace lost income and maintain your family’s lifestyle.
Learn moreMortgage Protection
Life insurance sized to cover the mortgage so your family can stay in the home — the benefit is paid to them, not the lender.
Learn moreDisability Income
Provides a portion of your income if you become unable to work due to a covered disability.
Learn moreTalk to a Licensed Advisor About Business Owner Planning & Tax Strategies.
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