Changing the Future: Tailoring Customized Retirement Plans for Business Clients.

• Author: Wright, Leonard
• Position: Practice management

as the full scope of the transition of our practices sets in over the next couple of years due to the impact of the tax law changes, CPAs will begin to realize how much financial planning--specifically retirement plans can help with their practice.

Augmenting your services by integrating retirement plans will allow you to deliver an impactful service to your clients. And even if you're not inclined to implement personal financial services, partnering with a CPA in California whose practice has a personal financial specialist (PFS) focus is only a phone call away.

While there are resources that discuss retirement plan options, most recently published in the February edition of the Journal of Accountancy, there are few that discuss how you can change lives by proper implementation of a plan that fits the corporate culture of the organization, the process of implementation and resultant outcomes.

The good news is California is moving forward with a mandatory program to get residents saving for retirement. As a result, retirement plan awareness will be front and center the next few years for companies that do not offer a retirement plan.

The key to success in crafting proper retirement plan solutions is creating a custom solution that takes corporate culture into consideration, implementing design strategies that greatly enhance participation and participants on track for retirement, and looking at options that are consistent with corporate culture.

Corporate Culture

There are a number of considerations to evaluate for employees and business owners.

1. Who are the key employees the business owner wants to reward in the plan?

2. If there is a plan, what is the employer contribution?

3. Is there a way to re-characterize the employer contribution so the employer can contribute in a meaningful way to their retirement, as well as their key employees?

4. Does the business have a highly variable income? There may be opportunities to shift income into years where there arc losses.

5. Does the business owner give raises or annual bonuses? if so, is there a way to allocate to part of the plan instead to mitigate the impact on the business owner, and allow the business owner to contribute more to the owner's plan?

6. Does the business owner need sizable deductions?

7. Do the business owners like their employees? While this may seem like a common sense answer, not all employers care for their employees.

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