Why July 31 Is Not the Finish Line, It’s the Starting Point For most physician-owned Cash Balance Plans, July 31 marks the filing of Form 5500 and the official close of the prior plan year. Unfortunately, many physicians and advisors treat this date as the end of the...

Understanding How Annual Cash Balance Plan Contributions Are Really Calculated Many physicians are told that a Cash Balance Plan allows them to make a large annual tax-deductible contribution often $200,000, $300,000, or even more. While that is true, many are...

The Two Numbers That Determine Your Retirement Health   A Cash Balance Plan Can Have a Heartbeat and Still Be Sick As a physician, you understand that a patient’s health cannot be judged by a single number. A patient may have a normal temperature and still suffer from...

Contributions, Benefits, and What Actually Matters Cash Balance Plans are governed by a layered set of IRS limits that control how much can go in, how much can be promised, and how benefits are ultimately paid out. Understanding these constraints is critical not just...

Cash Balance Plans (CBPs) operate inside a tightly regulated ERISA and IRS framework. The deadlines aren’t arbitrary, they exist to ensure actuarial integrity, participant protection, and tax compliance. For plan sponsors (especially medical practices), missing a...

Overfunding isn’t a sign your plan is “winning.” It’s a signal the design is misaligned. In traditional Fixed Interest Crediting (FIC) plans, the disconnect between how assets grow and how liabilities are measured creates predictable—and preventable—surplus. Here are...

Underfunding doesn’t happen because markets are “bad.” It happens because the plan design fails to absorb how markets actually behave. Traditional Fixed Interest Crediting (FIC) creates a rigid liability structure that keeps growing—regardless of whether assets keep...

Introduction This is not a hypothetical example. This is a real-life cash balance plan, and every data point in this analysis was sourced directly from the filed Form 5500s. The plan sponsor, a successful dentist, did everything most advisors could consider “right.”...

First-Year Implementation — No Prior Year Plan Practice Profile Owner: Age 52 physician Income (W-2 / K-1 combined): $1,000,000 Employees: 8 total Avg age: 38 Avg comp: $80,000 Existing Plan: 401(k) + Profit Sharing   Baseline (Owner Only – No Existing Cash...

How One Doctor’s Cash Balance Plan Went Completely Off the Rails   Introduction This case study is not hypothetical. It is a real cash balance plan reconstructed entirely from publicly filed Form 5500 data. What it shows clearly and uncomfortably is how a plan can...

Plan Profile (Typical Physician Group) 1 owner physician, age 55 Target CB contribution: $400,000/year Plan assets (January 1): $2,400,000 Funding status (starting): FTAP/AFTAP ≈ 78% (Restricted) Investment allocation: 60/40 portfolio   Scenario A — Stay with 5%...

Plan Profile (Typical Physician Group) 1 owner physician, age 52 Target CB contribution: $350,000/year Plan assets (January 1): $2,800,000 Funding status (starting): FTAP/AFTAP ≈ 92% (slightly underfunded) Investment allocation: 60/40 portfolio   Scenario A —...