Free Education Library
ProfitGuard Plus
Our flagship for business owners. Lower the employer FICA bill, give every employee more take-home pay, and change nobody's gross pay.
14 resources, including 4 documents you can print
Documents
Owner One-Pager
ProfitGuard Plus explained for owners — how it works, what it saves, who qualifies, and what set-up takes.
PDF — open or print
The 4-Code Cheat Sheet
Sections 125, 106(a), 105 and 213(d) — the IRS code that makes this work, in one page.
PDF — open or print
10 Red Flags Decoder
How to tell a real payroll-tax structure from the gimmicks the IRS shut down.
PDF — open or print
7 Questions Before You Sign
The owner's audit sheet — what to ask any promoter before you commit to anything.
PDF — open or print
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The full ProfitGuard Plus walkthrough
The mechanism, the savings math, who qualifies, and the questions owners ask most.
Who we work with
Surety bonds, business insurance, group benefits, tax strategy and funding, through the payroll, CPA, PEO and benefits firms in our corner.
The ProfitGuard Plus Education Center
Every question about ProfitGuard Plus, one page each: who it fits, the tax code, is it legal, what it saves, and a page for CPAs.
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ProfitGuard Plus and the SIMRP behind it
What a Self-Insured Medical Reimbursement Plan is, and why the structure holds up.
Who needs ProfitGuard Plus
The two gates, the W-2 employer types that usually fit, and who it is not for.
What it costs and what it saves
The $600 + $1,400 = $2,000 per employee stack, with worked examples for 25 and 100 employees.
Is it legal? The double-dipping line
Why half of these programs got shut down, the bright line, and the questions to ask before you sign.
The tax code behind ProfitGuard Plus
Sections 125, 106(a), 105 and 213(d), each explained, with links to the statute text.
ProfitGuard Plus for CPAs and payroll providers
How the plan shows up on payroll, the questions you will ask, and how to refer a client.
Business Tax Strategy
Tax prep records what already happened. Tax strategy changes what happens next. Most profitable businesses are leaving money on the table.
17 resources, including 1 document you can print
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Tax Strategy Basics — What Most Business Owners Miss
The difference between tax prep and tax strategy, and why $15K-$50K+ in savings is on the table for most profitable businesses.
Choosing the Right Entity — Sole Prop, LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp
The four common entities, when each one wins, and the rule-of-thumb income brackets for switching.
The S-Corp Strategy — Stop Paying Tax on Your Own Money
How to legally cut self-employment tax by $8K-$20K+ per year through reasonable salary and distributions.
Business Retirement Plans — Shelter $60K-$300K Per Year
Solo 401(k), SEP, SIMPLE, profit sharing, and Cash Balance plans — which one fits your size and income.
Deductions Most Business Owners Don't Know About
Augusta Rule, hiring your kids, accountable plans, cost segregation, HSAs, and 6 more strategies worth $20K-$50K.
The R&D Tax Credit — Most Companies Qualify. Most Never Claim It.
The four-part test in plain English, the industries that qualify without realizing it, and why documentation decides whether the claim holds.
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit — You Are Already Hiring
Up to $9,600 per qualifying hire, who counts, and the 28-day filing deadline that kills most claims before they start.
Cost Segregation — Your Building Is Hiding Cash
How an engineering study moves parts of a building off a 39-year schedule onto 5, 7 and 15 years, and who it actually fits.
The 179D Deduction — Energy Efficiency That Pays You Back
A per-square-foot deduction for efficient commercial buildings, plus the designer allocation architects and engineers routinely miss.
Real Estate Tax Strategies — Why the Code Loves Landlords
Depreciation, cost seg, REPS, 1031s, and the short-term rental loophole — how investors legally pay 0% federal tax.
The Tax-Smart Business Exit — Plan 5 Years Out
QSBS, installment sales, CRTs, ESOPs, Opportunity Zones — strategies that can save millions on the day you sell.
From the blog
Year-end tax moves for business owners
What still moves the needle in the last quarter of the year.
Tax-loss harvesting, explained
Turning a down position into a smaller tax bill, without wrecking your plan.
Cash balance plans for high income
The plan that shelters far more than a 401(k) when the profit is there.
Retirement Planning
Income, growth, taxes and legacy. The average person runs out of money at 78 — the plan is what changes that.
16 resources, including 1 document you can print
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The Four Pillars of Retirement Planning
Income, growth, taxes, legacy — and why the average person runs out of money at 78.
401(k) vs IRA — The Real Differences
Contribution limits, employer match, investment freedom — and why most people should max BOTH.
Traditional vs Roth — Tax Now or Tax Later?
The framework for picking the right account by your tax bracket today vs. retirement.
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
What you owe at 73, the 25% penalty for missing, and Roth conversion strategies before RMD age.
When to Claim Social Security
62 vs 67 vs 70 — the 76% benefit difference, break-even math, and spousal/survivor considerations.
Sequence of Returns Risk
Why bad market years early in retirement can wreck your plan, and three strategies to defend.
Annuities for Income
Fixed, FIA, SPIA, Variable — when each makes sense and when an annuity is the wrong tool.
From the blog
Pension lump sum vs annuity
One decision, usually made once, worth running the numbers on first.
Fixed annuities in plain English
What they do, what they cost, and who they suit.
How to read your Social Security statement
The three numbers on it that decide when you should claim.
The backdoor Roth, step by step
How high earners still get money into a Roth.
Run the numbers
Life Insurance
The one product that pays for the day nobody plans for. Most families who have it do not have enough of it.
13 resources, including 1 document you can print
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Life Insurance 101 — What It Does and Who Needs It
Who actually needs life insurance, who doesn't (yet), and why your existing 1-2× income policy is probably too small.
Term vs Whole — Two Different Tools
Why term costs a fraction of whole life, when each makes sense, and why most families end up with both.
Six Types of Life Insurance
Term, Whole, Universal, IUL, Variable, Final Expense — what each does and who it fits.
How Much Coverage Do You Need?
Three methods: multiplier, DIME, and replacement income. With a real example for a typical family.
The Riders Worth Adding
Accelerated Death Benefit, Waiver of Premium, Chronic Illness — and the one rider that's usually a trap (Return of Premium).
Six Beneficiary Mistakes
Naming your estate, listing minor kids directly, forgetting to update after divorce — quiet errors that wreck estates.
Life Insurance for Business Owners
Key person, buy-sell funding, executive bonus, Section 162 — how businesses use life insurance for continuity and retention.
The Infinite Banking Concept
Whole life insurance used as a personal banking system. Same product, different design, different purpose.
Compare side by side
Medicare
Four parts, several enrollment windows, and one or two decisions you cannot always undo. This is the part people get wrong.
11 resources, including 1 document you can print
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Medicare 101 — The 4 Parts Explained
Parts A, B, C, and D, made simple. What each covers, what they cost, and the enrollment window you can't miss.
Original Medicare vs Advantage vs Supplement
The 3 main paths through Medicare — pros, cons, and which fits your situation.
Medicare Supplement Plans, Side by Side
Plan G, Plan N, Plan F, and High Deductible G — what each covers, typical rates, and who they fit.
Extra Coverage — Hospital Indemnity, Critical Illness & DVH
Hospital indemnity, cancer/heart/stroke, and dental/vision/hearing supplements — the gaps Medicare leaves behind.
Every Enrollment Window You Can Use
IEP, AEP, MA OEP, Medigap OE, GEP, and SEPs — when each one applies and what happens if you miss them.
Switching Plans Has Real Risks
Why dropping Medigap or switching off Medicare Advantage isn't always reversible — and what to check before you do it.
Medicare vs Medicaid
Two government health programs that sound alike but aren't. Eligibility, coverage, and what dual-eligible means.
From the blog
Estate Planning
Six documents decide who speaks for you, who gets what, and how much of it the courts take on the way through.
12 resources, including 1 document you can print
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Estate Planning 101 — What It Is and Why You Need One
The 6 core documents that make up a complete estate plan, and what each one actually does.
Will vs Trust — Two Tools, Different Jobs
When you need a will, when you need a trust, and why most homeowners need both.
Six Types of Trusts
Revocable, irrevocable, special needs, charitable, spendthrift, asset protection — which one fits your goal.
What Probate Actually Costs Your Family
The 5 layers of fees, the 12-18 month timeline, and how to skip the process entirely.
When You Can't Speak For Yourself — POA & Healthcare
Durable POA, Healthcare POA, Living Will, HIPAA — what each does and what happens without them.
Estate Tax + Step-Up Basis
The 2026 exemption sunset, the biggest tax win most families miss, and where well-meaning parents go wrong.
Special Situations — When the Standard Plan Doesn't Cut It
Blended families, business owners, special needs, out-of-state property — the situations boilerplate plans miss.
Health Insurance
Coverage before 65, when there is no group plan behind you. Five paths, and the subsidy math decides most of it.
10 resources
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Health Insurance Under 65 — Your Real Options
The five paths to coverage when you're not on Medicare yet — and which one fits your situation.
The Metal Tiers — Which Marketplace Level Fits
Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum — the premium-vs-out-of-pocket trade-off and why Silver often wins with subsidies.
Health Coverage for the Self-Employed
100% deductible premiums, subsidy thresholds, and the income management strategies W-2 workers don't have access to.
Health Savings Accounts — The Triple Tax Advantage
The only account with three tax benefits, and the strategy that builds tax-free retirement medical reserves.
Short-Term Plans — When They Work, When They Don't
Cheaper than ACA but not real insurance. When the bridge product makes sense and when it's a trap.
Subsidies + Cost-Sharing Reductions
PTCs and CSRs explained. Why CSRs only apply to Silver, and how many qualify for $0 monthly premiums.
Bridging from 62 to 65 — The Pre-Medicare Gap
Four strategies for covering health when you retire early, and the subsidy-Roth synergy behind them.
From the blog
Compare side by side
Long Term Care
Seven in ten people over 65 will need care. Medicare pays for almost none of it, and the bill lands on the family.
8 resources, including 1 document you can print
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LTC 101 — The Risk Most People Plan Around Wrong
70% of Americans 65+ will need long-term care. Why Medicare doesn't cover it and what the gap costs.
What Long-Term Care Actually Costs
Real numbers by care setting: home health, assisted living, nursing home, plus inflation impact.
Traditional LTC vs Hybrid (Asset-Based)
Standalone insurance with potential premium increases vs. life-insurance-with-LTC-rider with guaranteed premiums.
What Medicare & Medicaid Actually Pay For
Medicare's 100-day skilled nursing limit, Medicaid's asset cap, and why neither is a real plan.
Aging at Home vs Moving to a Facility
The 5-stage progression most families go through, and the unpaid-caregiver tax that goes with home care.
Inflation Riders + Benefit Period Choices
The two design choices that decide whether your policy is there when you need it.
When to Buy — The Sweet Spot and Window Closing
Why 55-65 is the sweet spot, and the two-step decline of waiting.
Debt Elimination
Same income, same budget, far less interest. The order you pay things off in is worth more than most people think.
10 resources
Watch
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The Math of Debt — Why It Kills Wealth Building
The compound math working against you, and why $2,400/month in payments could be $2.7M over 30 years.
Snowball vs Avalanche — Pick the One You'll Finish
Both methods work. The deciding factor is which one you'll actually stick with.
Velocity Banking — Use Your Cash to Kill the Mortgage
Cut 10-15 years off a 30-year mortgage using a HELOC or whole life cash value as your primary account.
When Refinancing Actually Saves Money
The 0.75% rule, break-even math, and the three legitimate reasons to refi.
'Good Debt' vs 'Bad Debt' — The Distinction
The litmus test that separates wealth-building debt from wealth-destroying debt.
Pay Off Debt or Save for Retirement First?
The order of operations — when to attack debt, when to invest, and the behavioral exception.
Putting It All Together — The Integrated Plan
The 5-phase framework that combines snowball, avalanche, velocity, refi, and retirement layering into one plan.
From the blog