Business Retirement Plans

Retirement plans are the most common fiduciary exposure a business owner carries and, too often, the least understood. Whether the decision is choosing the right plan type, reviewing an existing plan’s costs, or constructing an investment menu that meets a prudent-person standard, the downstream consequences of a wrong answer, for the business, for participants, and for the owner’s own retirement, compound year after year.

Ferrante Capital advises business owners, professional practices, and self-employed individuals across the full lifecycle of retirement plan decisions. The firm’s scope covers plan type selection (Solo 401(k) for owner-only businesses, SEP-IRA for simplicity, SIMPLE IRA for small staffed employers, traditional or safe harbor 401(k) and profit sharing for larger operations, cash balance and defined benefit structures for high-income professionals), investment menu construction and review, cost and vendor benchmarking, and ongoing plan oversight.

The engagement is strictly fee-only. The firm earns no commissions, no revenue sharing, and no vendor compensation. All fees are paid directly by the plan sponsor or the plan and documented in writing before any work begins. Where an engagement requires a specific ERISA fiduciary designation, the scope of authority and corresponding responsibilities are defined in the advisory agreement rather than assumed.

For self-employed professionals with complex compensation structures (physicians, attorneys, consultants, and firm partners), the engagement also addresses the intersection of plan design and personal tax strategy, so the retirement plan works for both the business’s hiring and retention goals and the owner’s long-term financial plan.