Business Risk Management, Insurance, Compliance, Employee Benefits, Retention & Peace of Mind
Group Benefits Increase quality of life and improve your bottom line
401k - when you pop open the hood last time and analyze the fees?
- High Turnover? Let's talk about Human Capital Retention strategies
- Corporate Compliance and HR - Let's look at the structure. We hear the assistant's story who grew to be a manager and now is the controller almost daily. Provide the tools to ensure total corporate well-being.
- Group Life, Disability, Health, and benefit maximization.
- Succession Planning
- Partnership Buyout. Documents, funding strategies.
Protect the Engine of Your Business
Key person protection, buy–sell funding, partner succession, and golden handcuffs—built to stabilize cash flow, reduce avoidable taxes, and keep ownership in control.
BBB A+ Rated • Fiduciary Standard • Guaranteed, Institutionally Backed Instruments
Schedule My Complimentary Strategy SessionStability, Continuity, and Control
When owners, partners, or top producers face death or disability, the company faces revenue loss, lender pressure, and buyout uncertainty. These tools fund the plan before a crisis:
- Key Person Life & Disability — replaces lost revenue and buys time to recruit and recover.
- Buy–Sell Funding — ensures the business (or partner) has immediate cash to complete the agreed buyout.
- Partner Succession — turns a legal document into a liquid event (not a scramble).
- Golden Handcuffs — executive retention using tax-aware designs (NQDC, split-dollar, bonus/restrictive plans).
Our goal: redirect dollars you’d otherwise lose to inefficiency or taxes into guarantees that protect your company and ownership.
Facts & Tax Treatment You Should Know
- Key Person Life premiums are generally not deductible; death benefits are generally income-tax-free if rules are met. See 26 CFR §1.264-1 (premium non-deductibility) and IRC §101(a)/§101(j) employer-owned life insurance (notice/consent + Form 8925).
- Employer-Owned Life Insurance (EOLI) requires notice & consent before issue and annual reporting on Form 8925 to preserve tax-favored treatment.
- Buy–Sell with life insurance can create immediate liquidity; proceeds are generally received on a tax-favored basis; cash values grow tax-deferred.
- Business Overhead Expense (BOE) disability premiums are typically tax-deductible; benefits are taxable but used to pay tax-deductible overhead (rent, utilities, staff).
- Golden Handcuffs via NQDC (Section 409A) can defer current income taxes for select executives if designed correctly; strict timing, funding, and distribution rules apply.
- Split-Dollar (executive retention/handcuffs): final regulations govern income, employment, and gift tax treatment; IRS guidance consolidated in Pub 5962.
Translation: with proper design, you can often pay less in current taxes and spend more on your company and people—while building guaranteed protection.
The TUSK Design
We operate as fiduciaries. We coordinate legal structure, carriers, and tax rules—so the plan works when it matters.
1) Diagnose
Owner goals, lender requirements, partner agreements, revenue dependencies, tax posture.
2) Design
Key person life/disability, cross-purchase or entity buy–sell, golden handcuffs (NQDC/split-dollar), BOE disability.
3) Implement
Carrier selection, notice & consent (EOLI), Form 8925 support, owner/partner signatures, funding schedules.
4) Steward
Annual review: amounts, valuation, beneficiary/ownership checks, compliance & cost optimization.
Pay Less in Taxes. Protect More of What You Built.
We’ll show you how to redirect unnecessary tax outflow and fund guarantees that stabilize your company and your legacy. Your first Zoom strategy session is complimentary. We’re paid by carriers—not by you.
Schedule My Complimentary Strategy Session Download Owner Playbook (PDF)BBB A+ Rated • Fiduciary Standard • Guaranteed Instruments • Trusted Nationwide
FAQ
Are key person life premiums deductible?
Generally no. Premiums aren’t deductible when the business is directly or indirectly the beneficiary; see 26 CFR §1.264-1.
If the policy is employer-owned, follow notice/consent rules and file Form 8925 annually.
Can buy–sell agreements reduce chaos and taxes?
Properly funded agreements create immediate liquidity, often with tax-favored life-insurance proceeds, and may help establish value for estate purposes.
How do “golden handcuffs” work?
Nonqualified deferred compensation (409A) can defer current income taxes for select executives if designed and administered correctly;
split-dollar arrangements are governed by final regs and IRS Pub 5962.
Are there deductible protection options?
Business Overhead Expense (BOE) disability insurance premiums are typically deductible; benefits are taxable but used to pay tax-deductible overhead.
References
- 26 CFR §1.264-1, Premiums on life insurance taken out in a trade or business.
- IRS Form 8925 and EOLI guidance (IRC §101(j)) — notice & consent + annual reporting.
- NFP, An Overview of Buy-Sell Arrangements (life-insurance funding benefits; estate valuation notes).
- IRS Nonqualified Deferred Compensation (Audit Technique Guide) + industry overview of 409A.
- IRS Pub 5962 & Treasury Final Regs on Split-Dollar Arrangements.
- Business Overhead Expense disability—deductibility and treatment.
- IRS Pub 15-B (Fringe Benefits) for employer tax treatment context.
This page is for educational purposes only and not tax or legal advice. TUSK coordinates with your CPA and attorney to implement the appropriate structure.
How do you connect all the parts and ensure your risk management is tailored to your ever-changing life?
You are the best at what you do. We believe clients should focus on their business.
Our clients are aware and informed of all steps in our process.
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