As a dental professional, you dedicate your career to precision work that improves patients’ lives. Shouldn’t your retirement plan receive the same meticulous attention to detail? At Rea, we believe your financial future deserves the same care you provide in your practice.
Dental practices face unique challenges when establishing retirement plans. From solo practitioners to multi-location practice owners, finding the right balance between current operational needs and future financial security requires specialized knowledge of both the dental industry and retirement planning.
Matching Retirement Solutions to Your Practice Life Cycle
Your retirement planning needs evolve as your practice grows. Understanding these stages helps create a plan that maximizes benefits at each phase of your career.
For new dentists or those just establishing their practice, a standard Safe Harbor 401(k) plan provides a solid foundation. This allows you to begin building retirement assets while managing the cash flow demands of a developing practice.
Mid-career practitioners with established patient bases and stronger profitability can benefit from combining a Safe Harbor401(k) with profit sharing. This combination can more than double your annual contributions. This approach works particularly well for practices with stable income and a desire to accelerate retirement savings.
Dentists approaching retirement with highly profitable practices should consider a cash balance plan in addition to traditional 401(k) options. These plans can dramatically accelerate your savings, potentially allowing contributions exceeding $300,000 annually depending on your age and practice profitability. For many dental professionals, these final years represent the peak earning opportunity to build retirement security.
Practitioners with multiple locations require customized solutions that scale with practice growth while maintaining compliance across the entire organization.
Common Retirement Planning Challenges for Dental Practices
Dental practices face several distinct challenges when establishing retirement plans:
Owner-Staff Balance: Creating a plan that maximizes owner contributions while providing appropriate benefits for staff requires careful design. Many dental practices inadvertently structure plans that shift benefits away from owners.
Compliance Complexities: Retirement plans must satisfy numerous regulatory requirements, including non-discrimination testing that considers the unique compensation structures common in dental practices.
Administrative Burden: Managing retirement plans adds administrative work to practices already dealing with complex billing, scheduling, and clinical documentation.
Integration with Practice Value: For many dentists, their practice represents a significant retirement asset in addition to their retirement plan. Coordinating these elements requires comprehensive financial planning.
Our team at Rea understands these challenges because we specialize in dental accounting services and retirement planning for dental professionals.
Comprehensive Retirement Services Tailored for Dental Practices
Successful retirement planning for dental practices requires more than just setting up a basic 401(k). Our comprehensive approach includes:
Plan Design & Implementation: We help dental practices design retirement plans that maximize personal contributions at every career stage. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or managing multiple locations, we create solutions that align with your specific goals.
Compliance & Administration: Our experienced advisors ensure your plan remains compliant with the ever-changing regulations while minimizing the administrative burden on your practice. This includes plan document maintenance, non-discrimination testing, Form 5500 preparation and filing, participant disclosures, audit support and ongoing consulting.
Ongoing Optimization & Support: We continuously monitor your plan’s performance and provide strategic recommendations through annual plan reviews, fee evaluations, investment monitoring, and employee education support.
Making Your Retirement Plan Work for You
Unlike generic retirement planning, dental-specific retirement planning focuses on ensuring that you—not just your staff—maximize the benefits of your practice’s retirement plan.
This means understanding exactly who benefits and by how much from your practice’s retirement plan, coordinating compensation strategy to avoid inadvertently shifting retirement benefits away from owners, and integrating retirement planning with your overall practice management and succession strategy.
With Rea’s experienced dental industry team who understands the financial nuances of your practice working alongside retirement plan specialists, we create solutions tailored specifically to your practice’s needs.
Taking the Next Step
Your dental practice deserves a retirement plan as precisely crafted as your clinical work. Whether you’re just starting your practice, at mid-career, or approaching retirement, now is the time to ensure your retirement plan is optimized for your specific situation.
Contact our dental industry specialists today for a complimentary retirement plan review. Our team will analyze your current plan or help you establish one that aligns with your personal and practice goals.
Other Helpful Resources;
Internal Revenue Service, Retirement Plans for Small Business
Department of Labor, Retirement Plans and ERISA Compliance
Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network®, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Additional advisory services offered by Rea Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Adviser, and fixed insurance products and services are separate and unrelated to Commonwealth
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