Powell United Financial Services

Home
Powell United Financial Services

Call Website Contact the business

Proactive tax strategy, clean bookkeeping, payroll support and CFO-level guidance for owner-led healthcare and care-service businesses across Texas.
(1)

Physician, dental, therapy and home-care practices doing $1M–$20M. Houston-based, serving all of Texas.

28/10/2026

Before you commit to a cash balance plan, answer these five questions honestly:

1. Can the business fund it every year? Contributions are required, within a range the actuary sets, and aren't meant to be skipped in a slow year. If plan investments earn less than the interest credit, the business makes up the difference.
2. Is your horizon several years? These plans are meant to be permanent, not a one-year move.
3. What will covering your team cost? Staff benefits are part of every design.
4. Who will run it? You'll need an enrolled actuary, an annual Form 5500 filing, and possibly PBGC premiums, depending on your firm's size and profession.
5. How would it end? Know how a plan is frozen or terminated, and how benefits are paid out, before you start.

If the answers hold up and you can commit $250,000 or more a year to retirement plans, the next step is a design comparison.

Book a planning call: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

27/10/2026

From our sister practice, Legacy Stewards:

Before any conversation about cash value, ask: do you need coverage that lasts for life? If not, term insurance plus separate savings is cheaper and simpler, and for a lot of people it's the right answer.

When permanent coverage does fit, it asks for consistent funding over many years, and early surrender charges mean cash value can sit below what you've paid in for many years. Coverage stays in place for life only as long as the policy is funded and maintained.

Book a short call: https://www.mylegacystewards.com/permanent-life-insurance?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ls-permlife-2026q4

Legacy Stewards is an insurance practice based in Houston, Texas. Insurance is offered through Matthew Alan Powell, a licensed Texas General Lines Agent for Life, Accident, Health and HMO, Texas licence no. 3064891. Legacy Stewards is not a law firm, and nothing on this page creates an attorney-client relationship or constitutes legal, tax, or investment advice. This page is general education, not an offer of insurance or a recommendation for your situation. Life insurance is issued by an insurance company, and every guarantee rests on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurer. Policy features, charges, and availability vary by product and by state, and not every feature described here is available in every state. Projected values are not guaranteed and rest on assumptions that may change. Accessing cash value through loans or withdrawals reduces the death benefit and may have tax consequences, including if a policy lapses with a loan outstanding or becomes a modified endowment contract. Please consult qualified legal, tax, or insurance professionals before purchasing any insurance product.

26/10/2026

Five questions before committing to a cash balance plan: Can the business fund it every year? Is your horizon several years? What will covering your team cost? Who will administer it? How would it end? If the answers hold up, the next step is a design comparison.

Book a call: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

25/10/2026

Here's what most business owners with strong profits miss: a 401(k) was never built to hold everything you can afford to save.

For 2026, the most that can go into a 401(k) and profit-sharing plan for one person is $72,000, plus catch-up contributions if you're 50 or older. Owners with steady, healthy profits can reach that ceiling quickly.

A cash balance plan works differently. It's a type of defined benefit plan, so the IRS limits the benefit it can provide ($290,000 a year for 2026) rather than setting a flat annual contribution cap. What can go in each year is worked backward from that benefit, so the room depends on age, pay and years in the plan, and tends to be larger closer to retirement.

If your business can commit $250,000 or more a year to qualified retirement plans, the question isn't whether you've maxed out. It's what the next layer looks like, and how it's designed alongside the plan you already have.

Book a planning call: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

24/10/2026

What is a cash balance plan, in plain English?

It's a defined benefit plan (a pension) that looks like a 401(k) to the people in it. Each year, every participant's account gets a pay credit and an interest credit set by the plan. The business funds it, and an actuary sets the required contribution each year.

For owners with steady profits, it can allow much larger retirement contributions than a 401(k) alone.

Book a call: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

23/10/2026

Owner-centric is the right goal for a cash balance plan. Owner-only usually isn't an option, and that's worth understanding before you get attached to a number.

A qualified plan has to treat staff fairly under IRS rules. A cash balance plan generally has to provide meaningful benefits to at least 40% of eligible employees (or 50 people, if fewer), and the full arrangement has to pass nondiscrimination testing.

In practice, your team receives contributions too. Plan design decides how much. The goal is a design that keeps the owner share as large as the rules allow while the staff cost stays reasonable for the business.

For many owners the trade still makes sense: staff contributions are generally deductible and can help with retention. But it's a calculation, not an assumption.

Bring your census and your goal, and we'll help you see the math.

Book a planning call: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

22/10/2026

Owner-centric doesn't mean staff-free. A cash balance plan generally has to cover at least 40% of eligible employees (or 50, if fewer) with meaningful benefits and pass fairness testing. Good design keeps the owner share high and the staff cost reasonable. It's a calculation worth running before you decide.

Run the numbers with us: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

21/10/2026

From our sister practice, Legacy Stewards:

Heard "it never loses money"? The floor and the cap limit the index credit in both directions, but the policy's charges still come out every year, so the cash value itself can go down.

Here's how indexed crediting works in plain terms. The cash value isn't placed in the market, and you don't own the index. The insurer credits interest using a formula tied to an index's movement, with a floor underneath and a cap on top. The insurer can change the cap after issue, within limits the policy sets.

The floor and the cap are one trade, not two separate features. Features that reduce swings reduce them in both directions. And the charges for the insurance and the policy come out whether the policy credits anything that year or not.

That's why a thinly funded policy is more likely to lapse as charges rise with age, and why projected values rest on assumptions that may change.

Ask us to walk through a policy's total charges in dollars, not percentages.

Book a short call: https://www.mylegacystewards.com/permanent-life-insurance?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ls-permlife-2026q4

Legacy Stewards is an insurance practice based in Houston, Texas. Insurance is offered through Matthew Alan Powell, a licensed Texas General Lines Agent for Life, Accident, Health and HMO, Texas licence no. 3064891. Legacy Stewards is not a law firm, and nothing on this page creates an attorney-client relationship or constitutes legal, tax, or investment advice. This page is general education, not an offer of insurance or a recommendation for your situation. Life insurance is issued by an insurance company, and every guarantee rests on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurer. Policy features, charges, and availability vary by product and by state, and not every feature described here is available in every state. Projected values are not guaranteed and rest on assumptions that may change. Accessing cash value through loans or withdrawals reduces the death benefit and may have tax consequences, including if a policy lapses with a loan outstanding or becomes a modified endowment contract. Please consult qualified legal, tax, or insurance professionals before purchasing any insurance product.

20/10/2026

Here's what most business owners miss about retirement-plan timing: the legal deadline and the useful deadline aren't the same.

The rules allow a new employer-funded plan, including a cash balance plan, to be adopted as late as the business's tax filing deadline, including extensions, and still count for that tax year. That flexibility is real. One catch: a cash balance plan's funding deadline, 8½ months after the plan year ends, can arrive before an extended filing deadline.

But the work that makes a plan worth having takes time: an employee census, design options from an actuary, testing against your team, and a cash-flow plan for funding it. Owners who start in the fall can compare designs and choose. Starting in the spring leaves less room to compare.

Two things also can't wait: 401(k) deferrals have to come out of pay, and your year-end tax projection should reflect the plan before the year closes.

If you're considering $250,000 or more a year toward retirement plans, start your year-end review now.

Book a planning call: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

19/10/2026

Your practice may be one of your largest assets, but value is shaped by more than revenue. A structured business value discussion can surface dependencies, risks, and opportunities to prepare for growth, financing, or a future transition. Powell United can help you organize the financial picture and identify the next questions to explore with the appropriate valuation, legal, insurance, and tax professionals. Message us to start a conversation. DISCLAIMER: Educational information only. This is not a certified appraisal or valuation opinion and does not constitute tax, legal, investment, or insurance advice. Any estimate is not a guarantee of sale price or outcome.

Address

16850 Saturn Lane, Ste 100
TX
77058

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+14096923882

Website

http://www.powellunited.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Powell United Financial Services posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.