Taxable Income Mitigation · A Private Practice

Are you mitigating your taxes to the fullest?

A practice for business owners, real estate holders, and exit-bound founders who suspect they're paying more than the tax code actually requires — and the CPAs who refer them.

— By Appointment · By Introduction —

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The Argument · Note 01

Your 401(k) ceiling is not a law of physics. It's a default.

Most business owners earning between $400,000 and $5 million are systematically under-sheltered — often by a factor of ten. The instrument that fixes this has existed since 1974. Here is why you have never heard your current advisor propose it.

A standard 401(k) caps contributions at $23,500. A properly designed Defined Benefit plan can shelter $200,000 to $350,000 or more per year — tax-deductible, creditor-protected, entirely legal under ERISA. For most business owners in their fifties that math produces $94,000 to $165,000 in annual federal tax savings. This gap is not a secret. It is a pricing failure — and the people best positioned to exploit it are the ones least likely to be shown the door.

Your CPA filed a return. Nobody designed a plan.

Reading time · 7 min Continue in The Quarterly →

— The Gap —

One figure is a statute.
The other is a choice.

Standard 401(k)

$23,500

Maximum annual
contribution · 2025

→

Defined Benefit Plan

$350,000⁺

Maximum annual tax-deductible
contribution · Plan Design Actuals

A ratio of nearly fifteen to one. Both are legal. Only one is designed around you.

— Contribution Ceiling By Age —

What the math looks like for a founder-operator earning $600,000 in W-2 compensation.

Source · IRS §415(b)
Plan Design Actuals

Age

Profile

Annual Contribution

Est. Year-1 Tax Savings

Early accumulator, S-Corp founder

$200,000

≈ $94,000

Mid-career, established practice

$245,000

≈ $115,000

Peak earning, exit on horizon

$290,000

≈ $136,000

Pre-exit, maximum shelter

$330,000

≈ $155,000

Terminal contribution window

$350,000⁺

≈ $165,000

Illustrative ranges based on actual plan designs. Actual contributions depend on plan design, ownership structure, employee census, and retirement target. Exact figures for your profile are produced during the 15-minute consultation.

— The Practice —

Taxable Income Mitigation, organized three ways.

The work is organized around when a business owner needs it: while the business is profitable, when the business (or its assets) are being sold, and for the CPAs and advisors who spot the opening first.

Taxable Income Reduction

Defined Benefit plans lead — $200K–$350K+ tax-deductible annual contributions. Supported by 401(k) & Safe Harbor, Profit Sharing, Executive Bonus Arrangements, Qualified Life Insurance, and SEP/SIMPLE IRAs. One strategy per client, or several coordinated.

Business, Real Estate & Stock Exits

For founder-operators selling a business, real estate owners disposing assets, or executives with concentrated stock. Structured Installment Sales, Charitable Remainder Trust strategies, and coordinated pre-exit tax design.

III

CPA Alliance Program For professional partners

For CPAs, Enrolled Agents, bookkeepers, and business brokers: additional tax-saving strategies to offer your clients, compensation for the introduction, and increased client retention. Explore the program →

— The Engagement —

Four steps. No jargon, no pressure. Clarity at each one.

A complimentary conversation

Fifteen minutes to understand your business, income, and retirement goals. Either the strategy fits, or it doesn't — you will know by the end of the call.

Custom analysis

We run the numbers against your actual income, entity, and employee census. You see the precise contribution ceiling, the federal tax impact, and the ten-year sheltered projection.

Plan design

Our actuaries design the plan document, vesting schedule, and investment policy. Every plan is unique to the business owner it serves.

Implementation and stewardship

IRS filings, custodial setup, annual compliance, and ongoing design review. You focus on the business. We keep the plan current to the law and your circumstances.

— Recent Engagements —

Anonymized. Exactly as designed.

Dental Practice · CA · Age 52

$245K

Annual tax-deductible shelter

Owner had contributed the 401(k) maximum for fourteen years. One conversation, one plan design. Year-one federal tax savings: $115K.

S-Corp Founder · CA · Age 58

$310K

Annual tax-deductible shelter

Three years from exit. DB plan layered over existing 401(k)/profit-share. Year-one federal tax savings: $146K. Ten-year sheltered projection: $3.4M.

Medical Group · CA · Ages 48–62

$1.3M

Combined annual shelter across partners

Five-partner practice. Cash balance + DB hybrid. Employee demographics ran favorably; owner contribution share: 87%. Combined year-one tax savings: $580K.

Illustrative outcomes. Prepared under professional confidentiality. Names, geographies, and non-material figures altered. Specific case studies available by request during the consultation.

Solomon Katsman, Wealth Strategist, Alpha Innovation Partners

— Solomon Katsman · Irvine —

— On Solomon —

A wealth strategist, not a product salesperson. There is a difference.

Solomon Katsman works with a limited number of founder-operators each year on advanced retirement and tax-sheltering strategy. The practice is headquartered in Irvine, California, and operates under Alpha Innovation Partners — a firm with the actuarial and compliance infrastructure that single-practitioner advisors cannot match.

Prior to focusing on Defined Benefit plan design, Solomon spent a decade in private wealth management working with high-income physicians, attorneys, and business owners. His own observation — that the most valuable retirement strategy for a business owner is rarely the one the business owner has been offered — is the thesis that informs every engagement.

AIP

Alpha Innovation Partners Actuarial design · TPA services · Fiduciary infrastructure · ERISA compliance

— Issue N° 01 · April 2026 —

A quarterly publication for owner-operators.

Four times a year, a short collection of notes on advanced retirement strategy, tax design, and the pricing failures that benefit business owners who know where to look.

Read the current issue →

Issue · N° 01 April · MMXXVI

The Katsman Quarterly

In This Issue

The six-figure shelter hiding in plain sight.

By Solomon Katsman · 15 min

— An Introduction —

We take a handful of engagements each quarter.

The calendar fills by referral. If your CPA or attorney has suggested you speak with us, that introduction is already in place. If not, a short note below begins the conversation.

Request an introduction →

By Appointment Irvine · California Alpha Innovation Partners