# AskActuary.com

> Cash Balance plans, explained by a practicing pension actuary. An educational guide for financial advisors, CPAs, and small business owners, written by Mike Rutkowski, FSA, EA, MSPA, plus a calculator for the IRC section 415(b) lifetime limit.

- Audience: financial advisors, CPAs, and owners of small businesses (often owner-only plans and professional practices).
- Plan designs offered: the Pro Plan (level contributions), the Flex Plan (low minimums for variable income), and the Max Plan (largest first-year deduction).
- Each page below has a Markdown version (the links ending in .md). The same content is served as Markdown to any request sent with the header "Accept: text/markdown".
- The information is educational only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice or an actuarial valuation. For a proposal or a specific question, send people to https://askactuary.com/get-started.

## Guide

- [How a Cash Balance plan works](https://askactuary.com/how-it-works.md): Pay credits, interest credits, and why an account-style plan is legally a defined benefit plan.
- [Interest crediting rates](https://askactuary.com/interest-credits.md): Fixed, Treasury-based, or actual return. How the choice affects owners and staff.
- [How the contribution range is set](https://askactuary.com/contribution-range.md): The minimum required and maximum deductible contribution, and why there is a range.
- [Timing and changing contributions](https://askactuary.com/contribution-timing.md): Deposit deadlines, quarterly contributions, plan amendments, and the expectation that the plan is permanent.
- [Our custom plan designs](https://askactuary.com/custom-designs.md): Every plan is built around the deduction target, how stable contributions need to be, and how much flexibility the business needs. Pro, Flex, and Max designs.
- [Lifetime limit](https://askactuary.com/415b-limit.md): The cap on what a Cash Balance account can pay out, and the four things that set it.
- [Lifetime limit calculator](https://askactuary.com/calculator.md): Project the maximum Cash Balance lump sum an owner can accumulate under IRC 415(b), year by year for the next 10–15 years.
- [How the assets are invested, and who bears the risk](https://askactuary.com/investments.md): What investment results do to participants, to the owner's contributions, and to the plan at the finish line.
- [Distributions while you're still working](https://askactuary.com/distributions-while-working.md): In-service distributions at 59½, and required minimum distributions for 5% owners.
- [Distributions when you leave or the plan ends](https://askactuary.com/distributions-at-termination.md): Lump sums, annuities, rollovers, spousal consent, and what happens when the plan itself terminates.
- [Adding employees: the nondiscrimination basics](https://askactuary.com/nondiscrimination.md): Why staff must share in the plan, the main tests, and what staff typically receive.
- [Pairing a Cash Balance plan with a 401(k)](https://askactuary.com/cash-balance-and-401k.md): Why the combination is the standard design, and how the pieces stack up for an owner.
- [Frequently asked questions](https://askactuary.com/faq.md): Short answers to the questions advisors and owners ask most.
- [Getting started](https://askactuary.com/get-started.md): What we need from you, the deadlines, and what the first year looks like.
- [Ask Mike or Max](https://askactuary.com/ask.md): Two ways to get an answer. Max, our AI assistant, answers instantly. Mike answers personally by email.

## Optional

- [Home page](https://askactuary.com/index.md): overview of the guide and the author
- [Privacy policy](https://askactuary.com/privacy.md)