How We Work with Business Owners
Most financial advisors build plans in isolation. We start with coordination. From your first call through ongoing review, we work directly with your CPA and attorney to ensure your tax strategy, estate plan, and business structure support each other instead of creating gaps.
THE FIVE-STEP PROCESS
From Discovery to Implementation
Working with Cinder Wealth follows a structured process designed to identify opportunities, coordinate your professional team, and implement strategies that actually reduce what you pay in taxes while protecting what you’ve built.
Step 1: Tax Strategy Review
This is a focused 30-minute conversation designed to help business owners better understand how their tax strategy, retirement planning, investments, and long-term wealth planning are currently working together. Before the meeting, we securely gather a limited amount of tax and planning information so the conversation is grounded in your actual situation, not generic assumptions. The entire process typically takes about 10 to 15 minutes on your end. Most business owners leave with a clearer understanding of where opportunities may exist, where coordination may be missing, and whether a deeper planning relationship would make sense. If it looks like there are meaningful opportunities to improve the long-term structure of your planning and family wealth, we can discuss what working together would look like. If not, you still leave with a clearer understanding of where things stand.Step 2: Discovery Call
We start by understanding your situation. What type of business do you own? What are your current tax challenges? Are you planning an exit? Who are your current advisors?
What We Cover:
- Business structure and current tax situation
- Net worth and estate planning status
- Timeline for selling, transitioning, or stepping back
- Current advisors (CPA, attorney, financial advisor)
Step 3: Assessment & Coordination
We gather information and coordinate with your existing professional team.
What We Review:
- Last 2-3 years of tax returns
- Entity structure (LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, partnership)
- Estate documents (wills, trusts, powers of attorney)
- Insurance policies, investment accounts and retirement plans
- Business financials and ownership agreements
Coordination:
We have you connect us with your CPA and Attorney (business and/or estate) to understand their perspective and identify gaps. If you’ve outgrown your current advisors, we can introduce you to specialists who work with business owners at your level.
Gap Analysis:
- Are you in the 30-43% tax bracket but only deferring through a 401k?
- Is your estate plan outdated?
- Does your buy-sell agreement funding match your current business valuation?
- Are your advisors working together or would your team benefit from a quarterback?
Step 4: Strategy Development
We build a comprehensive plan addressing income tax reduction, estate tax minimization, and business exit or succession preparation.
Integrated Planning:
- Retirement plan design coordinates with your CPA’s year-end tax strategy
- Estate trust structure aligns with your business succession timeline
- Insurance policies are titled to match your legal documents
- Investment strategy reflects your retirement and exit timeline, and tax sensitivity
Deliverable:
A written strategy outlining tax reduction opportunities, estate planning recommendations, exit readiness steps, insurance analysis, and a coordination plan showing who does what and when.
We present the strategy to you and your professional team together. Your CPA knows what the estate attorney is drafting. Your attorney knows how the retirement plan impacts tax strategy.
Step 5: Implementation
We execute the plan with your team. Your estate attorney drafts documents. Your CPA implements tax strategies. We coordinate to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
Typical Implementation:
- Opening and funding retirement accounts
- Establishing trusts and updating estate documents
- Restructuring entity ownership or creating management companies
- Implementing insurance solutions
- Positioning assets for tax-efficient growth
Timeline: 30-90 days depending on complexity.
Step 6: Ongoing Review
We meet on a regular schedule to review progress, adjust strategies, and keep your plan aligned as your business grows and tax laws change.
Review Frequency:
- Quarterly: Active exit planning or complex estate structures
- Bi-annually: Evolving tax situations or succession timelines
- Annually: Stable situations with established plans
What We Review:
Tax returns, business valuation changes, estate plan funding, market conditions, legal changes, and life events.
What Makes Our Approach Different
Coordination from Day 1
We bring your CPA and attorney into planning from the beginning. This eliminates gaps and prevents conflicts.
Proactive, Not Reactive
We plan ahead and identify opportunities early rather than waiting for tax season or health scares.
Built for Business Owners
Matt led a $300 million tech business unit coordinating engineering, product, sales, and finance teams. We bring that same systems thinking to wealth planning.
Is This the Right Fit?
Our process works best for business owners who are paying 30% in taxes or higher, have built a profitable business, and want a more coordinated long-term approach to taxes, investments, retirement planning, and family wealth.
You are likely a strong fit if:
- You own a profitable business generating approximately $500,000 or more in annual profit
- You feel like the financial side of life has become more complex as the business has grown
- Most of your advisors are working independently rather than from one coordinated strategy
- You are looking to build long-term wealth outside the business, not just reduce taxes this year
- You know you will eventually step back, sell, or retire, but have not fully mapped out what that transition looks like
- You want to work with someone who understands business owners because they are one and grew up around a family of them
This is not for everyone. If you are looking for investment-only management or a generic retirement plan review, we are probably not the right fit. What we do requires your CPA, your attorney, and us to work as a coordinated team. If you are not open to that, the results will be limited.
Schedule a Tax Strategy Review Call
Discuss your business, your tax situation, and whether our coordinated approach is the right fit.
