Powell United Financial Services

10/10/2026

From our sister practice, Legacy Stewards:

You've probably seen the ads promising "tax-free retirement income" from life insurance. That phrase usually describes borrowing against the policy: a loan isn't income, but it accrues interest, reduces the death benefit, and can become taxable if the policy lapses or is a modified endowment contract.

Here is the plainer version. A permanent policy, such as indexed universal life, has two jobs. The first is a death benefit that stays in place for life, as long as the policy is funded and maintained. The second is cash value that can be reached later through loans or withdrawals, which reduces the death benefit and may have tax consequences. Withdrawals above what you've paid in are generally taxable.

Some people use policy loans as one source of cash in retirement. Whether that works depends on years of funding, the policy staying in force, and what the loans cost. And the policy's charges come out every year, whether it credits anything that year or not.

If you'd like the reality rather than the pitch, we're glad to walk through it.

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.

09/10/2026

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.

08/10/2026

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.

07/10/2026

From our sister practice, Legacy Stewards:

You've probably seen ads promising "tax-free retirement income" from life insurance. That phrase usually describes borrowing against the policy: a loan isn't income, but it accrues interest, reduces the death benefit, and can become taxable if the policy lapses or is a modified endowment contract.

A permanent policy, such as indexed universal life, stays in force only as long as it is funded and maintained. Accessing its cash value through loans or withdrawals reduces the death benefit and may have tax consequences. If you'd like the reality rather than the pitch, let's talk.

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.

06/10/2026

Maxed out your 401(k)? For many business owners, that's where retirement planning starts, not where it ends.

For 2026, a 401(k) and profit-sharing plan can take up to $72,000 per person, plus catch-up at 50+. A cash balance plan, a type of defined benefit plan, can work alongside it and allow larger contributions for owners with steady profits, depending on age, pay and plan design.

If your business can set aside $250,000 or more a year for retirement, let's talk about the next layer.

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

General information, not tax advice.

29/09/2026

Here's what most business owners miss: a year-end planning session in December is mostly a debrief.

The decisions that change what lands on next spring's return - how owner compensation actually ran, whether the entity still fits, what the retirement plan looks like, what gets bought and when - all need time to implement. A conversation in the second week of December leaves you days to act on it, over a holiday, with a payroll calendar that has already mostly run.

The same conversation in October leaves you a quarter.

That is the whole argument. It isn't that slots fill up or that something expires. It is that the useful part of year-end planning is not the meeting - it is what you do afterwards, and that part needs runway.

Three things worth putting on the agenda while there is still room to act:

- Whether owner compensation matched what the year actually did
- Whether the structure you chose still fits the business you have now
- Anything that has to be decided, not just reported, before 31 December

Most firms file the past. This is the window where the future is still a decision.

Book a free 15-minute assessment: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

24/09/2026

We can tell you what your business is worth. We can tell you what selling it would likely cost in tax.

We cannot tell you, from a return, what you want to happen to it.

That second question is the one that tends to go unasked. Your business is the largest asset in two different plans - the tax plan and the estate plan - and for most owners those two plans have never been in the same room. One side knows the numbers. The other knows the intent. Neither is complete on its own.

If you were gone on Monday, the return would still say what the business earned. It would not say who runs it, whether your family should keep it or sell it, or what you would have wanted them to do.

That is not a tax question. It is worth answering anyway, and it is worth answering while you are the one answering it.

Legacy Stewards is giving away a complete estate plan. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Entries close 30 September 2026. Official Rules at mylegacystewards.com/giveaway-rules

Enter here: https://www.mylegacystewards.com/giveaway?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ls-giveaway-2026q4-via-pufs

General information, not tax advice.

Legacy Stewards is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Estate planning documents are provided by Trust & Will, an independent company. General education only - not a recommendation for any individual.

22/09/2026

Here's what most business owners miss: the way you pay yourself was a decision, and most owners haven't revisited it since they made it.

When you set it, the business was a different size. Different headcount, different profit, possibly a different entity. The split between salary and distributions made sense for that business. It may not be the right shape for this one.

This isn't a question with one right answer. It depends on your entity, what you actually do in the business day to day, what the company needs to keep on hand, and what you need to take out. Those are structural questions, and they are better asked deliberately than discovered at filing time.

Three worth bringing to a planning session:

- Has your role in the business changed since you set your compensation?
- Is the entity you chose still the entity you would choose today?
- Is the business keeping back what it needs to fund next year?

Most firms file the past. The reason to ask now is that the answer is still yours to change.

Book a free 15-minute assessment: https://scheduler.zoom.us/powell-united-financial-services

General information, not tax advice.

13/09/2026

10/09/2026

"I'll just true it up in April."

It is the most common thing we hear about quarterly estimates — and it treats April as a settling-up date. It isn't quite.

The IRS figures underpayment separately for each installment due date, so a light September stays light even after a large April payment. That makes the quarterly number a cash-flow decision, not a filing-season one.

Here's what most business owners miss: the money you don't set aside in September is money you have quietly borrowed from your own April. Same dollars, moved — plus a cost for moving them.

The third-quarter estimated payment is due Tuesday 15 September. If you are not certain your September number is right, that is the hour worth spending this week.

Map your opportunities: https://www.powellunited.com/tax-opportunity-map?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pufs-q4-runway-2026q3

General information, not tax advice.