A small business Defined Benefit plan (DB) for the right client will bring in an average of $120k* in new money each year. The entire contribution is a tax deduction for your small business or self-employed clients. And once the plan is open, the business owner is committing to contribute annually for 9 years on average. That's $1-2 Million per account.

• 45 to 70 years of age
• Earning $75,000 or more annually
• Independent consultant, professional, owner of a 1-5 person company or the self-employed
• Able to contribute a significant amount of earned income for 3-5 years or longer

Clients Who Max Out Their 401(k)s or SEPs

Which of your clients put the maximum allowed in a SEP or solo 401(k) for 2007? Either they topped out at the contribution maximum or they hit the 25% contribution ceiling on their SEP. A number of these self-employed or small business owners might qualify for a defined benefit plan which will allow them to double or triple their annual contribution. Compare retirement plans.

Clients Who are Prospering Right Now

In every economic cycle, certain businesses do well. Consider the realtors and contractors who are working with banks to take care of the thousands of houses now owned by financial institutions. Recently, we opened a defined benefit plan for a grain farmer who is making more income than ever before. Many people who took early retirement are now consulting, often back to the companies or government agencies they recently left. Their consulting income can be used to fund a defined benefit plan. Exporters are selling more due to the weak dollar. And doctors, despite fluctuating markets, are always in demand. Which of your clients are making more money this year?

Do You Have Clients Like These?

Richard, age 52, is a consultant with ongoing relationships that give him about $250,000 - 300,000 in W-2 income each year. He plans to work another 10 years. In 2007 he contributed $50,000 to a 401(k) and saved an estimated $19,000**. In 2008, he could contribute (and deduct) $133,600 to a defined benefit plan and an additional $34,300 to a 401(k) for a total contribution of $167,900 and an estimated tax savings of $63,000.

Joan, age 60 is a sole proprietor earning $70,000 each year after paying her self-employment taxes. She's married to a high-income earning executive, and they both plan to retire in five years. They don't need Joan's income to maintain their lifestyle and want to save and invest as much of it as possible. Joan could contribute $34,500 to her single person 401(k). If instead, she opens a OnePersonPlus Defined Benefit plan, she could contribute up to $70,000 each year for you to help her invest.

Work Your Book for High Value DB Prospects

Objective: Find 15 good prospects in your current book while taxes are still on their minds. Have your Assistant go through your book to identify clients with easy-to-determine characteristics:

Call and make these points in your own words:

	I know that you contributed a considerable amount to your (SEP/401(k)) 2007.
	In 2008 and future years you may be able to reduce your taxes even more because of recent changes in the tax law.
	Instead of a business retirement plan like your current ___[SEP/Simple/401k] which limits your contribution to $46,000 in 2008 ($51,000 if age 50 or older), you could start a business retirement plan that lets you contribute and deduct from taxes 2-3 times that amount annually. That is money that goes to your future retirement instead of taxes.
	A nice thing about this kind of plan is that you have pretty much complete discretion about the investments you use -- so you're not limited to something you wouldn't want to invest in with your retirement money.
	If you're interested in saving a lot more in taxes in 2008 let me run some calculations to show what you could save. I only need to know two things right now. You were born in ___. Is that right? About how much do you expect to earn from your (self-employment income/business) this year?
	Let me send you the estimate of how much you could save and then we can talk about it. I'll show you the maximum you would be able to contribute to the plan — possibly $100,000 or more — and how much that could mean in tax savings and increased retirement wealth over the years. It should take about a week for me to get the estimate of how much money you could save for 2008. I'll get back to you to talk about it after that.

Take advantage of the fact that taxes and tax savings are still on your clients' minds. They're willing to listen to your story and motivated to save money.

Get started today!

* Averages are based on first year contributions for all plans opened by Dedicated DB in 2007.

** Assumes a 38% combined Federal and state marginal tax rate