San Diego or Bust Company

This was the first step in my business venture. Without the IRS Rollover for Business Startups (ROBS) I would have had to withdraw my retirement savings and pay Federal and State taxes on it, which would have been a hefty sum.

Instead I hired Guidant Financial to handle the very complicated matter of navigating IRS regulations to get the money into my new business account. I was skeptical the whole time, but it worked!

They have to set you up as a C-Corporation, establish a 401(k) for the new corp, then roll your old 401(k) into the new plan. Then the magic begins… Your new 401(k) invests in the stock of your company (which is why it has to be a C-corporation). This process essentially gives you the startup funds you need to run your business.

Follow this link to the IRS description of the process. You can google Guidant Financial or find another purveyor of the setup service. They charged about 5K to do the setup and take care of everything. I might have been able to figure out how to do it on my own, but it was quite complex so I’m glad I had Guidant. I especially liked that they hired me an independent lawyer to explain everything to me.

I think the process took less than 30 days. Now I have my retirement funds to run the business without having to have paid income tax on the funds… I’m sure I saved 20% or more (ie 60K on my initial 300K of funds).

Now you see how it is San Diego or Bust!