Bottom line: transparent base pricing, incomplete public contract detail
Nexus is one of the easier ROBS providers to price from public materials. Its pricing page states one plan at $5,000 setup plus $500 per quarter for ongoing administration.[1] That supports simple arithmetic: $5,000 + ($500 × 4) = $7,000 for the first year and $5,000 + ($500 × 12) = $11,000 for three years.
The fit question is different from the price question. Nexus states that its package includes C corporation formation, plan and trust setup, rollover coordination, stock issuance, ERISA fidelity bond, Form 5500 filing, required testing, cap table and valuation recordkeeping, registered-agent renewal, filing-service fees, and annual fair market valuation.[1] Those are useful inclusions. They do not prove that every owner duty, employee issue, audit response, correction, business sale, plan termination, privacy term, or pass-through charge is covered.
What Nexus is and how the ROBS structure works
Nexus is presented on the checked official pages as Nexus 401(k) by Talcott Forge.[1][2] Talcott Forge links to the Nexus subdomain from its public site.[3] The Nexus home page metadata says the service helps use retirement savings to start or buy a business through a compliant ROBS structure with setup, administration, and required support in one place.[2]
A ROBS transaction is not a loan and not a personal withdrawal. IRS materials describe the general sequence: a C corporation sponsors a qualified retirement plan, eligible retirement assets roll or transfer into that plan, and the plan buys stock in the C corporation. The company then has capital, and the plan owns employer stock.[6][7] Because the retirement plan receives employer stock, the owner’s retirement assets become tied to the value and operation of one privately held company.
Government sources do not approve a provider’s implementation simply because the structure can be used. The IRS states that a determination letter addresses plan terms, not whether the sponsor later applies those terms correctly or operates the plan without discrimination or prohibited transactions.[6]
Pricing and calculations
The fixed public inputs are $5,000 for setup and $500 per quarter for ongoing administration. Nexus also displays $2,000 per year and a $7,000 estimated year-one cost for Nexus services.[1]
Those calculations omit state annual report, franchise tax, and business license charges that Nexus says are facilitated and billed at cost. They also omit custodian, investment, payroll, banking, legal, tax, appraisal, correction, audit, termination, exit, and unusual transaction costs unless a written Nexus agreement says otherwise.[1]
What Nexus says is included
The provider-reported setup scope is substantial for a public pricing page. Nexus lists the following setup items:[1]
Nexus also publishes provider-reported comparisons against legacy ROBS providers and ERISA/CPA firms. Those comparisons are useful as a list of Nexus positioning claims, but this review does not treat competitor prices, service gaps, or timing estimates in that table as independently verified facts.[1]
Pass-throughs, partner services, and public unknowns
Nexus draws one clear pass-through line: state annual report, franchise tax, and business license items are facilitated and billed at cost.[1] Because they are not fixed amounts, they are excluded from the $7,000 and $11,000 examples.
The pricing page also says recordkeeping and investment management, payroll and benefits, and business banking are handled through fintech partners with no setup fee.[1] That phrase does not establish renewal pricing, asset-based charges, indirect compensation, fiduciary status, data-sharing terms, cancellation terms, or whether those relationships are optional. DOL guidance says fiduciaries should understand direct and indirect compensation when hiring service providers and should monitor provider performance and fees over time.[8]
The checked Nexus terms, privacy, and contact paths returned HTTP 404.[4][5][10] For that reason, this review does not infer refund rights, cancellation rights, liability limits, dispute terms, professional-responsibility terms, privacy promises, data-retention practices, security representations, or official contact channels from those paths.
Process, owner duties, and employee plan administration
Nexus states that its process includes online application, a dedicated advisor or contact, and a typical time to funded of 2-3 weeks.[1] Treat that as a provider-reported timeline, not a closing guarantee. State formation speed, retirement-account transfer availability, custodian processing, plan adoption, banking, stock records, purchase documents, franchise approval, and lender timing can all change the schedule.
After setup, the company is not merely maintaining private records for the founder. DOL materials describe a retirement plan as having a written plan, trust, recordkeeping system, participant documents, fiduciaries, and reporting duties.[8] If employees become eligible, the sponsor needs procedures for eligibility, notices, plan entry, deferrals, contributions, investment information, participant statements, claims, distributions, and monitoring service providers.
Nexus says Form 5500 filing and required testing are included.[1] DOL says the Form 5500 Series is an annual reporting tool developed by DOL, IRS, and PBGC and that Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF filings must be made electronically through EFAST2.[9] The written agreement should say what information the owner must provide, what happens if census data is late or wrong, who reviews the filing, and how amended or delinquent filings are handled.
Valuation, audit, correction, and exit questions
Valuation matters because the plan is buying and later holding employer stock. Nexus states that cap table and valuation recordkeeping are included and its comparison table lists annual fair market valuation as included.[1] IRS materials identify valuation of employer stock as a ROBS concern, including appraisals that may lack support.[6][7] The public Nexus pages checked do not identify the appraiser, valuation standard, method, independence, material-event pricing, sale support, stock-redemption support, or correction process if a valuation proves stale or inadequate.
Audit and correction support also need written detail. Nexus uses compliance-support positioning and includes several compliance-adjacent items, but the checked public pages do not publish who represents the sponsor in an IRS or DOL inquiry, whether an ERISA attorney or CPA is included, which years are covered, whether privilege applies, whether government penalties or outside professional fees are excluded, or whether support continues after cancellation.[1] DOL describes correction options such as VFCP and DFVCP, while the IRS ROBS page discusses compliance checks and adverse tax consequences when plan operations fail.[6][8]
Exit support is another public unknown. A sale, shutdown, insolvency, plan termination, stock redemption, new investor, partner exit, or conversion away from a C corporation can require coordinated plan, corporate, tax, valuation, and benefits work. The checked Nexus pages do not publish a complete exit-service schedule or fee schedule for those events.
Alternatives to compare before choosing Nexus
Nexus may be a reasonable provider to include in a ROBS shortlist when published pricing and bundled administration are priorities. It should still be compared against alternatives using the same facts: rollover amount, remaining retirement diversification, business risk, employee plan complexity, timing, total project cost, and available financing.
Questions to get answered in writing
Use these questions to normalize Nexus against any other provider quote. Written answers are more useful than a broad statement that services are bundled.
Responsible next steps
Start with the published numbers, then turn them into a complete written quote. The quote should show what is included, what is billed at cost, what is handled by partners, what is excluded, and what changes the price. If the business has employees, a near-term sale, multiple owners, unusual rollover assets, current-employer plan restrictions, or existing compliance issues, involve the appropriate attorney, CPA, valuation professional, lender, or retirement-plan administrator before relying on a provider package.
401kROBS.com may receive referral or advertising compensation from some providers. Compensation does not determine inclusion, factual treatment, page order, internal links, or conclusions. This page does not use a score, star rating, award, endorsement, customer-review claim, or provider approval claim.
Sources used for this review
These sources are included so readers and editors can reproduce the pricing, mechanics, and limitations in this review. Provider sources support what Nexus or Talcott Forge says. IRS and DOL sources support government-described ROBS and plan-administration issues.
- 1. Nexus 401(k) by Talcott Forge pricing
Nexus pricing page stating $5,000 one-time setup plus $500 per quarter, included setup and ongoing scope, at-cost state annual report/franchise tax/business license items, fintech partner language, and provider-reported comparison claims. Accessed July 30, 2026.
- 2. Nexus 401(k) by Talcott Forge home
Nexus home page metadata identifying Nexus 401(k) by Talcott Forge and describing retirement-savings funding to start or buy a business through a compliant ROBS structure. Reader-mode selected an RSS alternate, so raw HTML metadata was checked. Accessed July 30, 2026.
- 3. Talcott Forge
Talcott Forge site linking to Nexus by Talcott Forge and describing its mission as empowering sovereign founders. Accessed July 30, 2026.
- 4. Nexus terms path
Checked for public terms, refund, cancellation, liability, and engagement boundaries; returned HTTP 404. Accessed July 30, 2026.
- 5. Nexus privacy path
Checked for public privacy, security, data-retention, and contact-data boundaries; returned HTTP 404. Accessed July 30, 2026.
- 6. IRS Rollovers as Business Start-Ups Compliance Project
IRS page describing ROBS, determination-letter limits, Form 5500/Form 1120 issues, employee access, discrimination, valuation, promoter-fee, business-failure, and adverse-tax-consequence concerns. Page last reviewed or updated November 16, 2025; accessed July 30, 2026.
- 7. IRS ROBS Examination Guidelines
IRS Employee Plans memorandum dated October 1, 2008 describing typical ROBS steps, C corporation formation, qualified plan adoption, rollover or trustee-to-trustee transfer, employer-stock purchase, nondiscrimination, prohibited-transaction, and valuation concerns. Accessed July 30, 2026.
- 8. DOL EBSA Meeting Your Fiduciary Responsibilities
DOL publication describing plan documents, trusts, recordkeeping, participant information, fiduciary status, prudence, service-provider selection and monitoring, fees, participant disclosures, employer stock, bonding, reporting, correction programs, and termination duties. Accessed July 30, 2026.
- 9. DOL EBSA Form 5500 Series
DOL Form 5500 Series page stating the Form 5500 Series was jointly developed by DOL, IRS, and PBGC and that Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF filings must be electronic through EFAST2. Accessed July 30, 2026.
- 10. Nexus contact path
Checked for a public contact-channel page; returned HTTP 404. Accessed July 30, 2026.
Does Nexus publish exact ROBS pricing?
Yes. Nexus states one plan at $5,000 one-time setup plus $500 per quarter for ongoing administration. That is provider-reported pricing, not an independent assessment of total project cost.[1]
What does the $7,000 first-year number include?
The reproducible calculation is $5,000 setup plus four $500 quarters. It excludes at-cost government and business charges, partner costs after any no-setup-fee arrangement, and any unquoted professional, correction, audit, or exit work.[1]
Does Nexus handle Form 5500?
Nexus states that ongoing administration includes Form 5500 filing.[1] DOL describes Form 5500 as part of annual employee-benefit-plan reporting, and Form 5500/Form 5500-SF filings must be electronic through EFAST2.[9]
Does this review recommend Nexus?
It gives a bounded fit assessment. Nexus may fit readers who value published base pricing and a bundled setup-administration scope, but the same provider source leaves pass-through, partner, timeline, and included-service boundaries that need written confirmation before a buyer relies on the package.[1]