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401kROBSCheck eligibility

Free tool · private in your browser

Compare ROBS costs, taxable withdrawal taxes, and loan payments.

Use the same funding target to compare three simplified paths: a ROBS arrangement, a personal taxable retirement distribution, and an amortizing business loan. The calculator separates business cash, direct costs, gross withdrawal, monthly payment, and total financing cost so one number is not mistaken for another.

ROBS vs taxable withdrawalROBS vs business loanIRS ROBS rules

Enter the seven assumptions

All seven fields are required and stay in your browser. Invalid or cleared values show an error and replace every result with “Not calculated” rather than a plausible number.

Target business cash after taxes, penalties, or loan proceeds. Required. Range: 1 to 5000000 dollars; precision: nearest whole dollar.

Enter your estimated federal marginal rate; state taxes are excluded. Required. Range: 0 to 90 percent; precision: nearest quarter percentage point.

Default 10% reflects the general IRS additional tax on many early distributions before exceptions. [3] Required. Range: 0 to 25 percent; precision: nearest quarter percentage point.

ROBS cost assumptions

Setup, provider, or professional implementation cost you want to model. Required. Range: 0 to 50000 dollars; precision: nearest whole dollar.

Recurring administration cost you want to model; the calculator multiplies it by 60 months. Required. Range: 0 to 5000 dollars; precision: nearest whole dollar.

Loan assumptions

Nominal annual percentage rate used for monthly amortization. Required. Range: 0 to 50 percent; precision: nearest quarter percentage point.

Repayment term; must be greater than zero. Required. Range: 1 to 30 years; precision: nearest quarter-year.

ROBS direct cost

$14,000

Setup cash: $5,000; retained funding: $150,000

Taxable withdrawal cost

$77,273

Gross withdrawal: $227,273; retained funding: $150,000

Loan financing cost

$59,175

$2,490/mo; total paid: $209,175

What the numbers mean

ROBS direct cost

Setup cost plus 60 months of administration. It is a cost estimate, not cash available to the business and not a measure of retirement investment risk. The ROBS compliance context includes a qualified plan purchasing new C corporation stock with rollover assets. [1]

Taxable withdrawal cost

The extra gross distribution needed to leave the target business cash after the entered tax rate and penalty. It assumes the whole distribution is taxable and no exception applies. [2][3]

Loan financing cost

Total fully amortizing payments minus principal. Monthly payment is a cash-flow requirement; total interest cost is shown separately so it is not compared as if it were business proceeds.

How the calculator works

  • ROBS five-year direct cost = setup cost + monthly administration cost × 60.
  • Taxable gross withdrawal = funding needed ÷ (1 − (tax rate + early-distribution additional-tax rate) ÷ 100). The tax plus penalty total must stay below 100%. [2][3]
  • Loan payment = P × r × (1+r)^n ÷ ((1+r)^n − 1), where r is annual rate ÷ 12 and n is years × 12. If r = 0, payment = P ÷ n.
  • Displayed dollars round to the nearest whole dollar after calculation. Contract tests compare unrounded values.

Inputs, ranges, and defaults

  • Funding needed: $1 to $5,000,000; default $150,000.
  • Tax rate: 0% to 90%; default 24%. Early-distribution additional tax: 0% to 25%; default 10%.
  • ROBS setup: $0 to $50,000; monthly administration: $0 to $5,000; defaults $5,000 and $150.
  • Loan APR: 0% to 50%; term: 1 to 30 years; defaults 10% and 7 years.

Cost is not risk.

ROBS may show lower direct financing cost while placing retirement capital into one private C corporation. The tool excludes investment performance, C corporation income tax, payroll, valuation, nondiscrimination, Form 5500/1120/1099-R, legal, tax, closing, origination, collateral, personal-guarantee, and state-tax effects. IRS ROBS materials identify Form 5500, Form 1120, valuation, promoter-fee, and compliance issues without approving any individual arrangement. [1]

Privacy

This calculator has no submit button, account creation, saved scenario, provider match, tracking pixel, or lead-capture form. The calculations run in client-side React state.

Calculation version and sources

Calculation version: 2026-07-25. ROBS fee defaults are editable estimates, not IRS amounts or provider quotes.

  1. IRS ROBS compliance project, last reviewed or updated Nov. 16, 2025. Supports ROBS compliance cautions, C corporation stock purchase language, determination-letter limits, Form 5500/Form 1120 references, valuation concerns, promoter-fee concerns, and the statement that IRS materials do not approve any specific ROBS arrangement.
  2. IRS Topic 410, Pensions and annuities, last reviewed or updated Feb. 24, 2026. Supports taxable pension and annuity treatment, qualified Roth exception language, withholding context, and early-distribution tax references.
  3. IRS Topic 558, Additional tax on early distributions from retirement plans other than IRAs, last reviewed or updated May 27, 2026. Supports the 10% additional-tax concept, exception boundaries, rollover exception language, and Form 5329/Schedule 2 reporting context.

When to revisit the estimate

Recheck the calculation when your funding target, tax rate, early-distribution exception status, provider fee quote, loan rate, loan term, or business plan changes. Also revisit the source links when IRS ROBS, pension-taxability, early-distribution additional-tax, Form 5329, Form 1099-R, Form 5500, or Form 1120 guidance changes.