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401kROBSCheck eligibility
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Compare funding options without a fake winner.

This worksheet compares ROBS, SBA-backed borrowing, conventional debt, home-equity borrowing, cash, plan loans, and equity investors using only assumptions you enter. It surfaces gaps, payments, fees, cash at risk, and review signals.

Direct answer

Use the tool to organize funding conversations, not to decide eligibility or select an option. ROBS can avoid loan payments but concentrates retirement assets in employer stock and creates plan obligations[1][5]. SBA-backed loans are lender loans with SBA guarantees, underwriting, collateral, fees, and repayment from business cash flow[3][4]. Plan loans, home-equity borrowing, cash, conventional debt, and equity each move different risk to retirement assets, household collateral, liquidity, debt service, or ownership control.

Enter your written assumptions

Zero means an option is intentionally not modeled. The worksheet uses FormData values only and does not save, quote, rank, approve, or decide eligibility.

Total project cost, acquisition price, startup budget, or working-capital target.

Cash you are willing to put at risk after keeping any reserve you choose.

Monthly business cash flow you believe could be available for debt service. This is displayed as a ratio, not underwriting.

Planning horizon for ROBS administration cost only.

Retirement inputs

Potential rollover assets outside a current employer plan. This does not decide rollover eligibility.

Assets still in a current employer plan, separated because plan terms control access.

Vested qualified-plan balance for rough plan-loan ceiling arithmetic.

Outstanding plan-loan balance today.

Highest outstanding plan-loan balance during the last 12 months.

ROBS assumptions

Setup, corporation, plan, rollover, stock issuance, valuation, or professional costs you enter.

Annual administration, testing, valuation, Form 5500 support, or provider cost you enter.

Debt and collateral assumptions

SBA-backed loan principal to model. SBA guarantees a lender loan; it does not lend directly here.

User-entered annual rate.

User-entered repayment term.

Guaranty, packaging, closing, or other borrower-paid fees you enter.

Conventional business-loan principal to model.

User-entered annual rate.

User-entered repayment term.

Origination, closing, broker, appraisal, legal, or other fees you enter.

HELOC or home-equity borrowing amount to model.

User-entered annual rate.

User-entered repayment term for illustration.

Home-equity fees you enter.

Home equity you believe may be available. This is not a lender availability conclusion.

Plan loan and equity assumptions

Qualified-plan loan amount to model if a plan permits loans. IRAs do not permit loans.

User-entered annual plan-loan rate.

Use five years or less unless modeling a principal-residence exception for review.

Investor funding amount to model.

Ownership percentage sold to investors. No valuation or securities conclusion is made.

Tolerance and capacity signals

Modeled stacked funding

$1,000

Stacked gap

$0

Plan-loan rough ceiling

$10,000

Neutral option ledger

ROBS

Modeled amount
$0
Gap alone
$1,000
Monthly payment
$0
Interest
$0
Fees
$0
Cash at risk
$0
DSCR display
Not applicable

SBA-backed loan pathway

Modeled amount
$0
Gap alone
$1,000
Monthly payment
$0
Interest
$0
Fees
$0
Cash at risk
$0
DSCR display
Not applicable

Conventional business loan

Modeled amount
$0
Gap alone
$1,000
Monthly payment
$0
Interest
$0
Fees
$0
Cash at risk
$0
DSCR display
Not applicable

HELOC or home-equity borrowing

Modeled amount
$0
Gap alone
$1,000
Monthly payment
$0
Interest
$0
Fees
$0
Cash at risk
$0
DSCR display
Not applicable

Personal savings or bootstrap cash

Modeled amount
$1,000
Gap alone
$0
Monthly payment
$0
Interest
$0
Fees
$0
Cash at risk
$1,000
DSCR display
Not applicable

Retirement plan loan, if the plan allows

Modeled amount
$0
Gap alone
$1,000
Monthly payment
$0
Interest
$0
Fees
$0
Cash at risk
$0
DSCR display
Not applicable

Equity investors

Modeled amount
$0
Gap alone
$1,000
Monthly payment
$0
Interest
$0
Fees
$0
Cash at risk
$0
DSCR display
Not applicable

ROBS signals

  • not modeled: No amount was entered for this option, so arithmetic is intentionally zero.
  • needs review: Requires C corporation, qualified plan, employer-stock purchase, valuation, Form 5500, employee eligibility, and prohibited-transaction review.

SBA-backed loan pathway signals

  • not modeled: No amount was entered for this option, so arithmetic is intentionally zero.
  • review: Personal guaranty or collateral requirements are lender-specific and were not accepted by the user.

Conventional business loan signals

  • not modeled: No amount was entered for this option, so arithmetic is intentionally zero.
  • review: Personal guaranty or collateral requirements are lender-specific and were not accepted by the user.

HELOC or home-equity borrowing signals

  • not modeled: No amount was entered for this option, so arithmetic is intentionally zero.
  • possible mismatch: User did not accept home-collateral exposure.

Personal savings or bootstrap cash signals

    Retirement plan loan, if the plan allows signals

    • not modeled: No amount was entered for this option, so arithmetic is intentionally zero.
    • needs review: Plan loans are possible only if the qualified plan permits loans; IRAs do not permit loans.

    Equity investors signals

    • not modeled: No amount was entered for this option, so arithmetic is intentionally zero.
    • needs review: Selling ownership can require securities, governance, valuation, investor-rights, and control review.

    Formulas

    • Funding gap alone = funding needed minus that option's modeled amount. Negative means the option amount exceeds the stated need; it is not a recommendation to overfund.
    • Stacked gap = funding needed minus all entered modeled funding amounts added together. It is only a reconciliation check.
    • Monthly payment = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1); if r = 0, payment = P ÷ n.
    • Total interest = sum of monthly interest over the full entered term.
    • Debt-service coverage display = monthly cash flow entered by the user ÷ modeled monthly payment. It is not lender underwriting or an approval signal.
    • Plan-loan rough ceiling = lesser of $50,000 reduced by the recent-loan-balance rule or greater of $10,000/50% of vested balance, minus existing loan balance; plan terms can be lower or disallow loans.

    No recommendation, rank, approval, or eligibility result

    The fixed card order is ROBS, SBA-backed loan pathway, conventional business loan, HELOC or home-equity borrowing, personal savings, plan loan, and equity investors. Labels are traceable to your entries and do not choose a winner.

    Privacy

    There is no account creation, lead form, saved scenario, query-string storage, local storage, session storage, lender match, or provider referral. Results come from one submitted form on this page.

    How to use the worksheet

    1. Enter only numbers you have from your own budget, plan records, lender discussion, provider quote, or written assumption.
    2. Leave an option at zero if you are not modeling it. Zero is intentional and does not mean unavailable.
    3. Read each signal beside the option that created it. The tool does not combine signals into a score.
    4. Take the ledger to a lender, CPA, ERISA attorney, plan administrator, securities attorney, or advisor as appropriate.

    What the worksheet excludes

    • No lender approval, SBA eligibility, guarantee percentage, rate quote, or collateral sufficiency decision.
    • No ROBS legality, rollover eligibility, fiduciary prudence, valuation, tax result, or prohibited-transaction conclusion.
    • No HELOC availability, home-equity underwriting, asset-protection, bankruptcy, or lien-priority conclusion.
    • No securities exemption, investor suitability, governance, valuation, or ownership-rights conclusion.

    Example interpretation

    If a $300,000 project is modeled with $120,000 rollover assets, $100,000 SBA-backed debt, and $80,000 cash, the stacked gap is zero. That only reconciles arithmetic. It does not say the rollover is permitted, the loan will close, the business can support payments, or the cash reserve is prudent.

    Funding option notes

    ROBS: review C corporation formation, new qualified plan documents, employer-stock purchase, independent valuation support, employee eligibility, nondiscrimination, Form 5500, Form 1120, fees, prohibited transactions, and exit administration.
    SBA-backed loan pathway: review lender underwriting, use of proceeds, borrower equity injection, collateral, personal guaranty, guaranty fee, other closing costs, maturity, variable-rate changes, and the distinction between an SBA guarantee and borrower approval.
    Conventional business loan: review repayment capacity, covenants, liens, collateral, personal guaranty, variable-rate exposure, prepayment terms, and whether cash-flow assumptions survive downside scenarios.
    HELOC or home-equity borrowing: review home collateral, variable rates, household liquidity, foreclosure risk, business failure risk, and whether business debt is being shifted to personal real estate.
    Personal savings or bootstrap cash: review remaining emergency reserve, working-capital needs, concentration in the business, and whether using cash avoids debt at the cost of liquidity.
    Retirement plan loan: review whether the plan permits loans, whether the statutory rough ceiling is lowered by plan terms, repayment schedule, five-year rule or principal-residence exception, payroll logistics, default treatment, and job-change consequences.
    Equity investors: review securities compliance, valuation, dilution, voting rights, governance, buy-sell terms, information rights, investor accreditation where relevant, and conflicts with any ROBS-owned employer stock.

    FAQ

    Does this tool recommend a funding option?

    No. It displays arithmetic and traceable signals in a fixed order. It does not choose a winner, rank options, decide eligibility, quote rates, predict approval, or give legal, tax, investment, fiduciary, or lending advice.

    Why are current-employer plan assets separated from rollover assets?

    Distribution availability depends on the plan document and employment status. Current-employer assets may be restricted even when other retirement assets are potentially rollover-capable.

    Why does the plan-loan result say rough ceiling?

    IRS materials describe a statutory maximum and recent-loan-balance adjustment, but plans may disallow loans or impose lower limits. The worksheet shows arithmetic for review, not plan availability.

    Why does the debt-service coverage display avoid an underwriting conclusion?

    The ratio is only user-entered monthly cash flow divided by modeled monthly payment. Lenders evaluate many other facts, and this page does not approve, decline, or predict a loan.

    Sources and verification

    [1] IRS ROBS compliance project

    Defines ROBS as retirement funds moving into a plan that buys new C corporation stock; says determination letters do not approve operations; identifies Form 5500, Form 1120, valuation, discrimination, prohibited-transaction, promoter-fee, 1099-R, business-failure, bankruptcy, lien, and dissolution concerns. Checked Aug. 12, 2026; page last reviewed Nov. 16, 2025.

    https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/rollovers-as-business-start-ups-compliance-project

    [2] IRS retirement plan loan FAQs

    Supports that IRAs do not permit loans; qualified plans may but are not required to permit loans; the maximum is generally the lesser of $50,000 or the greater of $10,000/50% of vested account balance with recent outstanding-loan adjustments; repayments generally must be within five years except certain principal-residence loans. Checked Aug. 12, 2026; page last reviewed Feb. 26, 2026.

    https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-regarding-loans

    [3] SBA 7(a) loans

    Supports that SBA 7(a) provides a loan guarantee to lenders; maximum 7(a) loan amount is $5 million; proceeds can cover working capital, equipment, real estate, debt refinancing and ownership changes; lender handles documents; borrowers work directly with lenders; monthly principal and interest payments generally come from business cash flow. Checked Aug. 12, 2026; page modified July 27, 2026.

    https://www.sba.gov/loans/7a-loans/

    Authorship, disclosure, and privacy

    Published by 401kROBS for education. The page is not individualized legal, tax, investment, fiduciary, securities, lending, or financial advice. There is no lead form on this page, no account creation, no saved scenario, and no browser storage. Affiliate relationships, if present elsewhere on the site, do not change the fixed formulas or neutral signal labels in this worksheet.