Retirement Planning for Dental Practice Owners

Dentists typically reach peak earning years with high current income, which makes contribution capacity and tax deferral unusually valuable. The practice itself is often the largest asset, and its eventual sale or transition lands on the personal balance sheet at the same time retirement begins.

The two balance sheets have to be planned together, which is where most standalone plans go quiet.

401(k) and profit-sharing plans, cash balance designs and other qualified arrangements can shape how much can be contributed each year, with limits set by law and plan provisions. Some high-income owners find defined benefit designs suitable; others do not, and suitability depends on facts like age, income and team costs.

Contribution timing is a year-end decision, which is why the plan review happens before December.

The practice converts to personal wealth through sale, gradual transition or continued real estate income, each with its own tax architecture. Buying the building through the practice can build equity inside the retirement picture, as Pagac structured for a specialty dentist who acquired practice real estate as part of a long-term transition.

Retirement planning for dentists is therefore succession planning in miniature: the practice's value and the plan's funding are the same conversation.