For many business owners, one of the biggest missed wealth opportunities may already be sitting inside the business. Technology upgrades, software implementation, equipment, and operational improvements.

These are the kinds of investments owners are already making to grow, modernize, and stay competitive. But in many cases, they may not just be expenses or deductions. They may create R&D tax credits.

A deduction lowers taxable income. A credit can reduce taxes dollar for dollar. For an owner with meaningful income, that is not a small accounting detail. It is capital that can stay inside the system, be redeployed, invested, protected, or used to build long-term personal wealth.

Wealth does not only leak through bad investments. It also leaks through taxes that were never strategically addressed, retirement income plans that rely too heavily on average returns, and capital that leaves the system before it ever has the chance to compound.

The question is not simply how much money you make, how much you save, or whether the market performs over time. It is how much capital you actually keep, how intelligently that capital is structured, and whether your wealth plan can hold up when taxes, volatility, timing, and life events collide.

Derick Van Ness is the founder of Big Life Financial, where he helps business owners turn business income into personal freedom, long-term security, and legacy through advanced tax and financial strategies. In this episode, he breaks down why R&D tax credits are not just for laboratories, tech companies, or large corporations.

We also talk about the retirement problem many investors underestimate: not whether markets go up over time, but what happens when you need income during a down year and are forced to sell impaired assets. Derick walks through how volatility buffers can help protect income planning when timing, markets, and withdrawals collide.

About the Guest

Derick Van Ness is the founder of Big Life Financial, where he helps business owners turn business income into personal freedom, long-term security, and legacy through advanced tax and financial strategies. Derick specializes in working with small business owners, including dentists, chiropractors, auto shop owners, and other service-based entrepreneurs who are earning well but may not yet have the systems in place to turn income into lasting wealth. His work focuses on helping owners reduce unnecessary tax leakage, uncover overlooked opportunities, and build strategies that allow more capital to stay productive. Over the course of his career, Derick has worked with more than 2,500 businesses across the U.S., identifying strategies many owners never see and helping them create stronger financial outcomes. His perspective is especially useful for business owners who want to move beyond simply making money in the business and start using the business as a vehicle for personal freedom, wealth preservation, and legacy. Get an R&D tax credit estimate: https://biglifefinancial.com/money-school-credits

Learn more about Big Life Financial: https://biglifefinancial.com/

About Your Host

From pro-snowboarder to money mogul, Chris Naugle has dedicated his life to being America's #1 Money Mentor. With a core belief that success is built not by the resources you have, but by how resourceful you can be. Chris has built and owned 19 companies, with his businesses being featured in Forbes, ABC, House Hunters, and his very own HGTV pilot in 2018. He is the founder of The Money School™ and Money Mentor for The Money Multiplier.

His success also includes managing tens of millions of dollars in assets in the financial services and advisory industry and in real estate transactions. As an innovator and visionary in wealth-building and real estate, he empowers entrepreneurs, business owners, and real estate investors with the knowledge of how money works.

Chris is also a nationally recognized speaker, author, and podcast host. He has spoken to and taught over ten thousand Americans, delivering the financial knowledge that fuels lasting freedom.

Resources

Private Money Guide: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/book-podcast

Wealth Wednesday Webinar: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/wednesday-webinar-podcast

Mapping out the Millionaire Mystery: https://go.moneyschoolrei.com/newbook-podcast