We're not finished
at the mower.

Under IRS Subchapter T, cooperatives can route a portion of year-end patronage into a SEP IRA or SIMPLE IRA as an employer contribution for W-2 staff, and into an equivalent IRA channel for qualifying 1099 Privateers. It's 100% deductible for the co-op and grows tax-free for the member.

Active Member floor. Standby members get cash patronage; the retirement match is earned by clearing a minimum work or revenue threshold set in bylaws:

• W-2 (Runner, Apprentice, Hub Lead): ≥1,000 hours worked in the plan year — the standard ERISA 401(k) threshold.
• 1099 Privateer: ≥$12,000 gross sector revenue in the plan year OR ≥6 active service-months OR ≥40 properties under management.

At 1,500 active subs (blended split, ~$18–22K/mo surplus) the pool is sized to fund a target 3–5% retirement match for ~50 Active Members plus plan admin — not a maxed-cap SEP IRA. We say "meaningful match," not "max it out."

Funding contingent on the anchor-mix cross-subsidy clearing pod-level burn. Active Member floor set in bylaws and reviewed annually by the board.

Under Arkansas cooperative law (specific statute pending counsel confirmation), a recognized cooperative can sponsor a single-employer or cooperative-of-employers group health plan for its W-2 workforce — bypassing the individual market entirely.

Many carriers open competitive group rates at 50 enrolled. 75 is where insurers actively compete and premiums drop into "real benefit" territory. The 70% Operations Pool subsidizes core W-2 Runners, Apprentices, and Hub Leads.

Scope: W-2 staff only. 1099 Privateers are encouraged to enroll through an independent group at preferred rates — separate program, not subsidized from the Ops Pool.

Two funding channels work together:

• Seed (one-time): Arkansas Code § 26-51-506 grants a 30% state income tax credit on recycling equipment capex. Our R&R wing buildout (high-voltage benches, lithium safes, diagnostic tools) seeds the HSA reserve.
• Sustain (recurring): revenue from refined Li / Co / Ni material sold downstream funds annual W-2 HSA contributions. This is the Urban Recovery Mining endgame — the recovered metal belongs to the co-op, so it belongs to the members.

At 250 packs/year throughput the combined funding is sized to cover every enrolled W-2 worker's HSA contribution as a recurring benefit — not a one-time gesture.

Scope: same W-2 base as Aspiration 02. Refined-material revenue estimates depend on prevailing Li/Co/Ni market prices.

The Telemetry Agent watches the Hub's uptime in real time. When the rolling 90-day average crosses 98%, the Sovereign OS is designed to pull a micro-percentage from the 70% Ops Pool and deposit it into each qualifying W-2's IRA via the planned payout pipeline.

Bonus band: designed at 0.5–1.5% of the Operations Pool per qualifying quarter, allocated pro-rata across W-2 Runners and Apprentices. Exact size set by board policy each fiscal year.

The robots measure efficiency. The software pays the humans. No manager required.

Tracking begins once the fleet is online and reporting telemetry.

Modern fintech IRA/HSA partners (Carry, Icon, Vestwell-class) typically open at $1M–$5M in payout volume. We're targeting a three-tier ladder so the meter moves in meaningful steps:

• Tier 1 — $1M lifetime payouts: first IRA/HSA partner integration; manual routing.
• Tier 2 — $3M lifetime payouts (default headline): real-time pre-tax routing; the slider UI goes live in the Privateer app.
• Tier 3 — $10M lifetime payouts: enterprise tier — combined 401(k)/HSA under one roof at the lowest fee band.

Each month (planned): "You earned $1,000. Slide to allocate." Direct deposit (taxable), HSA (pre-tax medical), or IRA (pre-tax retirement). The webapp is designed to route the funds with no HR overhead.