For entrepreneurs, taking on an SBA loan or business debt often comes with an uncomfortable requirement: a personal guarantee. You're putting your neck on the line, and often unknowingly, you're putting your spouse's financial security on the line too. Most couples don't have this conversation before walking into the closing room. But it matters a lot.

If you're taking out an SBA loan, the personal guarantee is non-negotiable. The SBA requires an unconditional personal guarantee from anyone with 20% or more ownership in the business. For decades, this meant entrepreneurs and business owners bore the full, unlimited risk of that guarantee - a liability that could wipe out personal savings, retirement accounts, and assets accumulated over a lifetime.

But how you manage that risk is your choice. Personal Guarantee Insurance (PGI) is a new option that allows you to protect a significant portion of your personal net worth while still maintaining alignment with your lender. It works this way within the SBA lending process.

For decades, U.S. entrepreneurs have accepted personal guarantees as the non-negotiable cost of borrowing. It's what you do. You sign the personal guarantee, you hope your business succeeds, and you try not to think about what happens if it doesn't.

For the first time in the U.S., there's an insurance product designed specifically to protect you from this risk. It's called Personal Guarantee Insurance, and it's launching now.

Fear of losing home and personal assets sits at the top of every small business borrower's list of concerns. It's justified. When a personal guarantee is in place, the lender has legal recourse to pursue personal savings, real estate, vehicles, and other valuables if the business fails or defaults. The guarantee is unlimited. The bank isn't just claiming the business assets; they're making a claim on the borrower's entire personal net worth.

Nearly 60% of the $1.5 trillion small business loan market requires personal guarantees. Yet most entrepreneurs sign them without fully understanding what they're agreeing to. A personal guarantee is a legally binding commitment that makes you, not your business, the responsible party for company debt. The irony is stark: you invest time and money creating a legal entity to protect your personal assets, only to sign a single document that erases that protection entirely.

A limited personal guarantee caps your personal liability at a specific dollar amount or percentage. An unlimited personal guarantee holds you personally responsible for the entire outstanding loan balance (plus fees and legal costs) with no ceiling. Most SBA loans require unlimited guarantees from majority owners.