Find Your Optimal Small Business Retirement Plan Option
For business owners with time to accumulate capital for their retirement, there are a number of retirement plan options available. Which option offers the optimum solution depends on your particular circumstances, business model, employee demographics, your business’ financial condition and it’s outlook for the future.
Safe Harbor 401k – Best option for businesses top-heavy with highly compensated employees
- Allows for discrimination in compensation and contribution limits favoring highly compensated employees
- Combining 401k contribution with profit sharing element offers highest possible contribution amount
- Choose from two different methods of matching contributions
- Employer can make safe harbor non-elective contributions without elective deferrals
- Greater plan management flexibility than other plan options
- Requires plan design to meet specific needs of business; requires administration and reporting
SEP IRA – Best option for fewer than five employees
- Employees manage their own self-directed IRAs
- Employer makes 100 percent of contributions on behalf of employees
- Contributions are not mandatory; can be based on profitability
- Allows bigger contribution than SIMPLE – up to 25% of net income
- Simple and inexpensive to establish and administer
SIMPLE IRA – Best option for 100 or fewer employees
- Can choose investment options for employees or allow them to self-direct
- Employee matches are required (up to 3 percent of total compensation)
- Maximum contribution capped – lowest maximum contribution of all plan options; allows for additional catch up contribution Simple to establish and administer
Solo (Individual) 401(k) – Best Option for Sole proprietor with no or part-time employees
- Can combine with profit sharing element capped at 25% of net income
- Can contribute maximum for spouse-employee
- Simplest option for maximizing contributions
- Easy to establish, but does require an administration and reporting
We invite you to get on our calendar for an evaluation of your retirement plan objectives to help you determine the best plan option for your business.
