Being self-employed certainly has its benefits. From being able to throw your alarm clock out the window to having the opportunity to take a three day weekend whenever you like, it is easily the best gig out there. However, when it comes to retirement planning, being self-employed has its drawbacks as well. If you had chosen to work within a larger corporation, the chances are quite good that your company might have set up and contributed to a retirement account for you, thereby absolving you of the responsibility of handling the situation yourself. But since you are on your own choosing the right retirement plan early is essential to your financial state of being later in life.
What Are My Options?
There are several kinds of retirement plans available for the self-employed. A Simplified Employee Pension, also known as an SEP, is a fairly simple, basic retirement plan. A Keogh is a bit more complicated, but the benefits can outweigh the related complications. Individual 401K plans offer some of the best self-employment benefits on the market. Roth IRA plans are an excellent secondary retirement savings plan. Spousal deductible
IRAs work well if your spouse has an established retirement plan at work.
IRAs work well if your spouse has an established retirement plan at work.
Which Option Is Right For Me?
SEP Benefits: If you choose to go with an SEP plan, you are looking at a simple retirement account that accepts contributions of up to $44,000 per year. In general, you can contribute twenty percent of your self-employment earnings to this type of plan without paying any taxes on the money. One of the best benefits of a plan like this one is that they are really easy to set up. They have no real ongoing costs, unlike many of the other self-employment plans,, and they allow some fairly serious contributions each year, helping you prepare for retirement at a much earlier age.