Dollars & Sense Education

A problem that many Americans face is the choice of whether or not to invest in a less than stellar retirement plan (401K, 403B) at work.  I’m talking about plans filled with lousy mutual funds with high expense ratios and bad returns.  So what do you do when you want to sock your money away for retirement and there are no good investment alternatives in your employer’s plan?

1) Complain to your employee benefits department.  This isn’t always going to help and certainly not fast.  You also risk pissing off the people who hired you.

 2) Consider, “Do I get a company match?”  If the answer is yes, you should at least contribute up to the match.  That is and always will be free money.  Virtually any match on your money will beef up crappy returns significantly.

3) After the match has been reached or without a match the decision becomes much harder.  Most people like the ease of investing in a company retirement plan because the money comes right out of your account.  Many people do not have the discipline to save outside of their retirement accounts for an IRA or after tax investing.  If this is you, use your company’s retirement plan.  A lousy plan is better than nothing. 

If you have the discipline to save outside of your work account than you are probably better off investing your next dollars in a low cost IRA or Roth IRA.  After these are maxed out you really need to run the numbers and see if after tax investing will make more sense than investing in underperforming mutual funds.

Many individuals feel the 401K is less desirable because they want to retire early and don’t want to postpone their investing gratification until they are 59 1/2.  That is the age that you can withdrawal funds from your 401K without a 10% penalty from the government.  If you have enough money in your 401K to retire at age 45, why can’t you?  Well, you can!!!

Rule 72(t) of the tax code the “equally substantial distribution” eliminates the early withdrawal penalty if done properly!

How It Works

1. Quit working.
2. ROLL your 401k into an IRA.
3. Apply for a 72(t) “equally substantial distribution”.
4. The IRS will offer you (3) optional payout amounts. The (3) IRS optional payout methods will tell you how much the “equally substantial distribution” will be based on your age, the age of your beneficiary, the amount of money you have, the % rate used for the calculation and how long they expect you to live (based on IRS’s mortality table).
5. The rule is, once a rollover is completed and a 72(t) is setup to pay out an income stream, it must
   continue until the age of 59 ½ has been reached or for a minimum of 5 years, whichever 
   comes last. For example, if you start a 72(t) at the age of 57, it must run until you are age 62, 
   then it stops. If you are age 50, then it runs until you reach age 59 ½, then it stops.
6. After the 72(t) has stopped, then of course you can take out of your IRA any amount you might desire or require.

***I need to point out, just for clarification, that YES all the income you receive is fully “income taxable” at your applicable income tax rate but without any added penalty.

Please contact Dollars & Sense Education to bring our seminars to your company or organization!

Dollars & Sense Education - Raising Your Financial IQ!
www.daseducation.com
nicole@daseducation.com
215-499-3834

Independent’s Week is officially over!  I hope all of the self employed people out there enjoyed my detailed blog entries about the differences between all of your options for retirement plans.  In the chart below I summarize your options, key details and the pros and cons of each plan.  Enjoy.

For the rest of this series:

http://daseducation.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/a-retirement-accounts-for-the-self-employed-part-1-of-5-the-sep-ira/

http://daseducation.wordpress.com/2007/10/09/retirement-accounts-for-the-self-employed-part-2-of-5-the-solo-401k/

http://daseducation.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/a-retirement-accounts-for-the-self-employed-part-3-of-5-the-simple-ira/

http://daseducation.wordpress.com/2007/10/11/retirement-accounts-for-the-self-employed-part-4-of-5-the-keogh/

Please contact Dollars & Sense Education to bring our seminars to your company or organization!

Dollars & Sense Education - Raising Your Financial IQ!
www.daseducation.com
nicole@daseducation.com
215-499-3834

So for all you self employed folks out there, this week is for you!  I am laying out all of your retirement plan options in gory detail.  For everyone else, take the week off from reading.  Grab a beer.  Watch Heroes:)  The first installment of this series discussed the SEP IRA.  Part 2 of this series explores another popular option: the Solo 401K. The next two entries will describe the other options available to the self employed and the last entry will discuss what options are appropriate for you according to the kind of business you have and your goals!

Do I Qualify For A SOLO 401K?

Any type of business with no employees, can establish an individual 401(k) plan – generally referred to as a Self-Employed 401(k), or Solo 401(k).  The business can be brand new or old. It can be a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, or corporation.

Where Do I Set Up a SOLO 401K?

Fidelity and T. Rowe Price offer SOLO 401Ks or 401kBrokers.com.

How Much Can I Contribute Annually to a SOLO 401K for myself?

For the tax year 2007 you can contribute up to $15,500 plus 20% of your business income, with a maximum contribution of $45,000 in 2007. You can make an extra $5,000 catch-up contribution if you’re 50 or older.
 

Why Not Just Open a Traditional or Roth IRA?

Do Both!   

When Do I Set This Up?

Each Self-Employed 401(k) must be set up no later than December 31, to be eligible for tax deductions for that tax year.

What If I Already Participate In My (Other) Employers Plan?

If you have a regular 401(k) through an employer and have some freelance earnings on the side, then your solo 401(k) limits will be reduced by any contributions you’ve made to a regular 401(k). But that only affects the first $15,500 of contributions, not the 20% of business income. So if you contributed $10,000 to a regular 401(k) through your employer, for example, then your solo 401(k) contributions will be limited to $5,500 plus 20% of your business income.

Do I Have to Put Away the Same Amount of Money Every Year?

No!

What If I Have Employees?

If you have employees you are not eligible for a SOLO 401K unless it is your spouse.

Anything Else?

Keep in mind that the eligibility requirements for having a self-employed 401k plan are quite strict. It’s not widely offered by most investment companies and those that do offer it provide limited investment options. And once you add a single employee outside of your spouse, you must convert to a traditional or SIMPLE 401k plan. 

Summary 

If work for yourself take full advantage of the tax benefits that affords you! A Solo 401K allows you to defer a significant portion of your retirement savings from taxes. Don’t let Uncle Sam get more than his fair share!

In the next installment of this series (Part 3 of 5) I will describe another kind of retirement account for the self-employed - The SIMPLE IRA!

Other great blog entries on Solo 401Ks:

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2007/10/fidelity-self-employed-401k-account-review.html

http://www.my-personal-finance-blog.com/2006/12/28/set-up-my-solo-401k/

http://taxplaya.typepad.com/tax_playa/2007/03/selfemployed_40.html

For the last article:

http://daseducation.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/a-retirement-accounts-for-the-self-employed-part-1-of-5-the-sep-ira/