Saving With a SEP IRA Retirement Fund

When planning for retirement, one option for some people is the SEP IRA. The SEP IRA stands for simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Account. This is a special type a retirement plan designed for small business and the self-employed. It was designed by the government to be a simple and easy retirement plan to set up and administer. Is not merely as complicated and has far fewer rules that retirement plans like the Keogh plan or a 401(k) plan. For a small business, and players can't match the contributions other employees funds by as much as 25%. Self-employed people haven't even greater advantage. They can't contribute a much greater amount. It is based on the net profit of the business.

Simpler Rules For The Sep IRA

Since the rules governing the SEP IRA are much less stringent, small-business owners can establish simpler requirements that standard IRS regulations is needed. The eligibility requirements established by the Internal Revenue Service for an employee to contribute to an IRA must be at least 21 years of age, worked for the employer for a least three of the past five years, and have earned a minimum of $450 in wages. The rules for withdrawals are quite simple as well. An employee, once he or she reaches age 70 1/2 should begin to withdraw from other IRA account.

Flexibility For Employer Contributions

Unlike other IRA accounts, there are no set contribution obligations. What this means is that an employer can change the amount and frequency of contributions to the plan based on the businesses profitability for each year. This makes the SEP IRA a better choice for the small-business. During startup years, profits may below, the employer can set up a SEP IRA plan with a smaller employer match. As the business and profits growth, take it increase their contributions. Is the business hits hard times, they can't reduce the amount of contributions for a year or two until the outlook gets better.

Enrolling In A Sep IRA

Unlike other IRA's, the enrollment forms for a simple IRA are fairly easy to fill out. It is a simple two-page form. All the employee must do is to fill out an investment application provided by the Company that will hold the investment funds. The SEP IRA does not require any reporting to the IRS on annual returns. This makes it easy for a small business to administer the SEP IRA. With only a two-page form to fill out, employees are more apt to enroll it a SEP IRA.

Choices In Investments

Most employers choose a large mutual fund company to fund their employees SEP IRA's. This gives the employee many choices in how to invest their money. This makes it easy for the employee. They can choose to divide their contributions among several different mutual funds. For example they may contribute part of their earnings to a relatively safe bond fund, while at the same time, contributing part of their earnings to a riskier small-cap stock fund. These choices are left up to teach individual employee. The employer does not have to worry about which fund to select for their employees.

A SEP IRA is a simple way and cost-effective way to set up a retirement account. Is ideally suited for small business due to its low administration costs and its low amount of maintenance. It has simple forms and simple reporting. If your employer does not yet offer a retirement plan, you may want to suggest that they consider a SEP IRA.