A couple of decades ago, most people didn’t bother with Simplified Employee Pension or SEP IRAs, which are investment retirement accounts for the self-employed. Employment opportunities were plentiful and employees would normally remain with a larger firm long enough to earn retirement pensions or benefits from their employer.

Today, on the other hand, over 15% of the country’s workforce is self-employed or working in temporary positions. This leads most people to believe that retirement planning is difficult, but is it really?

Self-Employed Retirement Planning: Learning to Create Your Own Nest-Egg

If you own a small business with few employees, or you’re self-employed, you probably already know that your retirement is heavily dependent on how well you save your own money. After all, without a pension or a company-sponsored retirement plan, you’re pretty much on your own.

There’s another disadvantage to being a business owner or self-employed professional – without a 401(k) or traditional IRA, you can’t enjoy the tax advantages on your savings. That’s where the SEP IRA comes in, as a brilliant retirement savings opportunity for the self-employed, freelancers and business owners with one or more employee.

All about SEP IRA

What is a SEP IRA?

SEP IRA Benefits

SEP IRA Rules

SEP IRA Contribution Limits

How to open a SEP IRA

Highlights of a SEP IRA

  • Employer-sponsored and available to any business
  • Excellent for freelancers and self-employed
  • Tax-deductible contributions for employee
  • Tax-deferred growth
  • Much higher contribution limits than personal IRAs
  • Contribution percentages can be changed on an annual basis
  • Employees are 100% vested
  • Contributions to traditional or Roth IRAs are still allowed
  • Lower administrative costs
  • Readily available through a number of online investment firms