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Did you know 50% of the over-age 30 workforce won’t be able to retire at the average retirement age? That is one reason picking the right retirement plan for your business is so important, but how do you do that? There is so much information and so many details around retirement plans, how do you pick the right one? In this article, we’re going to introduce all the plans and show you how to choose the best one for you.

Ask yourself 3 questions when choosing a plan for your business. These 3 questions should narrow down your choices or point you to a specific plan.

• Do you want an employee or employer benefit plan?
• Will the employer be able to make contributions?
• Can you commit to a certain minimum contribution?

Below we will go through all the retirement plans and how to pick the right one for your business. Keep the questions above in mind as we go through all the retirement plans to get the best idea of what will work for you. Let’s dive in!

Small Business Retirement Plans

There are multiple types of retirement plans for small businesses. Defined Contribution plans and Defined Benefit plans are two big ones. Defined Contribution plans are 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, and 457 plans. In these plans employees and employers can contribute if they want to. Defined Benefit plans are the plans that our parents and grandparents have, usually some kind of pension plan. In these retirement plans, you can make larger contributions. Let’s take a deeper look at each individual plan.

401(k)

The 401(k) plan is our personal favorite for most small businesses. They are the most flexible retirement plan because they have pre-tax or Roth, large contribution limits and the employer can have a plan year where they don’t have to make a contribution. Coming to a TPA like Hunter Benefits will allow you to have a ton of options within your plan which will allow you to save money and time in the long run. It will also be able to grow as your company grows and as you add more staff.

Want to learn about starting a 401(k) plan with Hunter Benefits? Go here.

403(b)

403(b) retirement plans are only offered by public schools and certain tax-exempt organizations. So it probably won’t pertain to most business owners unless you’re starting a non-profit. That being said know that 403(b) plans are very similar to 401(k) plans because it lets employees defer some of their salaries into individual accounts.

457

457 retirement plans are very similar to 401(k) and 403(b) plans as they are all defined contribution plans. The difference is, 457 plans are only available to certain state and local government organizations as well as certain tax-exempt organizations.

SEP

SEP retirement plans are easy to set up, low cost, and pretty low maintenance. Sounds pretty good right? Depends, SEPs are employer contributions only and each recipient needs the same percentage contribution. So there is less flexibility than a 401(k) plan which could actually create more plan maintenance and fees. Not so good, but it all depends on your situation.

SIMPLE IRA

We always say SIMPLE retirement plans are a misnomer because they are in fact, not so simple. They have limited contributions, and no Roth option and the employer is required to make a contribution every plan year. You really need to do your research with the not so SIMPLE plans or it can lead to more maintenance time and higher costs.

Go here to learn more about each type of retirement plan more in depth on the IRS website.

How To Pick The Right Retirement Plan

Keeping the questions at the top of this article in mind.

• Do you want an employee or employer benefit plan?
• Will the employer be able to make contributions?
• Can you commit to a certain minimum contribution?

When answering these questions for yourself make sure to look into each retirement plan to see what’s checking your boxes. There is a lot to cover when it comes to retirement plans and it can get overwhelming fast. This is where we come in, Hunter Benefits has been in the retirement industry for over 20 years and would be more than happy to help. Just email [email protected] or put your email and comment in the form below.

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