Retirement Plans for Self Employed

Retirement plans for self employed people are usually not mentioned in the media much simply because most people in the U.S. draw a salary. But, it is much more important for the self employed to be making his or her retirement plans because they truly have no one else looking out for them.

This is even more important for self employed women who own 2 out of every 5 businesses in the U.S. Having a solid retirement plan in place is critical for women because they will soon become part of a demographic, retired women, that historically ends up in poverty in their retirement years.

If you are self employed, one of the very first things that you should do is to get together with your accountant and wet up a 401k retirement plan for yourself. In recent years, 401k retirement plans have become much easier to set up for for the self employed. The tax deductions and potential for tax free compounding of your dollars are so powerful that there is no reason why any self employed person should have even the slightest hesitation about setting up such a plan.

It doesn't matter whether you are a sole-proprietorship, a class S corporation, class C corporation, or an LLC - your accountant can work with you to set up a 401k plan.

In addition to the stellar tax benefits, you can have your company give you dollar-for-dollar matching up to a specified amount. This lets you keep even more of your income. Again, talk to your accountant and lawyer to make sure you have set up your 401k plan legally.

If you have employees and you want to help their retirement goals, you can make contributions to a retirement plan for them also. You work with your lawyer and accountant to adopt what is known as a SEP agreement which allows you to make contributions directly to a standard individual retirement account (IRA) set up for each employee.

Even though you may not think of it as such, part of a good retirement plan as a self employed person includes having solid insurance coverage. Check and double-check with your insurance agent and work out the things you have to today to ensure that you will be medically covered if you become disabled or sick in your retirement years.

A good personal financial advisor can literally be worth her weight in gold. She will be able to give you many financial options and planning strategies that you will be able to use to build up your nest egg. And, if you do this under your 401k or IRA account, your taxes will be deferred. Ask friends that you trust for the names of personal financial advisors that they like and have benefited from and set up an appointment with them to see if you think they're the right fit for you.

The perfect retirement plan for the self employed person not only provides for financial benefits for you in the future, it also generates major tax savings for you in the here and now.

Cigna 401k Retirement Plan
Prudential Financial's 2003 purchase of the Cigna 401k retirement plan as well as Cigna's retirement investment business, left many who had their 401ks with Cigna are no doubt wondering how they will be impacted.

Retirement Planning and Tips
When it comes to retirement planning, no age is too young to begin. It helps to have some practical retirement planning and tips to help you define and meet your retirement goals.