Laurie Flynn is a Financial Advisor with Smith Barney and is a supporter of Queercents. She’s written a few posts these past weeks on the topic of investing. These are her words’¦

Super-simplified 401(k) Plan: Good Choice for Today’s Self-employed

Smith BarneyAs a small business owner, you should be both interested and concerned about two prevailing trends coming together in the American workplace: the job growth created by small businesses and the responsibility of individuals for their own retirement planning. If you are a business owner, with no employees other than co-owners or spouses, then you may wish to consider establishing a Super-simplified 401(k) plan for your business. That’s right. As a small business owner, you can enjoy the same 401(k) retirement plan benefits currently provided to millions of other Americans.

If saving as much as you can for retirement is a prime concern, a Super-simplified 401(k) may be an appropriate choice for you. With a Super-simplified 401(k) you are permitted to make profit-sharing contributions up to 25% of your compensation for incorporated businesses or 20% for unincorporated businesses, subject to a $225,000 compensation cap in 2007. Plus, you may make an additional $15,500 salary-deferred contribution, and if you are over age 50, that amount increases to $20,500. The combination of profit-sharing and salary-deferral contributions for 2007 may not exceed $45,000 ($50,000 if you are age 50 or older). For many business owners, a 401(k) allows for larger annual contributions than other retirement plans including SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and Keoghs.

The Super-simplified 401(k) plan can make saving for retirement easier. Some fully self-directed plans, for example, may allow for a wide range of investment opportunities including stocks, bonds and mutual funds, provide a loan provision, and allow you to transfer other retirement accounts including Keoghs, SEP IRAs and traditional IRAs (excluding after-tax balances) into your Super-simplified 401(k) account.

A good place to start is with our complimentary publication, The Super-simplified 401(k) Plan, which contains information helpful for understanding the options a Smith Barney Super-simplified 401(k) can offer you.

———–
Laurie Flynn is a Financial Advisor with Smith Barney located in Toms River, NJ and may be reached at (732) 914-2315 OR (800) 624-0292 Ext. 2315.

Website: www.fa.smithbarney.com/laurie_flynn

Smith Barney is a division and service mark of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Member SIPC.