Comments on: SEP IRA: Self-Employed Retirement Plans

By: MJames

MJames — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:53:54 +0000

Can I use my ETrade account for my SEP IRA? I currently have a SEP IRA set up with my bank and managed by my broker. But I recently setup an Etrade account and have done very well with it. Can I take that amount and use it as my SEP IRA contribution this year? If so how to I go about that. To this point, each year (about 4 yers now) I’ve simply given the ok to my banker to remove the necessary funds from my business account and place them into my SEP IRA each that he manages. Would like to do a little managing of these funds on my own but not sure how to set it up. Any thoughts or where to go to get this info?

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:22:35 +0000

I don’t think you can Jim. There might be something where you can do it in the same year. I’d consult your tax advisor.

By: Jim Patton

Jim Patton — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:46:47 +0000

I work as a contractor and setup a SEP IRA. All my contributions are after tax. Can I still withdraw the after tax principle contirbutions without incurring a penalty?

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:00:22 +0000

Yes, I anticipate never having employees. I’m simply a sole proprietor now.

I need to talk to my tax people, but I’m pretty sure that they are going to say SEP-IRA is the way to go.

By: Betty Kincaid

Betty Kincaid — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 00:36:26 +0000

Lazy Man,

I have one concern about the SEP-IRA versus a traditional IRA:

Although you have no employees today, do you anticipate NEVER having employees? While the SEP-IRA gives you the ability to fund more than a traditional (or Roth) IRA, it also requires you to fund (with no vesting requirement) your employees.

Also, you didn’t say if you’re an S, C or sole proprietor filing under Schedule C of your 1040 but the issue of net (also known as taxable) profit would come into play here. The goal of a small business usually is to get net profit as low as possible. You might end up paying more taxes on your profit to get a higher IRA funding limit.

Looking forward to more information.

Betty

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:38:02 +0000

Those are other alternatives that I’ll cover later. Covering SEP IRA is enough for one post.

By: P.B.

P.B. — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:12:35 +0000

Reading through your article I see no mention of a Roth IRA option within a 401(k), which as a small business owner you are entitled to open. Maybe this is something you will be exploring in another article. This allows your after-tax contribution to grow and then pull it out tax free someday, because who knows, you might be making more money in your retirement days from you excellent blogging!