Hi friends. Thanks for downloading the Money Girl Podcast. I'm your host Laura Adams.

One of the advantages of being self-employed is that you get additional perks from the Internal

Revenue Service to help you safe for retirement. Setting up a retirement plan for your

business allows you to put aside more money, gives you additional tax deductions,

and may help you attract and keep valuable employees. One of the retirement plans available for a small

business is called a simple plan. No matter if you run a business with

employees or are self-employed and work by yourself, full or part-time.

I'll tell you what you need to know about using a simple to grow a healthy retirement nest egg.

Simple is an acronym that stands for savings incentive match plan for employees,

but it's also meant to be a simplified retirement plan with relatively low costs.

You can set up a simple IRA or a simple 401k.

To learn more about their differences, check out the links that I've provided on the Money Girl section at

quick and dirty tips.com. Just look for episode number 234. Either one is ideal as a

starter plan for small to medium-sized companies or for the self-employed

because they come with few administrative hassles, fees and restrictions.

As long as you don't maintain another type of workplace retirement

account like a conventional 401k or a SEP IRA and you have fewer than 100

employees, you can set up a simple for your business.

I did a previous podcast about using a SEP IRA, which is episode number 217.

So be sure to listen to that show to compare a SEP and a simple.

The requirements for contributing to a simple are pretty straightforward.

Employees and self-employed individuals must generally have earned at least $5,000 during any of the two prior years.

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