If you're self-employed, either full or part-time, you can save for retirement and get terrific tax benefits, just like someone with a cushy job that offers a 401k.

Whether you call yourself a freelancer, contractor, solopreneur, or small business owner,

having any amount of business income makes you eligible for some terrific retirement accounts.

So this podcast will review the rules, pros, and cons of four retirement accounts for the self-employed.

You'll understand the best options for you

based on your income, your business size, and financial goals. Welcome back, everyone. This is

episode 1017 of Money Girl, and I really appreciate you downloading the show. I'm Laura Adams,

an award-winning author, spokesperson, and money speaker.

So let's talk about who can use self-employed retirement accounts.

I think many people qualify for a self-employed plan, but they just don't realize it.

You don't have to run a big business with employees or even be incorporated to call yourself self-employed.

You could even work a regular day job and also earn income on the side, such as by teaching

music, consulting, or walking dogs. Basically, having any amount of business income qualifies you

for various retirement accounts. However, if your only source of

earned income is as a W-2 employee, you don't qualify for self-employed retirement accounts,

but you do have some other options that I will review. If you're a regular money girl listener,

you know that I love retirement accounts,

and I talk about them frequently and encourage you to max out as many as possible for your

situation because they allow you to hold savings and investments that get special tax treatment,

and that saves money. For instance, you might choose mutual funds, exchange traded funds, or

index funds. You can even put your money in CDs or money market funds, which are more

conservative options. In general, I recommend choosing low-cost, diversified funds that allow your

...