A big question asked often is weather to Sep IRA or Solo 401k. Of course, I must make the statement that I am not a tax or financial advisor of any kind. Now, I talked to Vanguard about starting a Sep IRA or a Solo401k.
I talked to a business advisor and not just the personal finance advisor. I had them and said I'm a 37 year old 1099 earner with my own Llc S-corp with flow through Gross X amount and taxable net income amount of X.
He said, ok so for a Sep IRA you can do up to 25% (up to 52-54k) business contribution in basically any investment vehicle through a brokerage account. A Solo401K you can do 25% (up to 52-54k) business contribution plus $18000 personal addition to your 401k. They will only allow vangaurd funds for the Solo 401K. These are also different if over 50 years of age. There are eligible catch-up contributions as well depending on the IRS regulations. (This is where a tax/financial broker will help.)
I said ok, if I have others in ownership of my company do I have to pay out the same amount or percentage to them?
Yes, if they are paid owners from your corporation then they will require the same amount as a percentage of their income in retirement for either the Sep or Solo but personal contributions don't have to match.
No, if they are unpaid.
So, I clarified again that both are pre-tax IRA investments and should decrease the overall taxable earnings in the future with the understanding that taxable income in the future would likely be less in retirement than right now. They agreed.
I have asked for the information on the accounts and will include them as attachments to the Blog if possible. I will also add the supporting IRS fact sheets for both the Sep and Solok.
The phone number for Vangaurd Business Solutions is: 800-992-7188
I chose Vanguard based on the discussions on the Dough Roller Money Podcast based on the simplified minimal basis point costs and overall low fee structure. Low fees and good management history points toward a possible growth in the future despite my negativity on the overall stock market.
I also have questions on rights of survivorship so will review the forms for potential to rollover on death to other family as a paying IRA in the future.
Individual 401(k) New Plan Kit Vanguard