3 Retirement Plans for Naturopathic Business Owners
Investment Retirement Funding NaturopathsOne of the common questions I get from an ND is how to start a retirement plan for themselves and their employees, and which one to choose.
There are many types of plans out there and so it can be confusing or overwhelming to make a choice. This can then cause no choice to be made.
Here are 3 common plans to choose from
1: Simple IRA
This is a retirement plan that allows you and your employees to defer pre-tax dollars into an account which will grow tax deferred. It is taxable when you pull the money out.
Benefits are:
- No cost to owner to start the plan
- Owner and employees both can contribute
- Owner provides a match up to 3%
- Max Contribution is $14,000
Downsides:
- No Roth option-
- Roth option is after tax dollars go into plan, grow tax deferred and withdrawals are tax free after age 59.5
- Owner much provide a match for employees
- If employee leaves, they get to keep everything including the match
2: SEP IRA
This plan is also a retirement plan that allows pre-tax dollars in, account grows tax deferred and is taxable upon withdrawal. This plan is appropriate if you don't have any employees or few employees that you want to contribute to on behalf of the employee.
Benefits are:
- No cost to owner to start the plan
- Owner can contribute the lesser of:
- 25% of compensation or $61,000
Downsides:
- Required proportional contributions for each eligible employee if you contribute for yourself
- No Roth Option
- If employee leaves, they get the full amount in their own account
3: 401k
This plan can be either tax deferred like the other two listed above or a Roth option or both. This plan has more flexibility in contributions for the owner and employees.
Benefits are:
- Offers both Roth and Tax deferred options
- Employer contribution for employees is optional
- Max contribution is $20,500
- Combined contribution for employee and employer are the lesser of 100% of compensation or $61,000
- Owner can create a vesting schedule so that if employee leaves they may not get all of the employer match/contributions
Downsides:
- Plans have ongoing costs (approx. $2,000/annually and up depending on design)
- Subject to annual compliance
Each of the plans are unique with benefits and downsides. Make sure you choose the plan that meets what it is you are looking for with yourself and your employees.
Don't hesitate to reach out with questions!
