Why The Solo 401k Is The Best Self-Employed Retirement Plan
As a self-employed individual for the majority of my adult life, I’ve found there are many perks of self-employment. But one thing that may keep some people from taking the leap to being their own boss is the lack of an employer-sponsored retirement plan such as a 401k.
Enter the Solo 401k, a tax-advantaged qualified retirement plan for the self-employed individual. The Solo 401k not only allows a business owner to save money for retirement; it also makes it extremely easy to supercharge one’s contributions for maximum tax-benefits and retirement savings over all the other self-employed retirement plans and even the traditional 401k.
It’s that time of the year again that no one looks forward to. 1099’s are showing up in the mailbox which means tax season is right around the corner.
A few weeks ago I found a nice desk on Craigslist that someone was giving away for free. It was perfect for the office my brother was planning to lease, so we headed out to pick it up. The person who was giving it away lived about 30 miles away and Google Maps showed that it would take 50 minutes to drive there. Only it was 6 PM and the middle of rush hour. By the time we got there it was over an hour and a half later with a lot of time sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
For many people, starting up their ice cube of a car and letting it warm up a bit is something that we don’t really think about because it was something that’s always been done. Our parents did it because their parents did it or you hear how someone had a friend who didn’t warm up their car and the engine blew up and so on.
In our daily lives it’s hard to imagine there is anything that we use more than our eyes. For those of us who don’t have perfect vision, eyeglasses are a must-have item that we put on first thing in the morning and only take off when we climb back into bed at night.
Does your iPhone feel like it is running slower than when it was new or is it just your imagination?
We are all busy these days. There are new emails waiting to be checked, Netflix shows to binge watch, Instagram updates from friends of what they had for lunch, or The Donald’s latest tweets to read. With so many things vying for our attention, automatic bill payments can be really appealing. You spend five minutes setting it up, and you never have to see or manually pay another bill again!
There are many banks, brokerages, credit unions, and insurance companies that are offering HSA accounts these days because 97% of HSA accounts are in cash. All this money sitting in accounts are allowing these companies to make loans with that money to earn more money while only giving you a fraction of interest back in return. With interest rates being so low, those who keep their HSA funds in savings accounts are actually losing money to inflation as health care costs continue to increase each year. This is why it is better to find a provider that lets you invest your HSA savings.
For most people, unless you live in a city with great public transportation or within walking or biking distance to work, you will probably need a car to get you where you need to go.
As open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act begins this month, whether you get your insurance from the Health Insurance Marketplace or through your employer, now is a good time to consider your health insurance options for next year if you haven’t already. You may have seen plans that are listed as HSA-eligible. What many people don’t realize is that HSAs are one of the best ways to save for retirement.