Entries from BizBox Blog on Slate tagged with 'retirement plans'
Docking Into 401(k) 'Safe Harbor'
It's that time of the year again: the 401(k) safe harbor notice requirement of December 1 is fast approaching. If you’re not aware of the 401(k) safe harbor, it’s a provision in the retirement plan law that allows you...
SIMPLE is Simple, But How Effective?
SIMPLE 401(k)s are called “simple” for obvious reasons: they're easy to establish, relatively inexpensive, and a cinch to maintain. However, if you want to: • Not cover practically all employees. • Make larger contributions. • Favor owners and highly...
What Employers Should Know About 401(k) Investment Advice
Last week, the Labor Department formally killed a Bush administration regulation (which it had already placed on life support) that would have permitted mutual funds, brokers, and the like to hire advisers who could in turn consult with 401(k)...
How To Buy A Business...Maybe, Maybe Not
Say you’re one of those individuals who has recently parted ways with your former employer, and you’ve decided to start your own business. Money may be tight, but you do have a sizable account in your retirement plan from...
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Last week I dealt with the question of what happens to retirement plans in a bankruptcy, and among other things I noted that there are two broad exceptions to retirement plans' being protected from creditors. A participant’s assets are...
What Happens To Retirement Plans In A Bankruptcy?
A recent article in Business Week was headlined: "As Bankruptcies Surge, Fewer Emerge." Turns out, business bankruptcy filings are up more than 40% from a year ago, and banks are pushing still more companies to liquidate. This latest by-product...
Hang On To Your Records
Forget about that so-called “7-Year Rule” for maintaining your business records. That’s what Attorney Christine Branstad tell us in a recent post in the IowaBiz Business Record Blog. It may be a tax guideline, she says, but it’s a...
Staying Up-To-Date On Your Retirement Plan
One of the first functions that many business owners outsource is payroll. In fact, none other than the IRS recently reminded us that outsourcing payroll duties to third-party service providers can streamline business operations. Still, business owners are still...
Why You Need To Update Your 401(k) Documents
There are many tax advantages you enjoy by participating in your company’s retirement plan; and this goes if you own your own company, too. In order to enjoy them, you of course must comply with federal rules governing qualified...
How To Use a Retirement Plan To Buy Life Insurance
Most business owners understand the need for life insurance, and, in today's economy, many have a problem finding the cash to pay for it. It might help them to be told that there’s a relatively little-known tax-planning technique that...
Don't Miss Out On Your Solo-K
I’ve written about The Wonderful Solo-K before. It’s a special type of retirement plan also called Solo 401(k) and Individual 401(k). But by whatever name you call it, it provides an opportunity for the self-employed or small business owner...
New Grim Report on Small-Business Employees
Recently I wrote about how small business owners are feeling about the current state of the economy in my column. I was reporting on the new Small Business Success Index. Survey says, small businesses are generally optimistic. But what...
Obama's Retirement Plan Proposal
It appears possible that there may be some regulatory changes on the horizon concerning individual retirement accounts, from the perspectives of both those who contribute to their own retirement plans and those who are employers, and we thought we'd give...
Smart Retirement Investing For 2008 (You're Not Too Late!)
Timing is everything when it comes to establishing a retirement plan--but it may not be not too late for 2008. Last October, I wrote that Pension Plan Procrastination Puts Proper Personal Planning in Peril. But if you didn’t quite...
How Does Your 401(k) Rate?
Both Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor--the federal agency charged with overseeing the fiduciary aspects of retirement plans--have given 401(k) fee disclosure plenty of attention. Still, while proposed regulations and legislation work their way through the system, it’s...
Thinking Critically About Your Benefits Package
Being a business owner, some new research that MetLife recently unveiled immediately got my attention. It was about the four key types that employers embody when it comes to workplace benefits investments and strategies. At the recent National Business...
The Wonderful Solo-K
Much of BizBox's content is devoted to delineating the special rewards of going into business for yourself, and no doubt they are many. But it sure does make paying taxes on a retirement plan more difficult. If you’re self-employed,...
Your 401(k): Another Way To Borrow
Credit continues to be tight for small business owners, as BizBox has been reporting. So now just may be a good time to take from another, more readily available source of money: your 401(k) plan account. Assuming your plan...
What To Expect When You're Laying Off
This is not one of those usual “how to take advantage of your retirement plan” posts I’ve been writing. Instead, this week, I want to try to help you deal with one of the harsh realities of being a...
What's In A Name? Sometimes, A Lot
You can call them independent contractors and pay them as such. But they may actually be employees. Deciding how you classify your workers--and doing it correctly--is never more timely than right now, as many retirement plans (and health insurance...
Financial Advice For All
Here's a good idea: get your employees financial advice. It's becoming an increasingly common practice, the New York Times reports, as workers have seen the value of their 401(k)s, tied up as they are with the stock market, go...
Two Weeks To Dock in 401(k) Safe Harbor
If you’re a business owner that sponsors a 401(k) plan, it seems like there’s always some kind of compliance deadline. But here’s one coming up on December 1st--that's two weeks from yesterday, for everyone keeping score--that you may be...
The 401(k): Not SIMPLE, But Good Anyway
November 1 is an important deadline if you offer a SIMPLE for 2008 but would like to have a 401(k) plan next year. That's because it's the final date for the required 60-day notice that you must give to...
Give Yourself Some (Tax) Credit For Your Retirement Plan
by Jerry Kalish Last week, BizBox advised you to get your tax breaks while you can. Here’s another one you that you may be able to take advantage of before 2008 becomes 2009. If you are a small business...
"401(k)...more like a jump ball"
Jerry Kalish of Retirement Plan Blog has responded to our post that reported on a U.S. News & World Report article trumpeting the benefits of 401(k)s for the self-employed and small businesses. Kalish urges you to consider your specific...
The 401(k) Question, Continued...
Last week, we asked what type of 401(k)s small businesses should offer their employees. First, Jerry Kalish of Retirement Plan Blog answered. Now U.S. News and World Report has come out with an article designed specifically to tell entrepreneurs...
Retirement Plans: Update
Jerry Kalish, who blogs at Retirement Plan Blog, has taken up on our question regarding which retirement plan entrepreneurs should offer their employees here. Good stuff! Anyone else have any thoughts?...
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