Retirement Planning for Business Owners

The common choices are a SEP IRA, a SIMPLE IRA, a Solo 401(k), and a conventional small business 401(k). A SEP is funded entirely by the employer and is simple to administer. A SIMPLE IRA allows employee deferrals with a required employer contribution. A Solo 401(k) is built for owner-only businesses and lets you contribute in both roles. A small business 401(k) suits a company with staff that wants a full-featured plan. The right one depends on your profit, your payroll, and how many employees you have.

Total contributions to one defined contribution account are capped at $72,000 for 2026 under IRS Notice 2025-67, and that figure is also the maximum a SEP IRA or a Solo 401(k) can receive per participant. Within a 401(k), including a Solo 401(k), the employee deferral limit is $24,500 with an additional $8,000 catch-up at age 50 and over, per IRS news release IR-2025-111. SIMPLE plans allow $17,000 in employee deferrals with a $4,000 catch-up. Your own ceiling depends on your compensation and your business structure.

Yes. A Solo 401(k), sometimes called an individual 401(k), is designed for a business with no full-time employees other than the owner and a spouse. You contribute as the employee through salary deferrals and again as the employer, which is why a Solo 401(k) often holds more than a SEP IRA at the same level of income.

A SEP IRA is funded only by employer contributions and carries very little administration, which makes it attractive when income swings from year to year. A Solo 401(k) adds an employee deferral on top of the employer contribution, so at moderate income levels it usually allows a larger total. A Solo 401(k) also brings more paperwork once plan assets grow. We walk through both against your actual numbers rather than a general rule.

Your plan choice has to change with your headcount. A Solo 401(k) no longer fits once you have a full-time employee beyond a spouse, and SEP and SIMPLE plans carry eligibility and contribution rules that apply to qualifying staff. Planning that transition in advance is far easier than correcting a plan after the fact, so we revisit the structure whenever your payroll changes.

Treating the sale as your entire retirement plan concentrates your outcome in a single event you do not fully control. Buyers, timing, valuation, and your own health can all shift. We build retirement income from assets held outside the company so that a sale strengthens your plan rather than carrying it, and we coordinate that work with exit and succession planning.

Yes. Our team includes an IRS Enrolled Agent, and we offer tax planning and tax return preparation alongside investment management. That means your contribution level is set against your projected income before the year closes, rather than being worked out backward the following spring.

No. We meet clients in person at our Morgan Hill, California, and Brookfield, Wisconsin offices, and by video elsewhere. We are able to provide services to residents of the states where we are registered, which currently include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

You can request a consultation online or call (800) 584-3652. We will talk through your business structure, your current savings, and your timeline, then outline which plan options fit and what setting one up would involve.