For owners setting up a first plan or weighing options for a small team. We compare a SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA, 401(k), and cash balance plan against your goals, headcount, and California's CalSavers requirement, then help set up and support the plan you choose.
Many of the companies we work with started here: a few employees, a state-mandate notice, or owners who want to save more than a personal account allows. We explain the choices in plain terms, help set up the plan you choose, and stay on as its advisor once it is running.
Funded by employer contributions only, at the same percentage of pay for every eligible employee. Simple to open and administer, with no annual filing. Often used by owners with no or very few employees.
Allows employee salary deferrals with a required employer match or contribution. Lower contribution limits than a 401(k), lower administrative requirements, and generally available to employers with 100 or fewer employees.
The highest employee contribution limits and the most design flexibility: matching and profit-sharing formulas, Roth, vesting schedules, loans, and auto-enrollment. Requires a recordkeeper, an annual Form 5500, and ongoing fiduciary oversight. Solo 401(k) versions exist for owner-only businesses.
A defined benefit plan that allows substantially larger tax-deferred contributions than a 401(k) alone, usually paired with one. Suited to established, profitable companies whose owners want to accelerate retirement savings. Requires an actuary.
California's state-run Roth IRA program. Employers with one or more employees that do not sponsor a qualified plan are generally required to register. There is no employer contribution and no employer fee, and contribution limits are those of an IRA. Sponsoring your own plan is the alternative.
It depends on your headcount, how much the owners and employees want to save, your budget for contributions, and how much administration you are willing to take on. We walk through the comparison with you and your CPA. Contribution limits are set by the IRS and change over time.
A conversation about your headcount, payroll, what the owners and employees want to save, and your budget. We lay the options side by side, including CalSavers, and coordinate with your CPA.
We help you select a recordkeeper and administrator from the providers we work with, prepare the plan document and adoption agreement with them, and connect the plan to your payroll.
Employees get a Participant Hub in English and Spanish with a plan video, Plan Highlights, and enrollment steps. We stay on as the plan's advisor for benchmarking, investment monitoring, and day-to-day questions.
California employers with one or more employees that do not sponsor a qualified plan are generally required to register for CalSavers, the state-run IRA program. Sponsoring your own plan, such as a 401(k) or SIMPLE IRA, is the alternative and satisfies the requirement. We can help you compare the two.
Each is a different kind of plan. A SEP IRA is funded by employer contributions only. A SIMPLE IRA allows employee deferrals with a required employer contribution and lower administrative requirements. A 401(k) allows the highest employee contribution limits and the most design flexibility, with more administration. Which fits depends on your headcount, how much the owners and employees want to save, and your budget for contributions.
A SEP or SIMPLE IRA can usually be opened within a few weeks. A new 401(k) typically takes one to three months from decision to first payroll contribution, depending on the recordkeeper and your payroll provider. Some plan types have calendar deadlines for a given tax year; we will tell you which apply to you.
Federal tax credits are available to many small employers that start a new retirement plan, covering a portion of start-up costs and, in some cases, employer contributions, for the first several years. Eligibility and amounts depend on headcount and other factors. We are not tax advisors; we coordinate with your CPA on whether and how the credits apply to you.
Tell us a little about your company and what you are weighing, and an advisor from the retirement plan team will follow up with a comparison for a company your size.