Self-Employed? Assessing the Retirement-Funding Landscape

When you start at a new job at most companies, you're usually presented with a glossy packet that details your options for insurance and retirement savings. But self-employed folks don't have it so easy. Instead, they're forced to fend for themselves on both fronts.

Lucky self-employed people can piggyback on the health insurance coverage provided by a spouse's employer. But when it comes to retirement savings, everyone's on their own, and selecting the right type of plan can be a complicated business unto itself. Although the tax code includes several breaks to encourage the self-employed and small-business owners to save for their own retirements, selecting the right plan for yourself and your firm entails assessing an alphabet soup's worth of options.