TOP DRAWER ARTICLE

Web Site Review: RetirementPlans
by
HL Carpenter

The site: http://www.retirementplans.irs.gov/

Overview: The web site is an IRS outreach effort to make selecting a retirement plan easier by explaining features and benefits of plans available to small businesses, including SEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401ks and tax-exempt plans.

What you'll find: A user friendly site containing plenty of information, including plan comparison tables, information on choosing, maintaining and correcting your plan, a glossary of retirement plan terms, and links to videos, IRS publications and other governmental retirement plan web sites. You can also sign up for e-newsletters published by the IRS.

What you'll still need: An interpreter. There's nothing simple about retirement plans and no substitute for having someone explain the various benefits and drawbacks to you, face-to-face.

Conclusion: If you don't have the patience to wade through complicated information, you're better off asking your tax professional about which retirement plan will work best for your business. If you prefer to do things yourself, the site can get you started by pointing out decisions you'll need to make. Either way, you'll have to set aside a chunk of time to absorb the knowledge, get your plan established, communicate the plan's features to your employees and keep track of contribution and reporting requirements.

Originally published May 2010.

Last update: January 8, 2011