Planning for retirement can be a daunting task, especially if you are self-employed. It almost seems like there are no retirement plans specifically designed for self-employed individuals.
However, there is, and in this blog post we’ll be examining the benefits of the Enhanced Qualified Retirement Plan (eQRP), and why it’s the best retirement plan for self-employed individuals. Self-employed includes small business owners. You can own an investment business, work for yourself or have part-time income or activity that could produce income.
Being in control of your funds saves you from the risk of investment managers making decisions about your money that are profitable for them but may not be in your best interest.
Third-party custodians have long dominated the investment industry and charge large transaction fees (AUM – a percentage fee for Assets Under Management). As the trustees of these retirement plans, they make money charging transactional and management fees to perform trustee duties. The eQRP gives you checkbook control enabling you directly manage and invest your funds without requiring custodian approval for each investment.
Investing all or most of your money in stocks, even a variety of stocks, is narrowly focused on one asset class: paper. Furthermore, you have no control over the actual performance of your investments.
With the eQRP you have access to a wide range of investment options with potentially higher returns. Including:
And many more!
There are literally millions of things that you can invest in with an eQRP, including real gold and silver you can legally take possession of.
All these are impossible with a self-directed IRA.
One of the best reasons for using a trusted eQRP is that you can leverage the security and protection it offers to keep your information private and your data secure. You can also take your security to the next level by opting for a physical wallet that comes with a password. This makes it easy for you to travel without having to go into your digital wallet on your mobile device.
Your eQRP has a built-in ROTH option. This is a chunk of your retirement money (or all, if you want) that you pay taxes on before contributing the money. In this case, you pay the tax now and then pay zero tax on the growth and distributions forever.
All your gains are tax-free and it stays in the plan to continue compounding.
Let’s say you contribute $10,000 to your eQRP and pay taxes on that money today. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that $10,000 grow by 10X and then 10X again and have it be worth a million dollars?
Worthy to note, investing in real estate using the traditional retirement account triggers a tax called the UDFI, which is up to a whopping 30% of your gains.
The eQRP sets you up on the path to a secured financial future.
Your eQRP is like a private bank line of credit. It is always available to you. At any time, you can write yourself a check and have cash immediately.
Need $50K in 5 minutes? You can borrow up to $50,000 or half of your plan’s assets, or whichever is less.
This can be a life-saving option when you need money or just want to use your own assets to fund things, so instead of paying interest to the BANK, pay interest to YOURSELF.
The loan must be amortized over a period of no more than five years (except for loans that are used to buy your personal residence). You must also charge a reasonable rate of interest. Payments must be made at least every quarter in substantially equal amounts.
You can always make more frequent payments, such as monthly or weekly. It is important to remember that loan repayments are NOT plan contributions. A neat side effect of the interest you’re paying to the plan is that money will increase your account balance even more!
As an owner, you cannot deduct interest on the loan, but the plan pays no tax on the interest income either. All eQRPs come with a credit line built in.
Retirement planning has become increasingly crucial for self-employed individuals as they bear the sole responsibility for securing their financial future. Unlike employees in traditional jobs, self-employed individuals cannot rely on employer-provided defined-benefit pensions.
The key lies in creating an adaptable portfolio that can be regularly reviewed and adjusted to accommodate evolving market conditions and retirement goals. As a self-employed individual, your retirement plan should be flexible enough to accommodate changes in income, business fluctuations, and personal circumstances, and the eQRP allows you to do just that.