To accomplish this you really need a wide variety of investment choices and the opportunity to move among them in response to market variations. Most 401ks are limited to maybe 15 mutual fund choices which rarely change, even if market behavior dictates they should. Additionally, the canned advice provided through plan sponsors is generally not terribly useful.The only benefit to this type of rollover is that if your plan has a loan provision, you'll be able to borrow funds easily.2. Roll your 401k proceeds into a self directed IRAThis is the preferable solution for most people, and with it you again have two choices: roll your 401k into a "Contributory" or a "Rollover" IRA. Contributory IRA: Once you roll your proceeds into this type of IRA, you may still contribute annually if you qualify (check with your accountant).

However, the 401k portion can no longer be rolled back into another 401k with a new employer, should you ever want to do that. So you eliminate the possibility of using the loan provision with those funds. While it is possible to borrow against an IRA, it's more limited than borrowing against an employer 401k. Check with your tax preparer for details.Rollover IRA: This type of IRA allows you the most flexibility. You may roll the proceeds back into a 401k plan if you want to utilize a loan provision.

However, for tax reasons you should not make annual contributions to this IRA. If making annual contributions becomes important to you, simply open another contributory IRA.Since Rollover IRAs are usually set up at a brokerage firm, you'll have access to their entire universe of mutual funds. With this type of IRA, you can also employ an independent investment advisor to manage the account for you. (Yes there is a cost for that, but an effective advisor will more than make up for that in greater returns than you would get without him or her.)Most of my clients have found that the investment results we've obtained with their personal IRAs were far superior to those yielded by their employer 401k plans or their personal investing efforts. This has been mainly due to a combination of better choices and a methodical approach to investing which has kept my clients in the market during good times and out of it altogether during severe declines.Bottom line: Rollover IRAs offer opportunities to maximize benefits and provide flexibility not usually available with employer 401k plans..

Earnings are not taxed if you wait until at least age 59 1/2 to begin withdrawing them and have held your Roth IRA for at least five years. With a Roth IRA, the contributions are taxed without any deferment, but they grow tax-free and the gains are never taxed (see above). With a 401(k), contributions are tax-deferred, but eventually the contributions and gains will be taxed. By the time most people retire, the earnings from their retirement accounts will far exceed their contributions, due to compounding. With that in mind, one could make the case for a Roth IRA possibly being better than a 401(k).Here's an illustration.

Let's suppose that over the course of 25 years you contributed a total of $75,000 to your 401(k) and your employer kicked in $30,000 during that same period for a total of $105,000. By the end of those 25 years, your compounded gains (assuming you're getting a decent rate of return) could total $500,000. When you retire, you will eventually pay taxes on the entire $605,000 as well as the gains you receive from it after retirement. Now, let's assume that, instead of contributing to your 401(k) for those 25 years, you contributed only $50,000 to your Roth IRA (without a matching contribution from your employer, of course). The assumption is also that you would not be able to contribute as much because you are using post-tax dollars for the Roth IRA vs.

pre-tax dollars for the 401(k). However, because you generally have more investment options with the Roth IRA money than with the 401(k) money, you are likely to find a better rate of return. With that in mind, let's say your compounded gains could total $400,000. When you retire, you could have the entire $450,000 as well as the gains you could receive from it post-retirement, completely tax free!As you can see, it is possible that many people could come out better putting at least a portion of their retirement funds into a Roth IRA. Judge for yourself.

I actually contribute more to my Roth IRA than I do to my 401(k). I put just enough into my 401(k) to get my employer's maximum matching contribution, and that's all. However, I'm not a financial advisor and I don't play one on TV, so check with your financial advisor to see what would be right for you. For more information about the Roth IRA, see the following link: http://www.rothira.com..

You can also make a contribution to a Roth IRA at any time for a particular calendar year up until the due date of your tax return for that year. This means that if you want to make a Roth IRA contribution for 2005, you could make it anytime between January 1, 2005 and April 15, 2006. Another nice feature of the Roth IRA is that your spouse will also qualify for a contribution. There is no tax deduction for Roth IRAs. Contributions are made with money that has already been taxed so there is no immediate tax break.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that this isn't the best thing since the wheel because when Roth money is taken out, it is a tax-free distribution! This type of IRA is ideal for individuals in a lower tax bracket now, but anticipate being in a higher tax bracket at retirement. In other words, if you are in a blue-collar or white-collar middle class family and are learning and practicing good savings and investment habits than this is your retirement life saver!It gets even better; you may make contributions at any age, even after you reach 70?. You must have your Roth account open for at least five years before you can take a penalty free distribution of earnings. Distributions of earnings without penalty can be taken after age 59?. If you are a first-time home buyer or become disabled, you can take distributions earlier.

You can also withdraw the contributions at any time penalty free as long as you don't withdraw investment earnings. What many people don't know who even have Roth is that they can withdraw the contribution for the account without penalty at any time as long as you don't touch any stock profits. If you exceed the income limits you can neither contribute to nor roll over other IRA money into a Roth account. If you opened a Roth while you were under the income limits but then later earn more, your Roth account still will earn money tax-free that you can take out later without tax implications, but no new contributions are allowed. Another absolutely incredible feature of the Roth IRA is that it is also judgment proof.

If you get sued it can be very hard for the lawyers to get it from you!.

It should be a big seller among the high brow, comb-over crowd.Here's my best advice on retirement plans: find yourself a financial advisor (or financial planner) who is has experience working with small businesses and have him or her explain the options available and make a recommendation as to the type of plan best suited for you and your business. When I say "financial advisor" I'm not talking about your know-it-all brother-in-law or your accountant. I'm talking about a broker or financial planner (or other licensed professional) who has a proven track record of making his clients money and is an expert on IRAs, 401(k)s, mutual funds, etc.The best way to find a good financial advisor is to ask for referrals from your most successful friends and associates. Find the richest, stingiest man in town and ask who his advisor is. Meet with several advisors, explain your situation, and ask for their recommendations.

You should also make sure the advisor is a good fit for your personality and your business. If all goes well you will be doing business with this person for many years to come, so make sure the relationship feels comfortable to you and that you are confident in the advisor's ability to manage your money.Let me give you a quick overview of a few of the retirement plans available to small businesses so you at least have an idea of what's out there before you start your search for a good financial advisor.As a small business you basically have three types of retirement plans that you can take advantage of: the Self-Employed 401(k); the Simplified Employee Pension Plan or SEP IRA, and the Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees or SIMPLE IRA. Each allows you to make pre-tax contributions to the plan, which lets you save for retirement and lessen your taxable income by the amount of the contribution. Your investments also grow tax-deferred until withdrawal.A Self-Employed 401(k) is an option for self-employed individuals or business owners with no employees other than a spouse. The business can be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation, including S corps.

You can make salary deferrals to this type of plan of up to $14,000 for 2005.Next is the Simplified Employee Pension Plan or SEP IRA. A SEP is an option if you earn a self-employed income from a full or part time business, even if you are covered by a retirement plan at your fulltime job. A SEP allows you to contribute up to 25% of earned income, up to $41,000 for 2004 and $42,000 for 2005.My preferred type of retirement plan is the Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees or SIMPLE IRA. The SIMPLE IRA was created to make it easier for small businesses with 100 or fewer employees to offer a tax-advantaged, company sponsored retirement plan.With a SIMPLE IRA you and your eligible employees may contribute up to 3% of earned income (with a maximum contribution of $10,000) on a pre-tax basis to individual SIMPLE IRAs. You must deduct Social Security and Medicaid from your gross income, but you can then make your SIMPLE IRA contribution before other taxes are levied, effectively lowering your taxable income.As the employer you must make "matching" or "non-elective" contributions into your employees' SIMPLE IRA accounts.

Matching contributions means that the business matches the elective deferral contributions made by employees. For example, if the employee opts to contribute 3% of his salary to the plan, the employer must match the 3% contribution.At first you might cringe at matching your employees' contributions, but as the business owner and an employee yourself this can be great news. As an employee of your own business you can contribute up to $10,000 to your SIMPLE IRA and the business can then match your contribution dollar-for-dollar, which means that you can put up to $20,000 in tax free dollars into the plan per year. The cost of the contributions is also deductible as a business expense.The non-elective contribution option requires that the company contribute 2% of every employee's earned income to the plan on the employee's behalf regardless of whether or not the employee contributes to the plan himself. For 2005 the maximum contribution you would be required to make is $4,200.Like a traditional IRA, you can withdraw money from a SIMPLE IRA at any time; however distributions within the first two years of participation are subject to higher early withdrawal penalties than traditional IRAs or Roth IRAs.

Withdrawals within the first two years are subject to a 25% early withdrawal penalty. Withdrawals taken after the first two years are subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty.As the employer, the advantages of a SIMPLE IRA include: company contributions to the plan are tax deductible as a business expense; plan documents are simple and easy to administer; administration costs are low; and there is no government reporting required by the employer.The advantages of a SIMPLE IRA for your employees include: contributions are immediately 100% vested; contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawal; employees can contribute 100% of earned income up to $10,000 for 2005; and employees can direct their own investments within the IRA.This is a complex topic and I've just tipped the iceberg here, but hopefully this will give you enough information to get the investment ball rolling.Here's to your success!.

Traditional IRA plans and 401K plans have the effect of converting your portfolio capital gains into taxable income at the time of withdrawal.LONGER COMPOUNDINGUnlike traditional IRA plans, Roth IRAs have no required mandatory withdrawal dates based on your age, and therefore allow you a longer time horizon for portfolio compounding and capital gains growth. Inside traditional IRA plans you are required to made mandatory minimum withdrawals (that will be taxable) after 70 years of age.ESTATE TAX REDUCTIONYour heirs will not be required to pay tax on the benefits received from your Roth IRA plan. In contrast, taxed would be need to be paid by your heirs to receive the benefits of a traditional IRA plan.EARLY WITHDRAWALSIn the event you need to access funds in the event of an emergency, the Roth IRA plans treat withdrawals differently that a traditional IRA. You don't pay tax on withdrawals from a Roth IRA until the amount exceeds your actual contribution amounts paid in. This is not true of an IRA, and you will also face an additional early withdrawal penalty in many cases.

IS A ROTH IRA RIGHT FOR YOU?In this article we have covered 7 of the powerful investment benefits you can reap holding a Roth IRA plan. Only your professional investment advisor can advise if a Roth IRA is right for your circumstances. Take the time to learn more about the power of a Roth IRA plan and contact your advisor today. It may be the best investment move you ever make.About the Author is a freelance writer, contributor, and editor of the http://www.rothira401k.com/ information portal..

The downside of a Roth IRA is the fact that contributions are not tax deductible as with traditional IRAs or 401(k)s. The upside of a Roth IRA, however, is that all distributions are tax-free once the person reaches the age of 59?. So how can you use a Roth IRA to pass money to your child? Opening A Roth IRA For Your Child One of the biggest keys to retirement planning is "time". The more years you spend saving money for retirement, the more you should have when that blessed day arrives. Imagine if you had started saving for retirement when you were 16.

How much bigger would your retirement nest egg be? What if you purchased Microsoft stock in 1990 and watched it split eight times? Okay, that was painful example if you missed that opportunity. Nonetheless, why not do for your child what you didn't do for yourself? The fundamental goal of estate planning is to pass as much of your estate as possible to your family on a tax-free basis. You can transfer relatively small amounts of money to your child now. If you have a 16 year-old child with a Roth IRA, you can contribute $4,000 in 2005. That $4,000 is going to grow tax-free for 43 years and be worth quite a bit.

A ten percent return would result in the account growing to roughly $200,000 and the full amount would be distributed tax-free. There are other practical advantages to opening a Roth IRA for your child. As a parent, it is vital that you teach your child the value of money. Opening a Roth IRA gives you the opportunity to sit down and teach your child the value of saving and investing, instead of yelling at them to clean their room. While a parental lecture on the need to save money would typically meet with glassy eyes and yawns, your child's attitude will undoubtedly change when you are talking about their money.

Work and Maturity Issues Before you rush out to open a Roth IRA for your child, you must determine if your child is eligible to open an account. To open an account, your son or daughter must be working at least part time for an employer that reports their wages to the IRS. Hiring your child to take out the trash each week is not going to cut it, nor will this strategy work for your 5 year-old. Many teenagers, however, have summer jobs that should suffice for IRS consideration. To avoid any trouble, you should consult with your tax advisor.

A more sublime issue concerns the maturity level of your child. Keep in mind that the Roth IRA will be opened in their name. Your son or daughter will have the legal right to do what they will with the account. It is strongly suggested that you clearly explain the consequences of taking money out of the account [taxes, penalties, being cut out of the will, forced to eat healthy food, grounded for life, etc.] but the decision lies with them. As difficult as it is, try to be objective in evaluating how you child will react to knowing the money is sitting in an account.

If you have doubts, you should probably investigate other tax saving strategies. Opening a Roth IRA for your child can be a very effective means of transferring wealth to your child and teaching important life lessons. If your child exercises restraint, your relatively small contribution to their Roth IRA can grow into a sizeable tax-free nest egg..

His name was William Roth. He was a United States Senator. He was known as a conservative and helped to pass other tax cuts as well in the 1980's. But, we want to know about his specific contribution to the Roth IRA. The Roth IRA is an individual retirement account.

It is used throughout the United States. This plan is meant to help individuals save money for retirement by giving them tax advantages for doing so. But, there are a number of different retirement accounts. Some of these retirement plans can be set up by the employer while others are sponsored through the individual investor. In the Roth IRA, money is taxed before it is deposited into the account.

But, it accumulates tax free on its earnings until you withdraw it at retirement. The money is then taxed. But, here are a few other individual retirement accounts that you should consider as well:? The traditional IRA is the most commonly thought of retirement account because it was one of the firsts. In this case, money is deposited without being taxed. The money accumulates through time and is still tax free on earnings.

Then, when the money is later withdrawn at retirement, it is taxed.? A Rollover IRA is basically the same as the traditional. The only difference is that in the rollover, funds or money is moved from one type of retirement plan to the rollover. This would happen when one account is closed but money is not withdrawn but moved. For example, if you have an employer based retirement plan and leave one company for the next, the money would move into a rollover account.? A Simple IRA is quite similar to a 401K. It is a simplified employee pension plan.

In this case, you will have lower contribution limits and a simpler administration of the money.Let's get back to the Roth IRA in particular. In this type of retirement account, you get to contribute money that is "post tax" and earnings and withdrawals are then tax free. Another advantage of the Roth IRA is the fact that there are fewer penalties and restrictions on withdrawal than with the traditional IRA. Your limits, currently, on this IRA are based on age and the year:In 2005, if you are under 49 years of age, your contributions are limited to $4,000 per year. Over 50 and you can invest up to $4500.

In 2006 and 2007, if you are under the age of 49, your contribution limit will be $4000, but if you are over 50, your limit will increase to $5000. In 2008, limits change for both those age groups. Under age 49 will increase to $5000 while over age 50 will increase to $6000.Anyone who is considering a Roth IRA for their retirement account is considering a very good quality investment account. It is wise, like with all other investments, to speak to a financial advisor to find the best course of action. They will help you to decide how much to put into the account.

They will also help you to manage it. In a Roth IRA, there are a variety of options that you can invest in including stocks and mutual funds. It is important to consider the risk involved. It is also important to consider just where you need the money to be when you retire. A financial advisor can help you get to where you need to be without you having to worry about all the details.All in all, a Roth IRA is an excellent choice.

Its main benefits are its tax structure as well as its lower fees. You will see that they offer an excellent opportunity for almost anyone to invest for their retirement..

The downside of a Roth IRA is the fact that contributions are not tax deductible as with traditional IRAs or 401(k)s. The upside of a Roth IRA, however, is that all distributions are tax-free once the person reaches the age of 59?. So how can you use a Roth IRA to pass money to your child? Opening A Roth IRA For Your ChildOne of the biggest keys to retirement planning is "time". The more years you spend saving money for retirement, the more you should have when that blessed day arrives. Imagine if you had started saving for retirement when you were 16.

How much bigger would your retirement nest egg be? What if you purchased Microsoft stock in 1990 and watched it split eight times? Okay, that was painful example if you missed that opportunity. Nonetheless, why not do for your child what you didn't do for yourself? The fundamental goal of estate planning is to pass as much of your estate as possible to your family on a tax-free basis. You can transfer relatively small amounts of money to your child now. If you have a 16 year-old child with a Roth IRA, you can contribute $4,000 in 2005. That $4,000 is going to grow tax-free for 43 years and be worth quite a bit.

A ten percent return would result in the account growing to roughly $200,000 and the full amount would be distributed tax-free. There are other practical advantages to opening a Roth IRA for your child. As a parent, it is vital that you teach your child the value of money. Opening a Roth IRA gives you the opportunity to sit down and teach your child the value of saving and investing, instead of yelling at them to clean their room. While a parental lecture on the need to save money would typically meet with glassy eyes and yawns, your child's attitude will undoubtedly change when you are talking about their money.

Work and Maturity IssuesBefore you rush out to open a Roth IRA for your child, you must determine if your child is eligible to open an account. To open an account, your son or daughter must be working at least part time for an employer that reports their wages to the IRS. Hiring your child to take out the trash each week is not going to cut it, nor will this strategy work for your 5 year-old. Many teenagers, however, have summer jobs that should suffice for IRS consideration. To avoid any trouble, you should consult with your tax advisor.

A more sublime issue concerns the maturity level of your child. Keep in mind that the Roth IRA will be opened in their name. Your son or daughter will have the legal right to do what they will with the account. It is strongly suggested that you clearly explain the consequences of taking money out of the account [taxes, penalties, being cut out of the will, forced to eat healthy food, grounded for life, etc.] but the decision lies with them. As difficult as it is, try to be objective in evaluating how you child will react to having money sit in an account.

If you have doubts, you should probably investigate other tax saving strategies. Opening a Roth IRA for your child can be a very effective means of leveraging your estate. If your child exercises restraint, your relatively small contribution to their Roth IRA can grow into a sizeable tax-free nest egg..

IRA Services gives these investors a cost-effective way to add specialty assets to their retirement portfolio. IRA Services works with individual investors through the investor's financial representative and directly with financial product sponsors to provide an account that meets today's current investment needs at a price that maximizes investor returns.IRA Services has been providing self-directed retirement accounts for the direct investment and specialty asset investor for over twenty-five years. Investors, financial representatives, sponsors and others interested in knowing more about IRA Services and the retirement account solutions available in today's financial marketplace, should visit our website at www.iraservices.com..

Contributions are not tax deductible, but investors can make tax free withdrawals after the age of fifty nine and six months, so long as the account has been established for more than five years. The basic difference between this type of account and a traditional IRA is that investors pay the taxes while they are building the investment, in return for freedom from tax when they retire. People who have begun saving for retirement late in their working life are most likely to gain a financial advantage from choosing a Roth IRA over a traditional IRA..