Self-employed individuals are allowed to fund an individual retirement account, but there are better options available. Owners of small businesses can maximize their retirement account contributions by establishing a solo 401(k) plan. A solo 401(k) plan is similar to a regular 401(k) except that the solo plan is available only to self-employed individuals. The owner of a small business is considered to be both the employer and the employee for purposes of funding the plan. [Read More]

Going through an audit, even if your company's books are in order, takes time. There are ways, however, to make the audit process smoother so that it doesn't interfere with your day-to-day work. If your company has an upcoming audit, used these audit preparation tips to help make the audit as easy as possible. Pull All Required Information Ahead of Time The auditors will need access to information in lots of documents. [Read More]

If you're thinking about buying a beach house or another vacation home, you could be considering hiring a real estate agent to help you with your purchase. One person that you might not have thought about hiring is a financial planner. However, if you want to be sure that you make a smart decision when purchasing a vacation home, it can be a good idea to hire a professional to help you with the financial aspect of things. [Read More]

With so many different types of retirement accounts available, it is often not readily apparent which types of rollovers are permissible. Even though an IRA rollover is simply a transfer of funds, the Internal Revenue Code is specific as to which account transfers receive preferential tax treatment. The IRS publishes a concise chart that summarizes the various types of rollovers permitted by the tax code. Participants in most types of retirement plans can roll over some or all of their funds into a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA to help achieve their financial planning objectives. [Read More]