#retirement-planning
Retirement planning for the self-employed and small business owners, comparing Solo 401(k) and SEP-IRA plans, including 2026 contribution limits, employee deferrals, employer profit sharing, catch-up rules, Roth options under SECURE 2.0, and plan setup deadlines
Extended your 2025 return? You can still open and fund a SEP IRA by October 15, 2026 (September 15 for S corps and partnerships) and deduct up to $70,000 — but Solo 401(k) elective deferrals for 2025 are gone for good.
Enrolling in Medicare Part A after age 65 backdates coverage up to six months, turning HSA contributions made during that window into excess contributions subject to a 6% yearly excise tax. This guide covers the 2026 prorated limits, the Form 5329 penalty, how to withdraw the excess before the filing deadline, and the six-months-ahead shutdown plan.
Separate from your employer during or after the calendar year you turn 55 and distributions from that employer's 401(k) escape the 10% early-withdrawal penalty — but not ordinary income tax, and not a rollover into an IRA. How the separation-from-service exception works, the age-50 public safety version, the 20% withholding haircut, and the five mistakes that forfeit it.
Target-date funds hold about $4.9 trillion and are the default in 99% of the auto-enrollment 401(k) plans Vanguard tracks. Here is how glide paths, "to" versus "through" designs, and expense ratios shape your retirement balance, plus a 15-minute checkup for savers and the fiduciary duties for owners who sponsor a plan.
Medicare's IRMAA surcharge sets your 2026 Part B and Part D premiums from your 2024 tax return, and crossing a bracket by one dollar triggers the full tier — up to roughly $14,000 a year above standard premiums for a couple. Here is how business sales, Roth conversions and RMDs trigger it, the 2026 thresholds, and how to file Form SSA-44 after retirement or another qualifying life-changing event.
A March 2026 survey of about 1,000 U.S. small business owners found 40% expect to retire within a decade while 70% have no formal succession plan. Buyers price a small business on seller's discretionary earnings times a 2x–4x multiple, discounted for owner dependency, customer concentration and unreliable books. This guide lays out a six-part, three-to-five-year plan — two target numbers, three years of clean financials, operational replaceability, risk de-concentration, a deliberate exit path (third-party sale, family succession, management buyout or ESOP), and a reverse-built timeline with a CPA and attorney — plus the three mistakes that shrink exits.
In 2026 the Social Security retirement earnings test withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480 before full retirement age, and $1 for every $3 above $65,160 in the year you reach FRA. Wages and net self-employment profit count; pensions, IRA withdrawals, dividends, and rental income do not — and withheld benefits are credited back through a higher monthly check at FRA.
40% of small business owners plan to retire within 10 years but 70% have no formal succession plan and only 8% are fully prepared; Revenued finds 59% of successors assume a plan exists while only 35% of owners have one — this guide explains the 24-point gap, valuation methods, clean-book QofE prep, and a 12-month exit plan to make your business lending-ready.
IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19 raises 2026 HSA limits to $4,400 self-only and $8,750 family, with a $1,000 catch-up at 55+, and lifts HDHP minimum deductibles to $1,700/$3,400. This guide explains how small businesses must update cafeteria plans, payroll caps, and bookkeeping before open enrollment to capture the triple tax benefit and avoid overcontribution and comparability penalties.
The enhanced ACA subsidies expired December 31, 2025, so in 2026 a single filer one dollar above roughly $63,840 in MAGI loses the entire premium tax credit while Marketplace rates rise a median 18%. Deductible SEP IRA, solo 401(k), traditional IRA and HSA contributions are above-the-line, so they lower the MAGI the credit uses — and the repayment cap on excess advance credits is gone for tax years after 2025, making every dollar of the excess repayable.
The IRA contribution limit rises to $7,500 for 2026 — the first base increase since 2023 — plus a new $1,100 catch-up at 50+. Learn who qualifies, how it stacks with Solo 401(k) and SEP, and how freelancers can capture the extra room before April 15, 2027.
A PLESA is a Roth emergency-savings account embedded in a 401(k), capped at $2,500, with tax- and penalty-free withdrawals employees can take any month. This guide covers how SECURE 2.0 pension-linked emergency savings accounts work for small businesses — the contribution rules, the match wrinkle, the compliance checklist, and whether adding one in 2026 is worth the cost.
