Qualified Retirement

A retirement investment portfolio normally consists of a combination of social security, personal savings (including tax deferred vehicles such as IRAs and TSAs) and tax qualified plans. Qualified retirement plans include both Defined Benefit and Defined Contributions plans (e.g. Profit Sharing and 401(k) plans). Qualified plans can be set up by S corporations, C corporations, partnerships and sole proprietorships. Because they typically allow for greater contribution limits and may even allow for employers to match a portion of an employee’s contribution, these plans often represent a person’s largest retirement asset.

The decision as to the best type of qualified plan to set up involves evaluating the costs of each type of plan, understanding the ERISA rules that govern the various plans and being realistic about what you want to accomplish with the plan. Some plans are funded solely by the employer, while others can allow for both employer and employee contributions. Some plans guarantee a retirement benefit while others simply allow for an accumulation of assets based on the investment decisions made by the account holder. The decision as to what investment options to include in the plan involves a fiduciary liability that requires serious evaluation.

The Stahlschmidt Financial Group has specialists with the knowledge and experience to help you design and establish a plan that can be the core component of your retirement investment portfolio.