Creating Your Own Retirement Plan: A Guide to Keoghs & IRAs for the Self-Employed, Second Edition [Paperback]

Twila Slesnick (Author), John C. Suttle (Author)

Book Description

Series: Creating Your Own Retirement Plan | Publication Date: February 2002

People who work for themselves often neglect to plan for their retirement. Yet failing to stash away money is like ignoring your taxes or keeping poor records -- it's financial roulette!

Fortunately, it's not difficult to establish a nest egg. Nolo's new book, Creating Your Own Retirement Plan, provides the straightforward information you need to select, establish and operate a retirement plan. It covers:

*simple IRAs

*SEP IRAs

*traditional IRAs

*Roth IRAs

*profit-sharing plans

*defined benefit plans

*401(k) plans

In plain English, the book explains how to select the best plan, set it up, make contributions, administer the plan, and then -- finally -- receive distributions. The latest edition is completely revised to reflect the massive changes wrought by the 2001 Tax Law, which altered many of the rules and regulations governing retirement plans.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nolo has been publishing excellent self-help legal manuals since 1971. -- Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

Nolo is always there in a jam as the nation's premier publisher of do-it-yourself legal books. -- Newsweek

When it comes to self-help legal stuff, nobody does a better job than Nolo. -- USA Today --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Twila Slesnick is an Enrolled Agent who specializes in tax and investment planning for retirees and prospective retirees. She has conducted numerous seminars throughout the U.S. in the areas of computer use, retirement planning and tax planning. She has also served as senior editor of a national computer magazine, developed computer software and designed mathematics curricula. She lives in Dublin, California.

John Suttle has been practicing law for 18 years. His practice consists of estate and trust planning; probate administration; federal, state and local tax counseling for high net worth individuals and retirement planning under ERISA. He has served as an expert witness in numerous cases and lives in Atherton, California. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: NOLO; 2nd edition (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873377923
• ISBN-13: 978-0873377928
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,286,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't read this book if you have any employees, April 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Creating Your Own Retirement Plan: A Guide to Keoghs & IRAs for the Self-Employed (Paperback)

I have used Nolo Press books in the past and found them extremely helpful, detailed and precise. So, I was excited to find this title which sounded like it was exactly what I was looking for. And it is just as good as any of the other Nolo Press titles I have seen, so I was very disappointed to find this statement on page 2 of the introduction..."If you have any non-owner employers in your business, this book is not for you." It would have been more helpful if the sample pages had included the introduction, which clearly lays out the intended audience and use of this book. That said, I recommend this to other self-employed people because every option is clearly laid out for your consideration, along with good instructions for taking action on your decisions. It could be called "Retirement Plans for Not-So-Dummies."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of Retirement Plans for the Self-Employed, November 11, 2006

By 

Ibochild (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating Your Own Retirement Plan: A Guide to Keoghs & IRAs for the Self-Employed, Second Edition (Paperback)

This and Twila Slesnick's earlier book "IRAs and Keoghs for the Self-Employed" are the only books that I've found that deal specifically with setting up a retirement plan for sole proprietors. Most books deal with them from the perspective of employees. I found the earlier book to be woefully out of date, because it doesn't address changes that make it easier for business owners to set up their own 401k plan.

In this book, the authors do provide detailed information on 401k plans. In fact, the book devotes a chapter to each type of retirement plan for business. It also includes comparisons for each type of plan to make it easier to decide with one is best for you.

This is highly recommended for sole proprietors that want to set up their own retirement plan. I found it particularly helpful in demystifying how 401k plans work. However, because the book was published in 2002, it doesn't address current changes in the law that will allow after tax contriburtions to a 401k plan. Hopefully, a new edition (or another book on the same subject) is forthcoming from Nolo Press.

4.0 out of 5 stars Clear text makes things easy to understand..., February 26, 2008

By 

Tracy Foote "Author: Kid's ROTH IRA Handbook:... (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating Your Own Retirement Plan: A Guide to Keoghs & IRAs for the Self-Employed, Second Edition (Paperback)

This book has a distinct chapter for each type of retirement plan for the self-employed. It is written in a style that is very easy to understand compared to reading an IRS publication. The book also compares different scenarios so you can see what would be different. It gives examples such as if you are both self-employed and have a retirement plan through your full time day job, can you have a SEP and an IRA, can you have two SEPs, what if you have two self-employed businesses, and more.

While the first chapter explains this book is not for the self-employed with employees, there is a short section in the chapters reminding you of a "heads-up" as to things that might be different if you have employees.

I am not sure there is new information that would not be included in the IRS related publications but as I mentioned, this book may be something to read first as the language is more simplistic and ideas are explained using more than one sentence (which is often all you will find in the IRS publications). Of course, you will still have to get the current IRS publications since things change so quickly with retirement issues.