In-House Benefits Retirement Plans Small businesses, concerned about administrative headaches and the bottom line, have been slow to set up retirement plans for their workers. But the scarcity of plans is slowly changing as small businesses search for creative ways to attract and retain top-notch workers. Setting up a retirement plan doesn t have to be expensive or an administrative headache. In this plan, also called a SEP-IRA, an individual retirement account is established for each employee. No employee contributions are allowed.
Employers don t have to contribute each year.
When they do contribute, they must put in the same percentage for every employee in the company. Here s a primer on the program. Employees who participate in MSAs contribute pre-tax earnings into the savings accounts, which can be tapped to pay for routine doctor bills, prescriptions and other medical expenses. If employees remain healthy, and don t spend all the money in their accounts, they can grow the money tax-free through investments in stocks, bonds or mutual funds. The second part of an MSA is the high-deductible health policy that kicks in if the employee incurs major medical expenses such as hospitalization.