How To Open A Qualified Retirement Plan? 
While IRA 's are technically not `` qualified '' they are generally lumped into the qualified category due to their tax treatment . Based on the question , I 'm going to assume that an IRA will suffice for your intentions . To open an IRA there are a few ways to approach this goal : 1 . You can choose an asset issued by a company who will act as custodian and open an IRA with that company . Examples of this include specific mutual funds or annuities and opening an IRA with the issuing company 2 . In some cases you can open a general IRA and place numerous investment products in the IRA , this can sometimes be tricky and depends on the custodian with whom you open the IRA with 's rule regarding available products in the IRA 3 . You can open a self directed IRA and place pretty much whatever you want into it so long as it 's an allowable asset under current US law . The third option involves considerable more cost to establish the IRA but also leaves you with the most flexibility in term of what goes into the IRA and how it is funded . 