Small-business retirement plans

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When it’s time to choose a retirement plan for your business, there are a lot of moving parts to consider. It may help to start with which plan works for the number of people you will cover, since that will help narrow down your options. From there, you can compare the rest of the details.

Compare Fidelity’s small business plans

We offer retirement plans for businesses of every shape and size. Visit the following product pages for more information. If you have a separate retirement plan established and would like to invest the assets in a Fidelity brokerage account, you may be interested in an Investment-Only Retirement account.1

If you have an existing 401K plan for your employees under another provider, learn more about the support and value we can deliver with a Fidelity 401(k).

 

Self-Employed 401 (k)

SEP IRA 

Fidelity Advantage 401 (k)

SIMPLE IRA

Plan Coverage

Self-employed individual or business owner with no employees other than a spouse

Self-employed individual or small-business owner, primarily those with only a few employees

Small businesses with 5 to 100 employees who want to offer a 401(k) for the first time

Self-employed individuals or businesses with 100 or fewer employees

Who Contributes

Funded by employee deferrals and employer contributions

Funded solely by employer contributions

Funded by employee deferrals and employer contributions

Funded by employee deferrals and employer contributions

Access to Assets

Cannot take withdrawals from the plan until a “trigger” event occurs, such as turning age 59½, disability, and/or plan termination

Withdraw at any time, but a 10% penalty may apply if you are under age 59½

Cannot take withdrawals from the plan until a “triggering” event occurs, such as termination of employment, turning age 59½, or active military duty

Withdraw at any time, but a 10% penalty may apply if you are under age 59½; If the withdrawal is taken within first 2 years of participation in the plan, that penalty increases to 25%

Contribution features

Employers may contribute up to 25% of compensation, up to a maximum of $61,000 in 2022

Easy to set up and maintain

Safe Harbor employer matching contributions

Salary deferral plan with less administration

Employees may contribute up to $20,500 for 2022 ($27,000 if 50 or older)

Flexible annual funding requirements

Employees may contribute up to $20,500 for 2022 ($27,000 if 50 or older).

Electronic funding with customized contribution allocation for each participant

The total employer and employee contributions cannot exceed $61,000 in 2022

The employer may contribute between 0% and 25% of compensation up to a maximum of $58,000 for 2021 and $61,000 for 2022. Each eligible employee must receive the same percentage

The total employer and employee contributions cannot exceed $61,000 in 2022

Employer contributes either a matching or a non-elective contribution

Participants may contribute up to 100% of compensation with a maximum of $14,000 for 2022 ($17,000 if 50 or older)

Fees

No account fees and no minimum to open an account. $0 commission for online US stocks and ETFs

No account fees and no minimum to open an account. $0 commission for online US stocks and ETFs

Low-cost, fixed pricing structure. No additional management fees or, with limited exceptions, fund expenses

No account fees and no minimum to open an account. $0 commission for online US stocks and ETFs

Eligibility for tax credits for offering a 401(k) for the first time.

 

Citation

 

Fidelity. “Small-business retirement plans.” Small Business Overview, Fidelity,

https://www.fidelity.com/retirement-ira/small-business/compare-plans.