www.401kHelpCenter.com is valuable online resource

One of the goals for our blog on Self-Directed Retirement is that we want to be a resource. Because of our work in this growing industry segment, we see a lot of new web and offline experts popping up.

401k Help Center (www.401khelpcenter.com) is one of our favorites and a wealth of information. While you can explore the entire site, the “Small Business Channel” is going to probably help you most.

They point to IRS publications (this one for example: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p3998.pdf ) and have their own directory of providers (which we are not yet in, but hope to be soon) which I have found helpful. It is on the left hand side of the site in this small business channel area.

But my favorite link is the one on “One-Person 401k's May Make Sense for Owner-only Businesses” found here http://www.401khelpcenter.com/mpower/feature_070502.html

This article takes you through many of the most important points for the solo operator. It includes suggestions and warnings from Hugh Bromma, one of the pioneers in this space (and who we are interviewing for this blog at the end of May, stay tuned!). Bromma reminds small biz owners of some of the rules with this unique structure.

The article is a bit dated, but we’ll be including updates that will help you make good decisions on solo 401k. The financial contribution limits are what make this form of retirement plan very compelling to the small business owner and those can be found within this specific section on One Person 401k along with a nifty calculator.

401k Help Center also has an active forum online where you can ask questions, peruse good answers. I like their “most popular” link which takes you to what everyone else is reading – which can be helpful or not. They have the usual weekly newsletter (usual in that nearly every content site has an RSS or newsletter feed).

Lastly, this is an awesome resource if you are a consumer, a small business owner, or a small company trying to figure out how to offer a plan to your employees. I know of no better site to get up to speed on the world of 401k. The site, by the way, is owned and operated by Rick Meigs out of Oregon. Kudos to Rick for doing such a fine job.