The SIMPLE IRA is an employer sponsored retirement plan available to small businesses with less than 100 employees including sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations and C corporations.

SIMPLE IRA's consist of 2 parts: an optional employee salary deferral and a mandatory employer match. SIMPLE IRA's are easy to administer and IRS filings are not required. SIMPLE IRAs must be established by October 1st in order to contribute to a plan for the current year.

Employee Contributions

With a SIMPLE IRA, eligible employees can elect to contribute by salary deferral (like a 401(k) plan). Employees can elect to defer up to 100% of their income up to a maximum of $11,500 for the 2010 year or $14,000 if age 50+. In general, contributions made by an employee are 100% tax deductible and investment earnings grow tax deferred and can be withdrawn after age 59 ½ . Withdrawals prior to age 59 ½ are likely to incur taxes as well as penalties for premature withdrawal.

Employer Contributions

Employers must make mandatory contributions into a SIMPLE IRA on behalf of their eligible employees and into their own SIMPLE IRA account. In general, employer SIMPLE IRA contributions made into these accounts are 100% tax deductible. Contributions must be made annually by the employer's tax filing deadline (including extensions).

Employer contributions can be made in one of the following ways:

1. A 3% employer match is made only for those employees electing to defer a portion of their salary. Employers match employee salary deferrals dollar for dollar up to 3% of employee compensation (up to a maximum of $11,500 or $14,000 if age 50+ in 2010). An employer can reduce the employer's match to 1% of each participating employee's compensation for any two years in a five year period.
    
2. A 2% match of employee compensation (up to $4,900 in 2010) for all eligible employees regardless of whether the employee is electing to defer a portion of their salary or not.

SIMPLE IRA's are very inexpensive to maintain and their costs vary, but may cost approximately $10 - $35 annually per employee account.

Note:

Employers who would like to sponsor a retirement plan but who do not want to make contributions to employee's accounts may want to consider a 401(k).