SEP IRA: is it worth it? which service do you use? any tips/recommendations for newbies?

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Another consideration which can be used in addition to a SEP IRA: a solo 401(k), which lets you make deposits as both an employee and as employer. That way, you can put even more into a pre-tax account. (Meaning more than the $19,500 limit for 2020 if you’re under 50 years old.) I have both and maximize my annual contributions. I use Fidelity but any credentialed brokerage account will do. Vanguard has traditionally had the lowest fees for their funds. Also, the Money Girl podcast has lots of info on this & other retirement account advice for freelancers.

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Totally worth it. I have all my accounts at Vanguard and just invest in their index funds.

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Absolutely. I don't know your situation, but it saved us a shitload because it brought our income down enough so that we didn't have to pay back like $20,000 in health insurance subsidies (our family HMO plan costs us over $40,000/year, but we only pay about $18,000/year out-of-pocket and the federal subsidy covers the rest). However, since our income was over a certain amount, when tax time came, we had to pay back the entire subsidy - an additional $22,000!!! Instead, we both opened up a SEP and put in the max ($10,500 each I think). That dropped our income just enough and we only owed like $2000 toward the subsidy. So, instead of paying Uncle Sam $22,000 we paid ourselves $22,000.
Obviously, everyone's situation is different but anytime you can reduce your taxable income - as a freelancer especially - you will save money while paying less tax.

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sheesh! what’s the rate of return YOY? How much have you put in overall?

I have a SEP through Citibank (believe it’s through Vanguard), my Citi advisor plainly explained it “with every 10k you put into your SEP at the end of the year, you save 4/5k in taxes.” So I’d rather pay myself that forking that over to Uncle Sam. 👍🏼

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sending you a drink instead lol 🍻

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