Reference no: EM133357849

Case: Annie Scott has a small business and a dedicated core group of employees, but Annie's business does not currently offer a retirement plan. Several of Annie's workers are highly skilled and are considering leaving her company to work for employers that offer more benefits.

Annie wants to retain her skilled employees, but she also doesn't want to hire a plan administrator, nor does she want to administrate a retirement plan herself. Annie seeks to foster a highly collaborative workplace and manages by building consensus among her team. Accordingly, she has called a company meeting with the staff to discuss the issue of a retirement plan. During the meeting, Annie notes several suggestions made by her staff, which are outlined below:

Ernie wants a 403(b) plan like his wife, who works at the local university.
Jasmine thinks they could simply give everyone a generous bonus and let them enroll in an individual retirement account (IRA) on their own.
Nadine thinks there are some attractive plans for small businesses, but she doesn't know what distinguishes SEPs, SIMPLE plans, and Solo 401(k)s. She wonders if Annie has thoughts on these various types of plans and their relative merits for their company.
Charles thinks the staff is making the issue more complicated than necessary. Why not just start a 401(k) plan like everyone else seems to have?

Annie has come to you to advise her on the situation facing her business.

Review the retirement plan options above and detail the positive and negative implications of each plan.
Identify retirement plans and their positive and negative implications for the level of administration required for each plan.
Recommend a retirement plan that meets the needs of both Annie and her employees.