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Saving for retirement is even more important for solo-entrepreneurs because you dont have a company sponsored pension plan or matching 401K contributions to rely on. There are many retirement plans available to self employed individuals and small businesses. Which one is right for you?

Here is just a sample of the retirement plans available to solo-preneurs and small businesses:

Roth IRA although this is not just for solo-preneurs, this is the first place you should look to save if you are just starting to save for retirement (or resuming to save after starting a business). Roth IRAs are low-cost, very flexible, and allow you to grow money tax-free as long as you follow the distribution rules. Contributions can be made up to $4,000, and can be withdrawn at any time without tax or penalty (earnings withdrawn may be subject to penalty and tax if withdrawn before age 59 and certain other conditions are not met).

SEP IRA if youre maxing out your Roth IRA, and are ready to save more, a SEP IRA allows you to save up to 25% of your compensation (20% of your self-employment income) for a maximum of $44,000 per year. Contributions are tax-deductible, and SEP IRAs have low maintenance fees. Contributions can be made for employees also, but employees cannot contribute to their own SEP IRA. This is a good choice if you just have a handful of employees and are looking for a low-cost way to save for your own and your employees retirement.

Simple IRA a Simple plan offers many of the benefits of a 401K, but with less IRS reporting requirements. You can contribute up to $10,000 to a Simple IRA, with an employer match of up to 3%. Contributions are tax-deductible, and Simple IRAs also enjoy low annual fees. Employees are allowed to contribute to Simple plans, and a company match is mandatory. If you have a lower salary (or self-employment income) in your small business, a Simple IRA allows you to put more away towards your retirement than other plans.

Solo 401K for small businesses with no employees, the solo-401K allows you to put the maximum amount away, with less cost and less reporting requirements than a traditional 401K. Similar to a SEP IRA, contributions max out at $44,000. However, unlike a SEP IRA, participants in a Solo-401K can contribute up to 100% of the first $15,000 of compensation or self-employment income, and an additional amount up to 25% of your compensation. This is important because it allows you to save substantially more than a SEP IRA, if your compensation is less than $220,000 per year. A solo-401K is not appropriate for small business with employees or expecting to add employees.

Theres no one best plan for all small businesses. The best plan for you will depend on many factors, such as whether you have employees or not, how much you want to contribute each year, how much time you want to spend administering the plan, etc. To get more information about small business retirement plans, contact a no-load mutual fund company, a discount brokerage company or a fee-only financial planner.

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If its high income business opportunities you are looking for, have I got a deal for you!

Perhaps you are planning to start your main home business. Or, you may be looking for a money maker to run on the side.

It is best to find a business that requires little or no experience or skill. It has to have low start-up costs and be fairly cheap to run. Of course, you want a business with a high income and, most important, it should be a business you enjoy.

Today, lets look at three businesses to run from home. Each one is a money maker.

1) Advertising

Businesses today outsource as much of their work as possible. It cuts costs and streamlines their operations. This spells opportunity for you. Your advertising company would be an extension of your clients company. You would be responsible for placing print ads, direct mailings, Internet ads, cable TV and radio spots. How to start: volunteer to do some ad work for a friends business and a few charities. These will give you experience and references. Contact mailing list companies and go to trade fairs. Advertise your services in trade journals, business newspapers, and phone directories.

2) Telephone Answering Service

There is a huge market for telephone answering services. One friend of mine ran a telephone answering service for years. He hired homemakers to answer telephones in their own home during specified hours. How to start: Research the going rate established firms charge clients and exactly which services they offer. Determine who your telephone answerers will be. The blind as well as disabled veterans are an excellent workforce. Contact the telephone company about the cost of new lines and check out cell phone costs. Advertise your services on the Internet, in the phone directory, in mailings to small businesses and in business and trade journals.

3) Consulting

The consulting field is booming and you can be part of it. The nice part about consulting is that your clients can be located around the world and you do not have to leave your house. Consulting brings in a very high income and you can be a consultant in almost any field. Very few consultants today work in person with the client. Most work by e-mail and telephone. How to start: Choose your field and obtain three or more references to give to clients. Obtain references by consulting for friends and charities. Join consulting organizations, place ads in trade journals, set up your own Website and open a booth at trade fairs.

I hope this gives you some ideas. In a future article, we will examine three more high income business opportunities to find a money maker for you.

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Word Count:Article Body:
There comes a time in the life of any small-business owner when he or she poses the question: Can I apply credit in a smarter way without getting my business into too much debt? The basic answer to that is: Yes, by protecting your credit.

The first three years of a business life are the most crucial. During this time, the business owner will need to carefully budget business expenses and realistically project income. This forces the owner to give the important numbers a good, hard think. It is important to develop a picture of the monthly cash flow, particularly in the first year. This ensures that you know where your money is going and that you are keeping tabs on every aspect of the business.

The Small Business Administration says that many businesses fail because of undercapitalization that is, not recognizing how much you really need to start the business and / or not having the means to access the capital. This is where business credit cards can help. Business credit cards are a common funding option for small businesses. So good, in fact, that there is a general observation that small business owners often overuse their business credit cards during their first years of business. And, if they do not yet have small business credit cards, they normally end up overloading their personal credit cards.

Small business owners understandably heavily rely on business credit cards to help them over those rough periods when the bank balances are low. Unfortunately, in using the business credit cards, some of the small business owners defer paying off the balance for too long and often suffer the penalties of charges in late fees and interest as a result.

The first thing to remember when it comes to using business credit cards is that you should reserve the use of business credit cards for short-term spending only. Business credit cards will allow your business to start building a credit history. If you pay off a large portion of your business credit card balance each month, or even the whole balance when you can afford it, this favorable credit behavior will enable you to build a solid credit reputation under the business name, which will make cheaper commercial loans accessible sooner. That kind of payment behavior also helps you avoid the dangers of falling behind on your business credit card bill.

Remember you already have a budget worked out. Use the monthly statements for your business credit cards to note down your expenses and to track your cash flow status. The business credit card companies already classify your charges, so it should be much easier to do. You can even download your business credit card transaction history from the websites of the business credit card companies. This should speed up your expense reconciliations and give you the time to focus on making your business grow.

Learn to use the discounts offered by business credit cards for business expenditures. Using business credit cards for certain purchases can entitle you to as much as 5 percent discounts. This feature in business credit cards can actually help you save and will go far towards balancing your budget.

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Many of the brightest and hardest-working marketing and advertising people in the country are obsessed with getting you to spend money and, if necessary, to go into debt to do so. Absolutely all the media that reach you every day are designed to get you to spend money. In order to save money in this environment, you will need determination to withstand the constant pressures to spend now.

What is it that separates those who are successful from those who are not?

Successful individuals have a strong personal vision of what they want and why they want it. That vision gives them the strength to stick to their strategies even when doing so is uncomfortable. It gives them the determination to persist when they are discouraged. This is the same characteristic of women entrepreneurs and is the reason their new, small businesses are successful.

The 401k Plan

Today, the 401(k) plan has become the main investment vehicle for working women to save for retirement. But many dont take full advantage of their plan, and this could leave them with a lot less at retirement. Here are some steps we believe you can take to improve and eliminate any retirement worries about whether or not your retirement will be pleasurable or public charity; or whether you will have all the free time to spend with your family or friends.

1. Increase your contributions to the maximum that you can manage. Many women contribute just enough to take advantage of their employers matching contributions, and then they stop. By adding more to your account, beyond the matching contributions, youll end up with more in retirement.

2. Invest at the start of each year instead of taking a little bit out of each paycheck. Nothing in the law says you have to invest in a 401(k) plan a little at a time, from each paycheck. By investing early, youll put your money to work sooner for your benefit.

3. A few years ago it was reported that more than 30 percent of the money in 401(k) plans was invested in money-market funds or similar accounts. For investors nearing retirement, that may be appropriate. But most workers in their 40s and 50s need growth in their retirement investments. Put more of your investment fund in equities and less in money-market funds.

4. Research indicates that over long periods of time, small-company stocks outperform large-company stocks. Since 1926, In the equity part of your portfolio, shift some of your money into funds that invest in small companies. Dont put your entire equity portfolio in small-company stocks. But consider investing at least 25 percent of your U.S. equity investments in that fund.

5. Numerous studies have shown that value stocks outperform growth stocks. According to data going back to 1964, large U.S. value companies had a compound rate of return of 15.1 percent vs. only 11.4 percent for large U.S. growth companies. Among small U.S. companies, the difference was even more striking: a compound return of 17.4 percent for the value stocks vs. 12.1 percent for the growth stocks. Dont put your entire equity portfolio into value stocks. But if theres a value fund available to you, consider investing at least 25 percent of your U.S. equity investments in that fund.

6.Rebalance your portfolio once a year. Your asset allocation plan calls for a certain percentage to be invested in each of several kinds of assets. Rebalancing restores your asset balance and allows for the possibility that last years losers may be this years gainers. Diluting your diversification actually increases risk in your portfolio over time, which is a result thats just the opposite of what most investors want.

7.Without compromising proper asset allocation use the funds in your plan that have the lowest operating expenses. Choose funds with low turnover in their portfolios.

8. Dont borrow or make early withdrawals from your 401(k) unless that is the only way to respond to a life-threatening emergency. Furthermore, if you take an early withdrawal before you are 59.5 years old, your withdrawals will be subject to a 10 percent tax penalty (in addition to regular taxes) unless you are disabled. Just dont do it.

9. If you leave your job, youll get a chance to roll over your 401(k) into an IRA. Take that chance. In an IRA, you have the same tax deferral as a 401(k), and youll have the flexibility to invest in virtually everything you can get in a 401(k), plus much more.

10. Heres the most important thing you can do to maximize your 401(k): Keep your contributions automatically payroll deducted, and make them no matter what. Its simple, but its not easy. Half of the households in the United States have net worth of $25,000 or less. In a typical year, about two-thirds of U.S. households do not save money.

Remember, to be successful, first, imagine your early retirement; the Caribbean condo, the yacht, the new Lexus. Luxury and pleasure as far as your eyes can see. Create a strong vision, and then dont let go. The power of a clear, strong vision applies to more than just your retirement savings. Let your vision shape your life, instead of the other way around, and all of the time in the world can be yours. You wont be spending your Golden Years working at the Golden Arches.

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