Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal last week on how pension plans for the self-employed (the more well-to-do self-employed) are increasing in popularity: “Self-Employed Embrace Pensions.” Excerpt:
Generous pension plans may be going the way of the buggy whip at big businesses, but they’re gaining in popularity among the smallest of companies: sole proprietorships. . .Defined-benefit plans for individuals are beginning to enter the mainstream, with a handful of financial firms now offering the service. Traci Siegel, vice president of retirement services and products at Charles Schwab Corp. in San Francisco, says the number of accounts in Schwab’s Personal Defined Benefit Plan jumped 30% this year from 2004, with the average plan participant making annual contributions of $113,000. Most clients earn $225,000 or more a year, she says.
See also this article (which contains one of those handy tables that I love) describing the various plans available for the self-employed: “IRAs and 401(k)s: How to Pick the Best Plan.”