The easy,
affordable
retirement platform
for all businesses
The easy,
affordable
retirement platform
for all businesses
Business Solutions
Whether you’re a solopreneur or have 100+ employees, we have a solution to fit your needs, and we’re here to support you as you grow!
SEP IRA
Small Business
Best for small business owners with a few or no employees.
SIMPLE IRA
Small to Medium Business
Incentivize employees to save by matching their contributions.
401(k)
Any Size Business
Increased contribution limits and profit-sharing options available.
Creating a roadmap to retirement
We’ve made it our mission to help everyone arrive at a safe, secure retirement, whether you’re a small business owner, an employee, or self-employed. Our platform takes complexity and doubt out of retirement planning and replaces it with knowledge and clarity—so you can invest in your financial future with confidence.
Our rules for retirement savings: Simple. Seamless. Smart.
Simple plan management
We handle plan administration, employee onboarding, government filings, and more. So you can offer a work benefit without all the added paperwork.
Seamless payroll integration
With API payroll integration, we can securely sync employee data, track 401(k) eligibility, and process deductions—saving you time and hassle each pay run.
Smart investing
Our investment portfolios rebalance automatically to help you stay on track for retirement.
Why offer a retirement plan to employees?
Attract & retain quality employees
A qualified retirement plan can help your firm look more attractive to qualified employees. Finding quality employees can be a challenge today, especially when a job seeker is considering multiple job offers.
Lower income taxes
As a business owner you are able to match the contributions made by your employees. Your matching contributions (up to acceptable limits) are tax deductible. When starting a plan, you may also qualify for an additional tax credit.
Invest in your own retirement
You can invest money for your own retirement in the plan you set up for your employees. And, thanks to tax-free compounding of retirement plans, you’ll unlock financial freedom for your future.
Retirement Plan Comparison
| Features | SEP IRA | SIMPLE IRA | 401(k) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Number of Employees | 100 | 100 | Any |
| Annual Contribution Limits (2022) | $61,000 | $14,000 | $61,000 |
| Catch-up Contribution (age 50 or older) | n/a | $3,000 | $6,500 |
| Allows Employee Contributions | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Allows Employer Contributions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mandatory Employer Contributions | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Additional Plan Types | n/a | n/a | • Traditional 401(k) • Roth 401(k) • Safe Harbor 401(k) • Automatic Enrollment |
| Employer Contribution Matching Options | n/a | 2% nonelective or up to 3% matching | Depends on plan type; offers both nonelective and matching |
| Annual IRS Filing Required | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Additional Plan Features | n/a | n/a | Profit-sharing, age-weighted, and new comparability available |
| Can Atticus help your business set up and manage this plan? | ✓ YES! | ✓ YES! | ✓ YES! |
Frequently asked questions
No, absolutely not. In fact, our mission at Atticus is to simplify the investing experience. Atticus welcomes both experienced and beginners in the investing space.
Yes, it is a paid service. You can find the pricing for each plan on this page of the website.
Yes, Atticus has a secure and private network backed by Altruist to keep your personal information, investing portfolio, and banking information protected and secure.
Yes, we do have a 1-week free trial experience for you to test out the platform and decide if this is the best investing tool for you to use.
You have to be at least 18 years old to open an account with Atticus. We’ll soon be able to open accounts for minors (under 18), so stay tuned for that update!
Our team is available to answer any questions you may have via text, call, email, or live chat. Check out our contact page to speak with an advisor today!
You can set up a SEP Plan as long as you are in business for profit, either full time or part time. The business can be run in many forms, including a sole-proprietorship or partnership (self-employment), corporation or a limited liability company. You don’t need to set up a corporation or limited liability company to have a SEP Plan. This means that you can set up a SEP Plan if you are a freelancer, a hairdresser, a consultant, a contractor, or a baker who sells cookies to your friends and neighbors.
Consult your tax advisor if you are uncertain whether the structure of your business will allow for a SEP Plan.
There are many benefits to establishing a SEP Plan:
- You can set up and fund your SEP Plan immediately
- You have until your tax-filing deadline to establish a SEP Plan and make deductible contributions for the previous tax year
- Lower administrative requirements when compared to other retirement plans
- Higher contribution limits than Traditional or Roth IRAs
- Flexible contributions rules; you do not have to contribute every year
You are allowed to take a distribution at any time however all distributions will be included in your taxable income the year they are made. In addition, if you are younger than 59 ½ when the distribution is made, the amount may be subject to an additional 10% tax (early withdrawal penalty).
To take a distribution, you will be required to provide Atticus with the distribution details by completing a form available to you in your account dashboard.
Yes, you can. Adding employees is easy with Atticus’s roster management tools—simply provide their name and email address and we will invite them to join your plan and open their own Atticus account.
The IRS requires you to include eligible employees in your plan and Atticus makes it easy, however, your employees can establish their SEP IRAs with any SEP provider they choose.
If you no longer have business income, you have several options including the following:
- Leave your account as-is but you will not be able to contribute to it unless you begin earning business income again. If you leave it open, you will still be charged $3/month and a 0.125% account fee if you have a balance.
- Transfer your SEP IRA into an Atticus Traditional IRA or other retirement plan and make any allowable contributions to that account.
- Transfer your SEP IRA to a Traditional IRA or retirement plan at another financial institution.
- Take a cash distribution.
You should consult with your tax advisor regarding business income status. If you decide your SEP no longer suits your business, contact us learn more about terminating your SEP Plan.
For the 2022 tax year, you may contribute the lesser of 25% of compensation or $61,000 ($58,000 for 2021). If you are self-employed, contributions are generally limited to 20% of your net earnings. See IRS Publication 560 for more information. The IRS regularly updates the maximum allowable contribution amount each year.
For each year that you make contributions to your SEP IRA, you must also make contributions to the SEP IRAs for any of your eligible employees.
Please consult with your tax advisor for assistance with calculating your allowable contribution amount.
Yes, you must contribute the same percentage of salary to all of your eligible employees.
Catch-up contributions are not allowed in SEP Plans.
No you do not have to contribute to your SEP every year. This is one of the key benefits of a SEP. If you don’t want to or are unable to contribute for a given year, you can simply choose not to contribute.
The contributions you make to your and your employees’ SEP Plans are tax-deductible up to certain limits. If you are self-employed, there is a special computation to determine your deductible amount. See the IRS website for additional details and consult your tax advisor regarding the specific deductible limits applicable to you.
Contributions made to your employees’ SEP IRAs are not taxable income for them. However, any distributions taken from the SEP IRA would be included in income and subject to applicable taxes. Atticus will provide each employee with a tax form with contribution details every year.
Yes, you can still contribute to a Traditional or Roth IRA if you participate in a SEP IRA. The total amount you can contribute to a Traditional and/or Roth account is $6,000 ($7,000 if you’re age 50 or older by the end of the year), or 100% of your compensation, whichever is less.
To establish an Atticus SEP IRA Plan you need to complete IRS Form 5305-SEP (which we’ll provide you). In addition, if you have eligible employees, you must add them to your SEP Plan and provide them with a copy of your completed Form 5305. You are required to notify your eligible employees about any SEP contributions that you make to their SEP IRAs annually. Atticus provides this to employees on your behalf annually by distributing a Form 5498 to participants who establish Atticus SEP IRAs. Other than your regular tax filings, there are no additional annual reporting or filing requirements.
No, you don’t. The IRS requires you to include all eligible employees in your SEP plan, but independent contractors are not considered employees for purposes of your SEP and may be excluded. You may also choose to exclude leased employees and employees that participate in a union. Generally speaking, employees become eligible when they turn 21, have worked 3 of the last 5 years, and have earned at least $600 in 2020 (or $650 in 2021).
You should speak to your tax advisor to determine how your employees are classified and if they should be included in your plan. You can also view more about the IRS eligibility rules and definition of employees using the links below.
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-regarding-seps
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-sponsor/simplified-employee-pension-plan-sep
Any employer (including self-employed individuals, tax-exempt organizations, and governmental entities) that had no more than 100 employees with $5,000 or more in compensation during the preceding calendar year can establish a SIMPLE IRA plan. For purposes of the 100-employee limitation, you must take into account all employees employed at any time during the calendar year, including those employees who have not met the plan’s eligibility requirements. You don’t need to set up a corporation or limited liability company to have a SIMPLE Plan. This means that you can set up a SIMPLE Plan if you are a freelancer, a hairdresser, a consultant, a contractor, or a baker who sells cookies to your friends and neighbors.
Consult your tax advisor if you are uncertain whether the structure of your business will allow for a SIMPLE Plan.
SIMPLE IRA plans can provide a significant source of income at retirement by allowing employers and employees to set aside money in retirement accounts. There are many benefits to establishing a SIMPLE Plan:
- Easy to set up (with Atticus) and lower administrative requirements when compared to other retirement plans
- Higher contribution limits than Traditional or Roth IRAs
- Reduces taxable income for employers and employees that contribute
- No filing requirement for the employer
- Available to any small business – generally with 100 or fewer employees
- Employees are always 100% vested in (or, have ownership of) all SIMPLE IRA money
You are allowed to take a distribution at any time however all distributions will be included in your taxable income the year they are made. In addition, if you are younger than 59 ½ when the distribution is made, the amount may be subject to an additional 10% tax (early withdrawal penalty). If this withdrawal occurs within the first 2 years of participation, the 10% tax is increased to 25%.
To take a distribution, you will be required to provide Atticus with the distribution details by completing a form available to you in your account dashboard.
Yes, you can. The IRS requires you to include eligible employees in your plan and Atticus makes it easy with our roster management tools—simply provide their name and email address and we will invite them to join your plan and open their own Atticus account.
For the 2022 tax year, employees may contribute up to $14,000 ($13,500 for 2021) via salary reduction contributions (elective deferrals). For employees age 50 or older, a $3,000 “catch-up” contribution is also allowed (this “catch-up” contribution limit is the same for 2022 and 2021). See IRS Publication 560 for more information. The IRS regularly updates the maximum allowable contribution amount each year.
On top of employee referrals, employers are required to contribute to employee SIMPLE IRA Plans as well. See the “How much can employers contribute to their employee’s SIMPLE IRAs each year?” section below for more information.
Please consult with your tax advisor for assistance with calculating your allowable and recommended contribution amount.
Employers must annually choose one of the contribution methods below. Employers must tell employees during the election period which method will be used for the following year:
- 2% nonelective contribution – 2% of each eligible employee’s compensation regardless of whether or how much the employee deferred, or
- 3% matching contribution – match of employee’s elective deferrals on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to 3% of the employee’s compensation.
- Employers may choose to reduce the 3% limit to a lower percentage, but in any event, not lower than 1%. Employers may not lower the 3% limit for more than 2 calendar years out of the 5-year period ending with the calendar year the reduction is effective.
Employers cannot make any other contributions to a SIMPLE IRA plan.
Employers should consult with their tax advisors for assistance with deciding which contribution method to select for their business and employees.
Yes, you must contribute the same percentage of salary to all of your eligible employees.
Please see the “How much can employers contribute to their employee’s SIMPLE IRAs each year?” section above for more information on what options you have for contributions as an employer.
Yes, you can. For employees age 50 or older, a $3,000 “catch-up” contribution is allowed (this “catch-up” contribution limit is the same for 2022 and 2021). See IRS Publication 560 for more information. The IRS regularly updates the maximum allowable contribution amount each year.
No, as an employee, you do not have to contribute to your SIMPLE IRA every year.
Yes, employers must contribute to all eligible employees’ SIMPLE IRAs every year.
The exception here is that if the SIMPLE Plan is set up with the 3% matching contribution and an employee does not contribute to their SIMPLE IRA, the employer is not required or able to contribute to this employee’s SIMPLE IRA as there is no contribution to match.
The contributions you make to your and your employees’ SIMPLE Plans are tax-deductible up to certain limits. If you are self-employed, there is a special computation to determine your deductible amount. See the IRS website for additional details and consult your tax advisor regarding the specific deductible limits applicable to you.
Contributions made to your employees’ SIMPLE IRAs are not taxable income for them. However, any distributions taken from their SIMPLE IRAs would be included in income and subject to applicable taxes. Atticus will provide each employee with a tax form with contribution details every year.
Yes, you can still contribute to a Traditional or Roth IRA if you participate in a SIMPLE IRA. The total amount you can contribute to a Traditional and/or Roth account is $6,000 ($7,000 if you’re age 50 or older by the end of the year), or 100% of your compensation, whichever is less.
To establish an Atticus SIMPLE IRA Plan you need to complete IRS Form 5305-SIMPLE (which we’ll provide you). In addition, if you have eligible employees, you must add them to your SIMPLE Plan and provide them with a copy of your completed Form 5305. You are required to notify your eligible employees about any SIMPLE contributions that you make to their SIMPLE IRAs annually. Atticus provides this to employees on your behalf annually by distributing a Form 5498 to participants who establish Atticus SIMPLE IRAs. Other than your regular tax filings, there are no additional annual reporting or filing requirements.
No, you don’t. The IRS requires you to include all eligible employees in your SIMPLE plan, but independent contractors are not considered employees for purposes of your SIMPLE and may be excluded. You may also choose to exclude employees that participate in a union.
Generally speaking, an employee (including a self-employed individual) becomes eligible when they’ve:
- earned at least $5,000 in compensation during any 2 years before the current calendar year and
- expect to receive at least $5,000 during the current calendar year.
An employer can use less restrictive participation requirements, but not more restrictive ones. For example, an employer can eliminate or reduce the prior or current year compensation amounts. Employers cannot impose any other conditions for participating in a SIMPLE IRA plan.
You should speak to your tax advisor to determine how your employees are classified and if they should be included in your plan. You can also view more about the IRS eligibility rules and definition of employees using the links below.
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-regarding-simple-ira-plans
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-sponsor/simple-ira-plan
