QUESTION:

I have just started a company, a C corporation. I want to start a pension plan by contributing the maximum possible into a money purchase plan and managing the assets (stocks) myself. Can I just open a brokerage account, call it XYZ Pension Fund, and do it?

ANSWER:

Life is simply not that simple. Although your plan sounds sensible, you cannot just set up an account. Retirement plan assets must be held in a trust.

In addition, recent changes in tax laws have made money purchase plans obsolete. There are several other types of plans that might work for you. Which one is best for you depends on whether you want to contribute to your employees' retirement (some plans force you to) and how aggressively you want to contribute to your own retirement (the various types of plans have different annual limits).

A defined benefit plan is the most complicated and expensive type of plan to set up and maintain. You have to hire a pension planner and an actuary to set up this type of plan, but it does offer the greatest tax benefits, so if that's what you're after, it may be worth it.

Other plans are easier to set up, and you can find a financial services company or brokerage firm to do it for you free or for a nominal charge. (Most brokerage firms have boilerplate plan documents, so you do not have to pay to have them drafted.)

For a detailed breakdown of all of the types of retirement plans, see Tax Savvy for Small Business, by Fred Daily (Nolo).

If you have employees, you have to comply with nondiscrimination rules (meaning you can't have one plan for employees you like, and another for employees you don't like) and for that you might need specific advice from an expert. Employees or not, it is usually a pennywise investment to pay a pension planning pro to help you set up a plan. And if you're not the type to keep up with necessary filings, you can also pay a plan administrator an annual fee to help you stay in compliance with the law.