There is a lot of discussion around the favorable benefits of Roth ira, 但对于许多高收入的美国人来说, 向罗斯个人退休账户(Roth ira)捐款是遥不可及的. The IRS begins limiting contributions to individual Roth ira at higher income levels (the current maximum income for eligibility is 一个人每年144,000美元). However, there are a few ways higher-earning Americans can still access a Roth IRA.
One of the easier ways to manage around these strict IRS limits is to invest into a Roth 401(k) or 403(b). 如果你是一名员工，这可能是个挑战, and your employer does not offer a plan like a 401(k), or they have a plan that doesn’t include a Roth 401(k) provision. The good news is that adoption of a Roth provision is on the rise. 计划赞助委员会 reported that 86% of 401(k) plans included a Roth provision in 2020. 然而，根据 劳工统计局, in 2020, only 67% of workers were covered under a qualified retirement plan, 让许多美国人在外面观望.
If you are a business owner or a self-employed individual, you have more control over your ability to contribute to a retirement plan and include a Roth. You can simply add the Roth provision to your existing Plan Document (the document that governs the terms and conditions of the 401(k) Plan).
Adding the Roth provision may require a ‘Plan Amendment’ and the firm that is currently administering your Plan can typically handle this amendment for a few hundred dollars (hopefully not more). Or, you can add a Roth provision when you are completing your required Plan Restatement which is a mandatory exercise required of each Plan every six years. There is a standard cost to this Plan Restatement, but during this process you can typically edit your Plan Document at no additional charge so many companies choose to add a Roth during Restatement.
不幸的是, 我们已经看到了成本最低的例子, 大多数标准, ‘off-the-shelf’ prototype Plan Documents do not allow for a Roth provision. 在这种情况下, the business owner has to make a decision; to continue without a Roth Provision, or switch to a more robust Plan Document that includes a Roth provision. If the decision is to switch to a new Plan Document, an advisor may be able to shop for a different Plan Document at a competitive price point.
The strict income limits that the IRS otherwise imposes on Roth contributions are not included inside a 401(k) so even a higher earning business owner or key executive can benefit. This is ideal for a younger person who has the chance to defer a portion of their salary, 尽管是税后收入, into the Roth 401(k) and keep the money invested while it hopefully grows tax free until it is withdrawn – of course subject to IRS guidelines.
当然, the tax reduction that accompanies a pre-tax contribution to a traditional 401(k) is valuable and may be missed by a high earning business owner who now is deferring into a Roth 401(k). If benefitting from a current tax deduction is still an objective, there may be an option to split contributions between the Roth 401(k) and the traditional 401(k). 还要注意, that some employer discretionary profit-sharing contributions can only be made to the traditional 401(k) side.
整体, a small business owner has more control over the type of qualified retirement plan their company uses, and they can more readily add attractive features like a Roth provision. If you work for a small business that does not offer this benefit, 不要犹豫，请他们尝试添加它. They may be simply unaware of the benefits of the Roth and of how easy it can be to add. If they ultimately adopt a Roth provision, they may even wind up thanking you!
