Part of: Business Succession Planning
Retirement Plan Design for Business Owners
Choosing a retirement plan structure for your business affects your own retirement savings, your employees' benefits, and your company's administrative and cost obligations. This is a general overview of common plan types, not a recommendation for any specific structure.
Common plan types for small and mid-sized businesses
SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and 401(k) plans (including safe harbor and profit-sharing variations) are among the more common options, each with different contribution limits, administrative requirements, and rules around employee eligibility and employer contributions. For 2026, the 401(k) employee contribution limit is $24,500 and the IRA contribution limit is $7,500; limits are adjusted periodically by the IRS.
How this connects to succession planning
Plan design decisions can also intersect with succession planning — for example, how retirement plan obligations are handled during a sale or transition, or how a plan is structured to help retain key employees ahead of a planned transition.
Key takeaways
- Common small-business retirement plan types include SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and 401(k) variations.
- Each plan type has different contribution limits and administrative requirements.
- Plan design can intersect with broader succession and key-employee retention planning.
More in this series
- Business Succession Planning: Preparing for a Transition
- Family Transition vs. Third-Party Sale: Comparing Paths