Qualified Retirement Plans

What this video covers

• What makes a retirement plan qualified under the Internal Revenue Code, and the three-part trade-off of employer deductibility, tax-deferred growth, and ERISA protection
• Who bears the investment risk in defined benefit plans versus defined contribution plans, and why market-dependent retirement income always signals defined contribution
• How 401(k) elective deferrals differ from total contribution limits, and the dollar amounts for 2026
• The tax treatment of traditional versus Roth 401(k) contributions, and what qualifies a distribution as entirely tax-free
• Why a 403(b) is restricted to mutual funds and annuity contracts, and the ERISA loophole when only the employee contributes
• The employee-count limits that separate a simplified employee pension (SEP) from a savings incentive match plan for employees (SIMPLE IRA), and why both can fit an 80-employee business
• The two-year SIMPLE IRA clock starting from first contribution, not plan establishment, and its impact on rollovers and early withdrawal penalties
• Required minimum distribution (RMD) ages, the still-working exception for non-5% owners, and why designated Roth accounts carry no lifetime RMDs