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SIMPLE IRA

Attract employees while saving for your retirement

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What's a SIMPLE IRA?

A Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA is a plan for businesses with 100 or fewer employees. You make contributions for your employees, who can also contribute through salary deferrals.

SIMPLE IRA features

Don't Miss Out: Up to $1000 credit per employee for eligible employer contributions and qualified plan start-up tax credits.Footnote 3
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Item 1 of 4 Contribute significantly more than you could with a traditional IRAFootnote 2
Item 2 of 4 Make fixed contributions that are generally tax deductible by the businessFootnote 3
Item 3 of 4 Help fund your employees' and your own retirement with a cost-efficient plan
Item 4 of 4 Options beyond State Mandated Programs to grow with your business

Bring value to your business without the extra fees

There are no setup fees or annual administrative fees, plus you get unlimited $0 online stock and ETF trades if you're investing with your Merrill Edge Self-Directed account.Footnote 1 Footnote *Options contract and other fees apply
$0  annual administrative fees
$0  setup fee
unlimited online stock and ETF tradesFootnote 1 Footnote *Options contract and other fees apply

Key insights

A SIMPLE IRA is an affordable retirement solution designed to fit the needs of small businesses. The simplified IRA structure makes a SIMPLE IRA a reasonable option for small business owners looking for a low-maintenance, low-cost plan that offers the potential tax benefits and compounding growth you would want from your workplace retirement plan.
SIMPLE IRA fact sheet for Merrill

Nest egg

A SIMPLE IRA allows convenient pre-tax salary deferrals. The employer's mandatory contributions add to the power of compounding. Earnings realized on investments may accumulate additional earnings.

Tax benefits

Pay tax on the contributions and earnings when withdrawn in retirement.

Investment flexibility

Employees can control how they invest their assets and may choose to invest in a variety of investment options. All contributions are 100% vested immediately and may be subject to commissions, loads and operating expenses.

Eligibility

Any employee who received $5,000 or more in compensation in any two preceding calendar years and who is reasonably expected to earn at least $5,000 in the current year.Footnote 4

What's a key difference between a SIMPLE IRA and SEP IRA?

A SIMPLE IRA allows both the business owner and the employees to make contributions. With a SEP IRA, only business owners make contributions, both for themselves and for their employees. In addition, try our Retirement Account selector tool.
Learn more about our Retirement Account selector tool at Merrill

Get started with a SIMPLE IRA in 3 easy steps

Step 1 of 3

DECIDE HOW YOU WANT TO INVEST

Manage your own investments or have Merrill investment professionals manage your portfolio for you, with the option to work with an advisor
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Step 2 of 3

OPEN YOUR ACCOUNT

It's easy to set up your account (any employees you have will set up their own account), and there are no program or administrative fees for accounts open online.
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Step 3 of 3

ADD FUNDS

Quickly and easily fund accounts for you and your employees with Merrill E-Contribs for Small Business Retirement Accounts, a free platform.
Go to E-Contribs at Merrill

Additional resources

Explore all plans available for small business

Get more details about small business retirement plans available at Merrill and find the one that works best for your needs.
SEP IRA plans at Merrill Small Business 401(k) plans at Merrill Individual 401(k) plans at Merrill
Learn more about small business retirement plans at Merrill

Ready to get started?

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Or call us at 855.667.9451

Frequently Asked Questions

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Footnote 
Other fees may apply. Free and $0 means there is no commission charged for these trades. $0 option trades are subject to a $0.65 per-contract fee. Sales are subject to a transaction fee of between $0.01 and $0.03 per $1,000 of principal. There are costs associated with owning ETFs. To learn more about Merrill pricing, visit our Pricing page.
Footnote 
Merrill waives its commissions for all online stock, ETF and option trades placed in a Merrill Edge® Self-Directed brokerage account. Brokerage fees associated with, but not limited to, margin transactions, special stock registration/gifting, account transfer and processing and termination apply. $0 option trades are subject to a $0.65 per-contract fee. Other fees and restrictions may apply. Pricing is subject to change without advance notice.

For broker-assisted trades through Merrill Edge, you will be charged a fee equal to the lower of $29.95 or 5.00% of the principal amount of the transaction. Further, there are indirect fees, such as annual management and other similar fees, that are charged by the manager or sponsor of an exchange-traded fund and of a closed-end fund, as disclosed in the product's prospectus.
Footnote 
Contribution and compensation limits are subject to a cost-of-living adjustment annually pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. Contribution and compensation limits for subsequent years may vary.
Footnote 3 For more information, visit the IRS website popup or see IRS Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business (SEP, SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans).

Footnote 4 Withdrawals are subject to ordinary income tax. In addition, a 10% additional early withdrawal penalty may apply to withdrawals taken prior to age 59½.

Footnote 5 Refer to IRS Publication 560, Retirement Plans for Small Business (SEP, SIMPLE, and Qualified Plans) for additional information on plan contributions and limits. For more information visit the IRS website popup.

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Investment products offered through Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, and insurance and annuity products offered through Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc.:
Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed May Lose Value
Are Not Deposits Are Not Insured by Any Federal Government Agency Are Not a Condition to Any Banking Service or Activity

Investing in securities involves risks, and there is always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities.

Asset allocation, diversification, and rebalancing do not ensure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.
The performance data contained herein represents past performance which does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. For performance information current to the most recent month end, please contact us.

Net Asset Value (NAV) returns are based on the prior-day closing NAV value at 4 p.m. ET. NAV returns assume the reinvestment of all dividend and capital gain distributions at NAV when paid.

Market price returns are based on the prior-day closing market price, which is the average of the midpoint bid-ask prices at 4 p.m. ET. Market price returns do not represent the returns an investor would receive if shares were traded at other times.

Returns include fees and applicable loads. Since Inception returns are provided for funds with less than 10 years of history and are as of the fund's inception date. 10 year returns are provided for funds with greater than 10 years of history.

Before investing consider carefully the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the fund, including management fees, other expenses and special risks. This and other information may be found in each fund's prospectus or summary prospectus, if available. Always read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before you invest or send money. Prospectuses can be obtained by contacting us.

Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds: Expense Ratio – Gross Expense Ratio is the total annual operating expense (before waivers or reimbursements) from the fund's most recent prospectus. You should also review the fund's detailed annual fund operating expenses which are provided in the fund's prospectus.

Closed End Funds: Expense Ratio – Gross Expense Ratio is the ratio of the fund's total annual operating expense (before waivers or reimbursements) to average net assets as of the date of the fund's most recent annual report. You should also review the fund's detailed annual operating expenses disclosed by the fund in its annual reports, semi-annual reports, and other public filings.

This material is not intended as a recommendation, offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or investment strategy. Merrill offers a broad range of brokerage, investment advisory and other services. Additional information is available in our Client Relationship Summary (Form CRS) (PDF).

Merrill, its affiliates, and financial advisors do not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice. You should consult your legal and/or tax advisors before making any financial decisions.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as "MLPF&S" or "Merrill") makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp."). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, Member SIPC popup and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp.").
Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A. and affiliated banks, Members FDIC and wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation ("BofA Corp.").

Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc. ("MLLA") is a licensed insurance agency and wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp.

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