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SIMPLE IRA

Fidelity’s Savings Investment Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE IRA) makes it easier for self-employed individuals and small businesses with 100 or fewer employees to offer tax-advantaged retirement plans.

Plan features

Tax advantages

Employers:

  • Employer contributions are deductible as business expenses.

Participants:

  • Tax-deferred growth potential
  • Pretax contributions for participants
Eligibility

Employers:

  • Must have 100 or fewer employees who earned at least $5,000 in the preceding year
  • Cannot maintain any other employer-sponsored retirement plan

Participants:

  • Must have earned at least $5,000 from the employer in any two preceding years
  • Must be expected to earn at least $5,000 in the current year1
Contributions

Funded by employer contributions and elective employee salary deferrals

Plan Sponsors:

  • Mandatory 3% matching contribution or 2% non-elective contribution

Participants:

  • Up to 100% of compensation, with a maximum of $12,000 for 2014 ($14,500 if age 50 or older) and $12,500 for 2015 ($15,500 if age 50 or older)
Establishment deadline

For current tax year: Set up and notify employees by October 1.2
Administrative responsibilities

Certain annual employee notifications must be made.

No plan tax filings with the IRS are required.
Withdrawals

Minimum required distributions starting at age 70½

10% early withdrawal penalty (25% for first two years of plan participation) if under age 59½, subject to certain exceptions
Investment options

Include a wide range of mutual funds, stocks, bonds, ETFs, and FDIC-insured CDs

Only certain fund families have mutual funds that are eligible investments for SIMPLE IRAs with no minimum initial investment requirement.
Support and guidance

One-on-one guidance—in person, online, or over the phone

Research and tools to help you create a long-term plan and choose investments
Fees

$350 per plan3 collected annually from the employer; or $25 per participant3 collected annually from participants' accounts

Next steps

Open a SIMPLE IRA.
Call 800-544-5373 and select option 3 to speak with a small-business retirement specialist.

Get started on your own. Get a jump on the paperwork for your new plan.

Request Our Guide to Small-Business Retirement Plans.

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5508tridion
Rated 4.2 out of 5 by 64 reviewers.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Inexpensive and easy Easy to implement as a small employer. Low fees and almost unlimited investment selections. October 21, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Simple - Simple IRA We had a 401K with another company that was very difficult to follow. The funds were not listed, so the only way to check was through their site. They had high admin fees, also. Fidelity makes everything simple. Fidelity fund choices are great and you can be as flexible as you want in making trades in stocks, if you choose to go that way. Customer service advisers are always helpful, no matter what your question is. June 17, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Awesome Tools, Resources, and Options Prior to my firm switching to Fidelity's Simple IRA, I passively watched quarterly statements. Since the change to Fidelity, I've enjoyed reading Fidelity's Insights and Viewpoints. The convenient access to Research tools is also great. These tools have broadened my knowledge about investment planning and made me a much more educated investor. Fideliy's mobile apps for Android and iPad are also great. June 17, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Lots of offerings, easy to use We have recommended Fidelity's Simple plan to clients. The fees are reasonable, and the investment choices excellent. February 18, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by One of the best systems going We are a small business with under 20 employees. We found this product and compared it to one our payroll service tried to sell us and are saving thousands of dollars. It does everything that the payroll service offered us, and we are able to place a considerable amount of tax-differed money aside. Its easy to use, the Fidelity Staff set this up in record time, and our staff loves the ability to review their accounts. I recommend it highly to anyone looking to set up an employee pension plan. February 15, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Best statements Monthly statements are clear and have all the information you need easily accessible. One of the best designed statements I've seen. Choice of investments very varied. Easy to do online research. February 15, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Efficient and cost effective I established a Fidelity Simple IRA plan for my business as I believed it was the most efficient and cost effective method of providing a meaningful retirement savings plan for my workforce. The Fidelity Simple IRA plan provides substantially the same benefits as a 401K without the administrative burden and cost. I wish the government would increase contribution limits to match 401K contributions limits, really no logical reason for there to be a difference. February 15, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Simple IRA I've had this open at fidelity for many years and it has been good for my few employees and for the business. Kudos to Fidelity for making it straightforward and easy. March 2, 2015
Rated 1 out of 5 by Lack of Direct Withdrawal to My IRA My employer neglected to put money into my IRA for 3 months while deducting money from my paycheck. It should have been a way to force my employer to directly deposit money from my pay instead of mailing checks by my employer. I regret I enrolled in the company IRA if I constantly nag my employer to put my money into my IRA. I'm considering canceling. January 19, 2015
Rated 5 out of 5 by Review - Simple IRA This is a great service and I am glad it's offered. I use it frequently. I wish there was a way this account was shown to my other accounts when I log in under my username. Also if there was a place that showed how much of the $12k year contribution I had met each year. October 1, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by DAVID I LIKE THE EASY ONLINE ACCESS AND EASY TRADING PLATFORM FOR THE BEGINNER. I ALSO LIKE THE INFORMATION AVAILABILTY TO ARTICLES AND RESEARCH TOOLS FOR ALREADY EXISTING OWNERSHIP AND PREPARATION FOR NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES. August 4, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by unsure but confident New member so not much experience so a 6 months review may be a little premature. July 16, 2014
Rated 2 out of 5 by Problems with customer service I have had a lot of weird customer service issues with my account since I started my new job in October. When this account was created when I was hired, the first communication I got from Fidelity was an email that said "Your email address has been changed." Ummm...what? Turns out that many years ago I had an account with Fidelity but it closed when I left that job and I forgot it ever existed. Still, why was that my first introduction to my new account? Very disconcerting and worrisome. Secondly, I tried at least 6 times to get emailed statements instead of paper statements. I logged in and updated my account 3 times and had to call customer service 3 times before they could finally resolve the issue. Meanwhile, I was getting paper statements in the mail every two weeks that said "Please reduce waste and sign up for eStatements." I don't know why it was so difficult but this was very frustrating. June 2, 2014
Rated 1 out of 5 by Not a scale-able solution for small business After completing reams of repetitive paperwork, you can set up an online payment system. You can not determine which payments you made previously. You are not able to reconcile payments if you have a problem with your accounting system. The system doesn't not talk to QuickBooks, the most commonly used small business accounting system. It takes ages to find the right payment amounts in the paychecks and enter them into Fidelity. More employees make this process even slower. There's a lot of potential for errors. February 24, 2014
Rated 3 out of 5 by Fees are too high Fidelity is pretty average in most ways except one: They charge account fees that I have never seen in my other retirement accounts. There are better options out there. March 7, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by great fund Fidelity Customer Service very responsive. Always helpful and willing to talk through questions. Nice to have personal contact, not just internet feedback. March 6, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by A few execptions Not being able to specify the funding account with each payment is kind of annoying. As a small business owner the ability to use a different account as needed would be appreciated. No option to receive online statements and plan reports. I am swimming in paper and get a minimum of 6 pages per month. (Although I think this is a government requirement and not Fidelity's) No option for the company to pay the $25 per person annual fee. The excellent customer service makes up for a few of the shortcomings I can find with the Simple Plan. Although I do not really have anything to compare it to (The only plan our company has ever participated in), I think overall it is a good plan for a small company. February 26, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Reliable and Intuitave Access via the web interface was simple and easy, also easy to sync the balances and transactions with Quicken (R). February 21, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Excellent Retirement Plan for Very Small Business The Fidelity SIMPLE IRA meets my retirement needs perfectly. I am a very small business and very much like the very low administrative costs and lack of hassel in using this plan. I am not able to contribute a lot toward retirement, so the low contribution limits are not now a problem for me. I also very much like the online ability to make contributions and monitor my investments. I am very satisfied with the plan and will continue to use it. February 20, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Fine but would like faster execution Admittedly I'm buying small lots but would love faster execution of trades...that may not be an issue specific to Fidelity but more about the markets, but still would be a welcome change for the small investor. February 19, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Simple review I like the wide choice of investments and ease of online access. I also have a Roth IRA, rollover IRA and brokerage account with Fidelity. They all display together when I log onto Fidelity's web site, but the monthly account statement for the Simple IRA is separate from that of my other accounts. It would be more convenient and save paper/postage if all of my accounts were on the same statement.. February 19, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by FIDELITY SALARY REDUCTION FORM Everything works without flaw except the salary reduction agreement form is not sent with the annual letter to have it filled out and signed by each employee. I have had to copy an old one each year and the maximum salary reductions are not current. It would also be nice when sending in the monthly contributions if the date picked was a holiday there was some notice that it is not a good day instead of just an error message. February 19, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Easy for Small Businesses Used to have a 401K but got tired of all the fees and additional IRS filings. Then went to another brokerage firm for a Simple IRA but got tired of paying approximately 6% load for all investments, in addition to annual account fees. Finally switched to Fidelity with low account fees and no loads. Only deficiency is they have no means for employers reimbursing annual fees in employee accounts without the reimbursement being reported as a contribution. February 19, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Conveneince I don't have to depend on my employer to get to the details and change my asset allocation. February 19, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Easy to change/add new funds I like being able to make changes in funds, amounts, and do my own research. This is my investment and I like to tweak the fund myself. The funds are easy to change allocation and add/move money/shares around either on-line or on the phone. February 19, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Easy Access Convvenient and easy access. It is easy to make adjustments to my portfolio February 19, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Sound product The account structure is great and easy to administer. The customer service and company understanding of our wishes is lacking. February 18, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Easy to Use Never a problem accessing or entering information. February 18, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by SIMPLE IRA feedback Sirs, I think your SIMPLE IRA program must be one of the best. I've had no issues and your team made it so easy to get started. If I had one suggestion to offer you can provide a table of contribution limits each year. Each end of year I need to go on-line and sort through your pages to find whet the limit is each calendar year. May I suggest that a better way forward would be for Fidelity to e-mail or snail mail this information to active users. That would make things super convenient. February 18, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Owner/VP It works well for myself and my husband. We are a small business and do not have a lot of time to be monitering everything February 18, 2013
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Although guidance is provided one-on-one, it is educational in nature, is not individualized and is not intended to serve as the primary or sole basis for your investment or tax-planning decisions.
1. While employers cannot make these eligibility requirements more restrictive, they can generally liberalize them to include more employees.
2. For employers who want to establish a SIMPLE IRA plan for the current tax year, you must set up the plan and notify your employees by October 1 of the current tax year. (An exception applies for businesses which are established after October 1. Please refer to the Fidelity SIMPLE IRA plan establishment kit for more information.)
3. Fees are the same regardless of the number of participants in your Fidelity SIMPLE IRA plan.
The initial customer ratings and reviews for this product (those dated before 3/18/2013) were provided to Fidelity through an email solicitation for feedback on the product. All ratings and reviews are provided to Fidelity on a voluntarily basis and are screened in accordance with the guidelines set forth in our Customer Ratings and Reviews Terms of Use. For additional information on which ratings and reviews may be posted, please refer to our Customer Ratings and Review Terms of Use. Featured Reviews have been selected based on subjective criteria and reviewed by Fidelity Investments. The average rating is determined by calculating the mathematical average of all ratings that are approved for posting per the Customer Ratings and Reviews Terms of use and does not include any ratings that did not meet the guidelines and were therefore not posted. Ratings and reviews are added continuously to the website (after a delay for screening against guidelines) and average ratings are updated dynamically as reviews are added or removed.
The ratings and experience of customers may not be representative of the experiences of all customers or investors and is not indicative of future success. The accuracy of information included in the customer ratings and reviews cannot be guaranteed by Fidelity Investments. Customers who post ratings may be responsible for disclosing whether they have a financial interest or conflict in submitting a rating and review.
Please contact a Fidelity representative if you have additional questions or concerns about the ratings and reviews posted here.
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