Retirement Planning for the Self-Employed
Personal Finance for Entrepreneurs
Quick Answer
Enter your age, income, and current retirement savings. Paste into Claude or ChatGPT. Get account type recommendations, maximum contribution amounts, and retirement balance projections at different savings rates.
What You Get
A retirement plan for self-employed founders covering account type comparison, maximum contribution calculation for the current year, projected retirement balance at different contribution levels, retirement income projection, and a catch-up strategy for founders who started late.
Who Is This For
Self-employed founders and business owners who have not set up retirement accounts, entrepreneurs who want to optimize their retirement contribution strategy, and business owners approaching 50 who need to accelerate retirement savings.
About This Template
Self-employed founders face retirement planning without the autopilot of employer 401K matching and automatic enrollment. The options available — Solo 401K, SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA, defined benefit plans — are actually more powerful than most employee plans, but require active decisions to take advantage of them. This template guides self-employed founders through choosing the right retirement account, maximizing contributions, and projecting retirement income, accounting for the possibility of a future liquidity event from the business.
Fill In Your Details
Your first name
e.g. 38
e.g. 60 or 65
e.g. 195000 after business expenses
e.g. $45,000 in old 401K from previous job, $22,000 in IRA
e.g. Solo 401K already set up, or no accounts yet, or just a traditional IRA
e.g. $80,000 per year in retirement
e.g. plan to sell business in 7 years for $3-5M after tax, or no planned exit
Gather these details then use them to fill in the prompt below.
AI Prompts
Generate self-employed retirement plan
Paste this prompt into Claude or ChatGPT with your data filled in.
You are a retirement planning specialist helping a self-employed founder build a retirement strategy. Using the data below, produce a comprehensive retirement plan. Name: [name] Age: [age] Target retirement age: [retirement_age] Net self-employment income: [net_self_employment_income] Current retirement savings: [current_retirement_savings] Existing accounts: [current_accounts] Expected retirement expenses: [expected_retirement_expenses] Business exit expectation: [business_exit_expectation] Produce: 1. Account Comparison — Solo 401K, SEP-IRA, and SIMPLE IRA comparison for this income level 2. Recommended Account Type — best choice for this situation with rationale 3. Maximum 2026 Contribution — calculate the exact maximum contribution for the recommended account 4. Retirement Balance Projection — projected balance at retirement age at 50%, 75%, and 100% of maximum contribution, assuming 7% annual return 5. Retirement Income Analysis — can the projected balance support the expected retirement expenses? 6. Business Exit Integration — how a liquidity event changes the retirement picture 7. Catch-Up Plan — if behind on savings, specific actions to accelerate Note: contribution limits change annually. Verify current limits at IRS.gov before making contributions. Consult a financial advisor for personalized retirement planning advice.
Sample Output
This is an example of what AI produces when you use this template.
Maximum 2026 Solo 401K Contribution
Net self-employment income: $195,000. Step 1: Calculate net earnings from self-employment (after deducting half of SE tax): $195,000 minus $13,766 equals $181,234. Step 2: Employee contribution (elective deferral): maximum $23,000 (or $30,500 if age 50+). Step 3: Employer contribution: 25% of net earnings equals $45,309. Total maximum contribution: $23,000 plus $45,309 equals $68,309. Tax savings at 32% marginal rate: approximately $21,859 in federal income tax savings annually. This is the most powerful retirement savings vehicle available to self-employed individuals with this income level.
Retirement Balance Projection
Starting balance: $67,000. Years to retirement at age 60: 22 years. At 50% maximum contribution ($34,155/year) with 7% return: $2,180,000 at retirement. Annual withdrawal at 4%: $87,200 — covers expected $80,000 expenses. At 100% maximum contribution ($68,309/year) with 7% return: $3,940,000 at retirement. Annual withdrawal at 4%: $157,600 — significantly exceeds retirement needs. Business exit scenario: if the business sells for $3M net after tax at age 45, and those proceeds are invested alongside ongoing Solo 401K contributions, the projected retirement balance at 60 exceeds $8M — providing complete retirement security independent of the Solo 401K contributions.