The Big Idea Self-employed investors have retirement account options that are FAR superior to conventionally employed people in the form of the SEP IRA and the Solo 401k.  One of them is clearly better than the other... Points To Ponder IRA's are great, but you can't contribute more than $6,500 per year to them Self-employed investors may qualify for the SEP IRA or the Solo 401k, both of which have a much larger limit - up to $60,000 per year Solo 401k is practically always a far superior alternative to the SEP IRA because: It's much easier to actually contribute to the solo 401k than to the SEP IRA You can't have a SEP IRA that's taxed as a Roth account The SEP IRA has all of the severe vulnerabilities to prohibited transactions that are present with all IRA's.  Solo 401k's are much safer and friendlier to the investor. If your advisor recommends a SEP IRA over a solo 401k, they're likely either ignorant or are being compensated to motivate you to open an IRA. Resources Episode #245 (this show) of Self Directed Investor Talk Free Webinar that shows how many SDI Talk listeners are receiving very large credit lines at 0% interest for their real estate deals or businesses.  Check it out here. Warren Buffet admits that Diversification is for the Ignorant