Because of the ups, downs, and other unpredictable changes that are part of every life, you need to plan carefully for your retirement needs.

For small business owners in particular, having a good retirement plan allows you to build up a solid investment fund outside your business and gain significant tax benefits along the way - and as an added benefit, qualified retirement plans offer some protection from creditors should some unexpected event threaten your business and personal assets.

• Distributions from a pension plan or annuity — you or your spouse may currently be receiving payments from retirement plans from former employers, or you may have purchased a commercial annuity that provides you with income. This section will explain the treatment of both periodic or annuity-type pension payments, and lump-sum distributions.
• Lump-sum distributions — some special rules and reporting methods apply if you cash out your benefits in one fell swoop.
• Social Security payments — if you're receiving Social Security benefits, you'll need to be able to calculate the portion (if any) that is taxable.
• Individual retirement accounts — this section also discusses individual retirement accounts, a type of plan that's gotten a lot of attention because of the addition of Roth IRAs to the menu in 1998, and the enhanced availability of regular deductible IRAs.
• Pension plan contributions — for business owners, we discuss how to deduct your contributions to a business-related retirement plan elsewhere in this Guide.

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