BizSugar.com › Employee Benefits › 401(k) options for small businesses

An owner looks for a starting point on finding a retirement plan for her workers. "I would like a 401(k) for my small business but there are so many, and I don't know who to trust."

But is a 401(k) really what you need?

"So often people make the term 401(k) synonymous with 'retirement plan,'" says Gene Fairbrother, lead small business consultant for the National Association of the Self-Employed (NASE), a resource for self-employed workers and micro-businesses. "Be sure that a 401(k) is the best plan for your business and your employees compared to other plans."

If you're not certain, the IRS provides a non-biased source of information for small business owners shopping for retirement plans for their employees. Go to their website and take a look at "Choosing a Retirement Solution for Your Small Business" and "Retirement Plans for Small Businesses." They contain helpful charts comparing different types of plans in easy-to-digest language.

"We're a reliable and neutral source of information - in plain language - for small business owners," says Mark O'Donnell, director of customer education and outreach for employee plans at the IRS. "We promote getting the right plan and operating it properly. One of the biggest causes of noncompliance is that people get in the wrong plan, or one that's too confusing."