Schwab Eliminates Account Service Fees for Small Business Plans

Share Name	Share Symbol	Market	Type	Share ISIN	Share Description
Safecharge International Group Limited	LSE:SCH	London	Ordinary Share	GG00BYMK4250	ORD USD0.0001

Industry Sector	Turnover	Profit	EPS - Basic	PE Ratio	Market Cap
	0	0		N/A	0

Safecharge (LSE:SCH)
Historical Stock Chart

From Jun 2019 to Jun 2024

Latest Price Cut and New Awareness Campaign Aim to Encourage the Self-Employed and Small Business Owners to Ramp up Retirement Saving SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. today announced it is eliminating account service fees on retail defined contribution retirement plans for small business owners and the self-employed effective October 1, 2005(1). These plans include Individual 401(k) plans, 403(b)(7) plans, Qualified Retirement Plans (profit sharing and money purchase pension plans), Keogh plans, SEP-IRAs, and SIMPLE IRAs(2). The fee elimination does not apply to retirement account services offered through Schwab Institutional or Schwab Corporate Services, which, respectively, provide trading and custody services to independent investment advisors, and corporations and third party administrators. Schwab's decision to eliminate these fees comes at a time when many business owners, with and without employees, are considering whether to open a retirement plan. Most small business retirement plans must be established by December 31 in order to take advantage of tax benefits for the current year. Despite the extensive menu of choices for these plans, many small business owners aren't taking advantage of the retirement plan options available to them. A recent study by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the nation's largest small-business advocacy group, found that 38 percent of small business owners in the U.S. are, in their own estimation, "behind schedule" in terms of retirement(3). Roughly 70% of Schwab's retail small business clients are owner-only businesses. "Many small business owners just aren't aware of the great retirement plan options available to them, whether they're contractors or consultants, owner-only firms, or small businesses with employees," said Traci Siegel, vice president for retirement and education products at Schwab. "These plans offer a world of flexibility. There's a retirement plan solution available for almost every small business owner -- regardless of whether it's someone just starting out as a self-employed consultant or someone with a more mature business who needs to play catch-up." In addition to eliminating fees, Schwab has stepped up its efforts to raise awareness and educate small business owners about their retirement plan options. A newly published comprehensive Guide to Small Business Retirement Plans available at http://www.schwab.com/gettheguide offers an easy-to-use decision tree to help small business owners decide which plan may be best for them. Information on Schwab's small business products and services is also available at http://www.schwab.com/smallbusiness or by calling 1-877-279-4606. "We're doing everything we can to encourage small business owners to step up their saving," added Siegel. "And with less than two months left in the year, we want to make it as easy as possible for them to open the retirement plan that's right for them so they take advantage of the tax benefits for 2005." Schwab's decision to eliminate account service fees on small business retirement plans follows last month's removal of account service fees on U.S. individual brokerage accounts. The announcement furthers a commitment to value and simplified pricing that Schwab launched in May 2004 and represents the eighth price cut for Schwab clients since that time. About The Charles Schwab Corporation The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE / Nasdaq: SCH), through its operating subsidiaries, provides securities brokerage and financial services to individual investors and the independent investment advisors who work with them. With more than 7 million individual investor accounts and more than $1 trillion in client assets, The Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the nation's largest financial services firms. Its subsidiary Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) provides a complete range of investment services and products, including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plans; referrals to independent fee-based investment advisors; and, through Schwab Institutional, a division of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., offers custodial, operational and trading support for independent fee-based investment advisors. The Corporation's subsidiary Charles Schwab Bank, N.A. (member FDIC) provides banking and mortgage services and products. The Corporation's subsidiary Schwab Corporate Services provides services to retirement plan sponsors and participants. The Corporation's other operating subsidiaries include U.S. Trust Corporation and CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC). These companies' Web sites can be reached at http://www.schwab.com/, http://www.schwabbank.com/, http://www.ustrust.com/ and http://www.cybertrader.com/. (1105-9694) Plan Type Old Fees New Fees SEP-IRA $50 per year NONE If account balance less than $10,000 SIMPLE IRA $50 per year if account NONE balance less than $10,000; $100 per year plan level fee if plan assets less than $50,000 - Individual 401(k) $45 per year if account NONE balance less than - 403(b)(7) $100,000 - Qualified Retirement Plan (profit sharing, money purchase) - Keogh (1) Account service fees are periodic fees automatically charged to accounts that fail to meet asset, trading or other published thresholds. Other fees, such as transfer of account fees, still apply. Account service fee elimination excludes Company Retirement Accounts (CRAs) and accounts of clients residing outside the U.S., its territories or possessions. (2) Plan level fees, in addition to individual account service fees, are also being eliminated on the SIMPLE IRA. (3) National Small Business Poll, Retirement, Volume 5, Issue 3 (2005). DATASOURCE: Charles Schwab CONTACT: Sarah Bulgatz of Charles Schwab, +1-415-636-5940, or Web site: http://www.schwab.com/

Market Data

News

Trading Tools

Markets

Discover

Hot Features

Follow Feed

Options Flow

Monitor

SCH Safecharge International Group Limited