Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. You've been very
helpful.

Mr. Plow wrote:

- quote -

Under the federal tax law there is no such thing as a "SEP
account"--rather there is simply a regular IRA account. A
SEP, technically, is a retirement plan adopted by an
employer that uses individual IRA accounts for each
employee, rather than a plan trust, to hold the employer
contributions. It was designed to be a highly simplified
option for a small employer to offer a retirement plan
without having to go through the paperwork of a full
qualified plan.

Per federal law, any IRA can receive contributions for an
employer SEP, and these contributions are not subject to the
standard limits on contributions by the plan
beneficiary--rather, the limit is based on the overall SEP
plan at the employer level.

That said, some IRA custodians may impose conditions on
accounts that accept SEP contributions. Normally the quirk
is that only "special" accounts are flagged as being able to
receive SEP contributions (generally an internal bookkeeping
issue for the sponsor), but those accounts still accept
regular contributions. Sometimes a custodian appears to
have such limits, but doesn't in reality (Vanguard seems to
indicate this, but I've seen a "plain vanilla" Vanguard IRA
account accept SEP contributions)--I suspect mainly to deal
with the confusion from people who think there has to be a
"special" IRA to hold the contributions (what is special is
the employer sponsored plan, not the IRA) so they offer
something they'll call a "SEP-IRA" account just to keep down
the questions <grin> .

- quote -

As explained above, it's already in one. Assuming the real
question is whether she can roll it over into another IRA
account, the answer would be yes (subject to any fees or
expenses that might be imposed on selling the investments in
there--there could be vendor imposed surrender charges).

- quote -

Just like any other IRA.

- quote -

NO. IRAs are "one person" items and you can't combine
husband and wife IRA accounts--each must maintain their own
accounts.

--
Ed Zollars, CPA
Phoenix, Arizona

My wife has a SEP IRA from an ex-employer.

She left that company a few years ago, and the SEP has just been
languishing.

Can she start making personal contributions to the SEP? Or can
contributions only be made by the employer?

Also, what are her rollover or conversion options, if any? Can she roll it
over into an IRA, or convert it into a Roth IRA? Could she roll it over
into MY personal IRA?

Thanks