INC. YOURSELF: Get Rich with Your Own Corporation

A skimpy primer on the pros and cons of incorporation for those who are--or want to be--their own bosses. No riches are guaranteed, the subtitle notwithstanding. To profit from a corporate charter, the author emphasizes, a self-employed real-estate agent, antique dealer, plumber, freelance writer, or licensed professional must be making money at his or her trade. Nor does McQuown recommend a do-it-yourself approach to incorporation. Tax and other considerations, she explains, dictate counsel from an attorney or accountant. This said, she glides quickly over many matters of interest to individuals running businesses as sole proprietorships or partnerships. For instance, the book briefly reviews the immediate advantages of incorporation: chiefly, separate legal status and limited liability for shareholders. Also touched on are such how-to areas as establishing tax-sheltered pension plans under a variety of federal laws, satisfying IRS requirements on withholding taxes from employees' wages and covering them for Social Security, investing surplus income, and securing the best possible tax break at retirement. McQuown, apparently a successful corporate entity, uses her own worksheets and ledgers, plus model forms and tax returns, to illustrate key points. Along similar lines, a lengthy appendix includes a state-by-state rundown of requirements for general business and professional corporations as well as examples of profit-sharing plans, trust agreements, and other corporate paperwork. Although she beats the bureaucrats on style, McQuown has made the content of her reference work only marginally more valuable than comparable material available free or at modest cost from the SBA and other government agencies. Those clever enough to earn a living on their own should have the wit to avoid paying an inflated price for a book that's more than half boilerplate and padding.