By definition, self-employed people are taking direct control over their economic future. Yet nearly 70 percent of them are not saving regularly for retirement, according to a survey of self-employed Americans released by investment brokerage firm TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation.

TD Ameritrade’s Self-Employment and Retirement Survey found that 40 percent of the self-employed aren’t saving regularly and 28 percent aren’t saving at all, which is far more than traditionally employed people who don’t save regularly (12 percent) or not at all (10 percent).

No doubt, the appeal of working flexible hours and/or being called “the boss” has contributed to more than 10 million Americans selecting self-employment. But the survey’s findings suggest that entrepreneurs, although duly committed to creating wealth, might be counting too much on future business success to eventually provide for them in retirement.

“For entrepreneurs, there needs to be a balance between investing in the business today and investing in their future financial well-being,” Lule Demmissie, managing director of retirement at TD Ameritrade, said in a release. “When you’re self-employed, the temptation is to think that the business will grow enough that you won’t need to save today.

“But you don’t know when the next payout is coming, and you also don’t want to forfeit the power of tax-free compounded growth in vehicles like an IRA,” she said. “Having a retirement plan in place with regular saving is doubly important.”

According to the survey, obstacles to saving for retirement encountered by the self-employed include unpredictable income (61 percent), trouble affording high-quality health coverage (33 percent) and difficulty in saving for retirement as much as they would like (31 percent). And 83 percent of respondents currently saving for retirement say they have been forced to suspend or reduce their savings because of obstacles, compared to 70 percent of traditionally employed people who have paused or cut back their savings.

While it’s safe to say that all workers should do what they can to establish and maintain a scheduled retirement savings plan, Demmissie said that the self-employed may be particularly vulnerable if they fail to do so.

“There are two important reasons why self-employed people should set up automatic savings, even if they only have a small amount to contribute regularly,” she said. “First, you never know if you’ll have a windfall every year, and you don’t want to waste the tax-free growth opportunity that an IRA provides. Second, we’ve seen correlations between people who get in the habit of automating their investing and arriving in retirement financially prepared. Contributing small amounts regularly is often more fruitful than investing larger sums later on.”

Tax-favored retirement plans for the self-employed include:

• Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA – for self-employed people and small business owners
• Individual 401(k) – most appropriate for self-employed people or small business owners with no employees other than a spouse
• Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA – allows employees and employers to contribute
• Profit-Sharing Plan – accommodates businesses with changeable profits and contribution schedules

“The self-employed don’t have an HR department taking care of the setup and logistics of a retirement plan,” Demmissie said. “And some of these plans have special considerations, so the hurdle is a little higher for them.

“But that’s why it’s even more important for them to take the first step and get a plan established. Once the mechanism for investing is in place, it’s a lot easier to contribute when those windfalls do come.”