4 ways self-employed workers can protect themselves.

nsurance and retirement plans. Both are high on the wish lists of the self-employed. But too often they remain just that: wishes. Some 10 million people who work for themselves have no health insurance. And employees of large companies are more than five times as likely to have retirement plans.

But these basic benefits are now more accessible than ever to the self-employed. How to get them:

• Health insurance. This year, if you are self-employed, you can deduct 60 percent of your health-insurance premiums (that's scheduled to rise to 100 percent by 2003). If you still can't afford it, try buying through a group - a professional association, for instance, or an alumni club.

  If you have an employee or two, consider a professional employment organization, which will handle payroll and taxes and bundle all its clients together to buy insurance at a group rate. You also can try a Medical Savings Account, which combines a high-deductible (and thus lower-cost) health-insurance policy with a tax-deferred, IRA-like savings account.

• Simplified Employee Pension (SEP). These accounts work much like an individual retirement account. Each year, you can contribute up to 15 percent of your self-employment income up to $24,000; contributions are tax-deductible. Fees are similar to those for IRAs; some companies will even waive them once your annual contribution hits $10,000.

• Keogh. If you have employees, a Keogh is a better option than a SEP. As with a SEP, you have to kick in the same percentage of earnings for your employees that you do for yourself, but Keoghs give you the option of vesting over time. With a SEP, your contributions become the employee's immediately. There are four types of Keogh plans with a maximum contribution of $30,000. (Sit down with an accountant to sort them out.)

• Savings Incentive Match for Employers (SIMPLE). A SIMPLE is the newest option on this list. Companies with anywhere from one to 100 employees are eligible. SIMPLE IRAs work like 401(k)s with a forced employer match. Employees can put in up to $6,000 a year pretax; employers must match (dollar for dollar) up to 3 percent of employee compensation or $6,000. Employees are vested from day one and can't borrow from these plans.