It's possible I'm going to be working on a contract basis for a while.  Got laid off last month, and have not had much luck finding something new yet.  So I'm looking at contracting.  If I do, I won't have access to a 401k.  I was contributing just under $11,000 per year to it at my previous employer.  

What would be the best options to invest in, to get similar tax advantages?  Besides the 401k, I also have an IRA that was a 401k rollover from a previous employer.  

Also, I'll be getting per diem, since it will be away from home, if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

Contribute to the IRA (traditional if you want the tax benefits now and the income limitations for destructibility to interfere).  That's $5,500, if you are married your spouse can have one too for another $5,500.
That's a start.  If if looks like you will be working for yourself/ contracting for a while look into the possibility of a SEP-IRA.

Assuming that you're also paying for your own health insurance plan, you can get a catastrophic/high-deductible plan and open a Health Savings Account (HSA).  HSA contributions are exempt from income and SS taxes, unlike the FSA the money you put in doesn't get lost at the end of each year, and if you use the funds for medical expenses you don't pay taxes or penalties on withdrawals.

This x 1000. Best thing going... my employer also kicks in some money to my HSA as well, so there's SOME matching.

Thanks for the tips.  Didn't think about an HSA.  My wife will be having some minor surgery, so this sounds like a very good idea.

I wouldn't be contracting for myself, it would be through an agency.  And I'll more than likely get put onto my wife's health insurance, so won't have to buy any.  Also didn't think about an IRA in her name also.

This helps.  Thanks!

If the wife has a standard PPO/HMO/etc then you can't get an HSA, its only an option if you have a high-deductible plan.

Most companies do have a Flexible Spending Account option with their health insurance, the downside to them is that you lose any unspent contributions at the end of the year.

Also I'm not recommending that you actually use the HSA for its intended purposes... ie paying for your wife's surgery. Although it may make sense for you to do this for completely different reasons, it won't help for investment purposes.

For investment, if you're relatively healthy, get a high deductible health care plan, max out your HSA and DON'T TOUCH IT. Use it as an investment vehicle.

That is, if you can afford to pay for your health care expenses out of pocket up to the deductible amount.

If you are talking about  a lot of contracting and investing a LOT you should skip a SEP, and open a Solo-401k. In a solo you can have 17500 maximum employee contribution plus 25% of profit per employee as an employer contribution (you are the employer so you decide how much). if you are self employed, then you wife might also be an employee. If you make around 100k total for example you could invest around 55000 in solo 401k plan. add that to an HSA at 7000 total for a wife and husband, maybe a Roth as well for another 11000 potential. you can really do as much investing tax advantaged as you can afford. The Solo plan is not an easy one to start though. it takes a while and has some paperwork. If you are contributing a smaller ammount a SEP or regular IRA is much easier.

ETA: everything my family earns is self employed something or other so I have had time to figure this particular mess out.