The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) sets forth minimum standards for qualified retirement plans to follow. The act, although established to ensure that employee benefit plans are maintained in a fair manner, discriminates against highly compensated employees.
Nonqualified deferred compensation plans have evolved to offer highly compensated employees pre-tax savings and accumulation plans that do not have all the restrictions and testing requirements of ERISA-qualified retirement plans. In fact, NQDC plans are exempt from most ERISA rules because they are offered only to a select group of management-level and/or highly compensated employees.
Our Retirement Gap Analysis or Shortfall Analysis can uncover needs and point the way to a possible NQDC solution. NQDC plans can be designed to satisfy the objectives of the participant and the company, and can include retention provisions so that top talent is not lured from the sponsoring organization—without the participant sustaining a substantial loss.
There are many advantages of nonqualified plans. They can:
- Restore lost benefits due to IRS restrictions and discrimination testing;
- Provide executives with greater potential for wealth accumulation;
- Enable participants to reduce current taxable income by voluntarily deferring salary and/or bonus;
- Tailor investments and distributions to meet personal needs (retirement and/or savings);
- Allow participants to accumulate earnings tax-deferred and to avoid excise tax penalties upon withdrawal;
- Be discriminatory and used to recruit, retain and reward key employees;
- Enhance the employer contribution to a select group on a discriminatory basis; and
- Align vesting schedules with corporate objectives to accomplish retention goals.
