Financial planning is not a dark art. While it may seem that way sometimes, it simply calls for you to identify, organize, and prioritize your financial goals. If you haven’t written a financial plan, you’re piloting your life without a horizon point.  Do you need to cut expenses? Shrink taxes? Reduce debt? Or invest more?...Read More

Thirty years ago, I discovered and set out to master the nonqualified deferred compensation field. I designed and placed several hundred plans prior to the 1986 Tax Reform Act, which caused dramatic changes in how these arrangements were funding. Prior to the Act, we could credit participant accounts with 18 to 22 percent guaranteed interest...Read More

As a highly compensated executive, you are focused on your career and management responsibilities. But no employee can afford to overlook personal financial planning. At the same time, your employer has a vested interest in helping you, and not just in your job, but in your personal wealth management as well. Why? Because when you’re...Read More

Business leaders work with fierce competition and constant change every day. To succeed, leaders must understand how to dance with these unpredictable forces, learn resilience, and harness the potential for growth amid volatility. You need your most important assets, your key employees, to stay focused on achieving the company’s goals. However, when dealing with those...Read More

When you sign up for a nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan, you agree to set aside a portion of your annual income until some future date such as beginning retirement or funding your children’s college education. In our experience, plan participants do not spend enough time determining when and how to receive this money, let...Read More

Closely held and family-owned businesses, all private companies for that matter, often find it difficult to attract and retain key employees. Key talent can be easily lured away by publicly held companies that offer company stock (equity) as a key component of total compensation packages. While the equity in a private company cannot be traded on...Read More

The overall rate of companies offering nonqualified deferred compensation plans (NQDCs) increased to 85 percent in 2017 from a survey low of 77.2 percent in 2015, according to the annual Prudential/PLANSPONSOR Executives Benefits Survey. Average participation rates were relatively flat at 47 percent. So, how does this affect you? Plan sponsors believe the most important...Read More

The Wall Street Journal produced a helpful guide entitled, How to Choose a Financial Planner in which the author offers this advice: “Consider the planner’s pay structure. A planner who earns money based on commission rather than a flat, hourly rate could have an incentive to steer you in a particular direction.” In general, the...Read More

As a corporate leader, you understand to attract and retain top talent, you must stretch far beyond the salary you pay to key employees. You must also offer competitive benefits like retirement plans, stock awards or tailored perks. While it is essential to help employees with their retirement planning, for many retirement isn’t their highest...Read More

Most, if not all, companies recognize the need to attract, retain and reward key employees with financial literacy. People are the lifeblood of business. To ensure access to top talent, these companies design sophisticated compensation and benefits programs for the executive suite and other highly compensated employees. 79 percent of employees cited a competitive benefits...Read More