Financial Planning for Business Owners

What is a qualified plan? A qualified plan is simply a plan described in Section 401(a) of the Tax Code. Qualified plans are retirement plans recognized by the Internal Revenue Service in which investment funds grow tax-deferred. Defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans are the two most popular categories of qualified plans. 

• 401(k)
• Profit Sharing
• Defined-Benefit
• Cash Balance
  
• ESOP

Non-qualified plans are types of retirement savings plans that do not adhere to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) guidelines. Generally, non-qualified plans are utilized to give highly-paid executives additional options for retirement savings. 

• Deferred Compensation Plans
• Executive Bonus Plans
• Group Carve-Out Plans
• Split-Dollar Life Insurance Plans
• SERP
• Golden Handcuffs