Nonqualified deferred-compensation plans are growing again in response to last year's expiration of Bush-era tax cuts, which effectively increased income taxes on high-wage earners.
Originally designed to allow a company's highest-paid executives to defer their annual cash bonus, nonqualified deferred-compensation plans have evolved into flexible, multiuse executive retirement plans — with investment options similar to their qualified-retirement-plan counterparts.
Employers expect compliance with the health care reform law to account for nearly one-third of the projected 10% average increase next year in health benefit costs, but most are taking steps to keep that increase at or below 6% — a move that will cause many to lose grandfathered status, according to a survey by Mercer LLC.
Economists heralded FedEx Corp.'s decision to restore its matching contribution to employees' 401(k) plans as a sign that the recession is ending, but surveys show that less than half of the firms that reduced or suspended plan matches in recent years have restored them.
Even though liability coverage for securities firms is widely available, industry observers say only 20% to 25% of those who should buy the coverage actually do so.
