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The professionals at the Ganim Group can work with you to increase your competitive edge in attracting and retaining key executive management with a range of advanced, discriminatory benefits.

Salary Continuation Plans: A plan in which the employer agrees to provide a continuation of a key executive's income for a defined amount and period of time. These plans can be funded by corporate dollars, or offered via an insurance policy² designed to provide the agreed upon amount.

Selective Incentive Plans: A deferred compensation plan in which a key executive and the employer defer salary and bonus income for payment at a later date. There is no limit to the amount that can be deferred.

Split Dollar Life Insurance³: Essentially, this is an arrangement whereby an executive and the employer agree to split the cost (premiums) and benefits (cash-value and death benefits) of a permanent life insurance policy. There are many variations to such an arrangement, including who the ultimate owner of the policy is, how the premiums are paid and by whom, how the benefits are split annually and, in the event of death, how benefits are split among others. In addition to being used as a fringe benefit for key executives, split dollar life insurance can also be used for estate planning and business continuation purposes, as well as group term replacement insurance.

Section 457 Plans: Deferred compensation plans set up by state and local governments and tax-exempt organizations that allow tax deferral of salary by key executives within an organization.

Section 419 Plans: A welfare benefit plan that provides significant tax advantages to owners and key executives within an organization. Contributions are tax deductible, and benefits are tax-free when the plan is designed and administered according to IRS specifications to be consistent with the intent of the law.

Executive Long-Term Care: Long-term care insurance provided to a company's key executives on a selective basis. Premiums are tax deductible to the corporation, and not considered taxable income for the executives.

Restrictive Executive Access Plan (REAP): A written agreement between a company and key executives that states the employer will provide a "bonus" that pays premiums on a life insurance policy that is owned by an executive, or an irrevocable trust of an executive, while employed by the company. In this case, the executive cannot access policy values or surrender the policy until all bonuses vest.

Retirement Income Plans (RIP): A benefit plan intended to provide supplemental retirement income, the executive and the company enter into a formal agreement whereby the employer creates and informally funds a benefit account. When the executive retires, the employer pays benefits as agreed and recovers costs by way of tax-free loans and withdrawals.

412(i) Fully Insured Defined Benefit Plans: A qualified retirement plan that meets the special requirements of IRC § 412(i), making it exempt from some of the funding rules and independent actuarial determinations associated with traditional defined benefit plans. Intended to provide a fixed retirement income for high-level executives in small businesses, this defined benefit pension plan is funded entirely with life insurance and deferred annuity products to accumulate funds in pre-retirement years.

401(k) Alternative Plan (401KAP): This arrangement allows an executive to defer a portion of his or her income on a pre-tax basis in amounts that exceed qualified plan limits. In this case, the employer creates and informally funds a deferral account with the executive's deferred income, as well as any additional contributions. At retirement, funds are paid out as agreed and the company recoups a portion of the costs via tax-free loans and withdrawals.

¹ To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS under Circular 230, we inform you that any U.S. Federal tax advice contained in this communication, unless otherwise specifically stated, was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (1) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (2) promoting, marketing, or recommending to another party any matters addressed herein.

² Guarantees are subject to the claims paying ability of the issuing insurance company.

³ Split-Dollar Insurance is not an insurance policy; it is a method of paying for insurance coverage. A split-dollar plan is an arrangement between two parties that involves "splitting" the premium payments, cash values, ownership of the policy, and death benefits. These arrangements are subject to Split Dollar Final Regulations that apply for purposes of federal income, employment and gift taxes. The final regulations provide that the tax treatment of split-dollar life insurance arrangements will be determined under one of two sets of rules, depending on who owns the policy.

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NFP Securities, Inc. does not provide tax or legal advice. Any decisions whether to implement these ideas should be made by the client in consultation with professional financial, tax, and legal counsel.

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