Brown also stressed that advisors should make sure their executive clients have updated beneficiary information on all their retirement and other benefit plans.  As an example of the importance of updating such designations, she noted that an executive who wants to use her 401(k) plan to fund a trust account for her children when she dies needs to have named the trust as the beneficiary.

Nonqualified deferred compensation plans may be a good place for executives to sock away bonuses, Brown said, but those plans are available to creditors, meaning all the money in them could be lost if the company gets in deep financial trouble. Advisors need to help executives evaluate whether contributing to the plan makes sense based on factors including the financial health of their employer, she said.

Payouts from all company benefit plans and the rules regarding them are very important to analyze to build the best retirement cash-flow plan for clients, she added. Advisors should review the actual plan documents to understand the rules, Brown added.

Stock options and restricted stock, Brown said, could be the largest asset many corporate executives have that would allow them to retire early. Advisors need to analyze the tax bill executives would face from exercising options so that they can inform clients of tax consequences and avoid a nasty tax surprise, she added. Advisors also need to look at when the options and restricted stock vest so that they don’t access them too early, Brown said.

Advisors can plan a strategy that determines at what price clients should exercise options so they can fund certain goals, such as paying for a child’s college education or supporting charity, she added.

For clients who do have defined benefit pensions, they have a big decision to make. “The decision to take the annuity or lump sum could be the single largest decision they make regarding retirement,” Brown said. Advisors must help clients analyze which choice works best, she added.

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