Qualified Retirement Plans at EBG

401k Plan

A 401k Plan is a tax qualified retirement plan. The dollars your employees contribute to a 401(k) are pre-tax dollars, deducted from their salaries before Federal income taxes are withheld. The amounts of deferred compensation are 100% vested for employees, but are treated as employer contributions and are therefore a tax-deductible expense for the employer. Since the introduction of the 401(k) in 1978, these plans have gained enormous popularity with employers of all sizes.

A 401(k) can be designed in one of three ways to meet your company's needs.Whichever arrangement you choose, a 401(k) is a flexible and cost-efficient retirement plan.
1 Salary deferral only - limit expenses with a plan to which only employees contribute
2 Employer match - choose to match a certain percentage of your employees' contributions
3 Profit sharing - make discretionary contributions in addition to employee deferrals and/or company matching contributions.

Improved employee morale and increased loyalty are two of the most important fringe benefits of offering a 401(k) to your employees. A 401(k) plan can also be valuable in recruiting and retaining employees - especially key employees.

A 401(k) plan will let you give your employees a valuable benefit at a minimal cost to your organization. Even an employer match arrangement allows you to control the cost of your retirement plan. Employers generally match anywhere from 10% to 100% of employee contributions to the plan - the level of match is entirely your choice.

Benefits for Employees

401k plans also offer substantial benefits to your employees: The ability to save pre-tax dollars through the convenience of payroll deductions. Employees are aware of the need to save for retirement, and a 401(k) lets them save easily and automatically.

These plans offer greater pre-tax savings potential than Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) - up to an annual pre-tax limit of $12,000 (for 2003) in a 401(k) compared to a maximum annual IRA limit of $2,000. (Special rules apply to highly paid employees.)

There are also important tax benefits for employees: Elective contributions as well as employer match contributions accumulate tax-deferred. Neither initial contributions nor investment earnings are taxed until the money is withdrawn - usually at retirement, when an employee may be in a lower tax bracket.

Withdrawals are typically permitted at employee termination of employment, retirement, or disability. Hardship withdrawals may also be permitted for an immediate financial need that an employee cannot satisfy from other sources. However, a 10% penalty tax applies to most withdrawals before age 59 1/2. And, in most circumstances, withdrawals will be subject to a mandatory 20% withholding to help defray income taxes.

Profit Sharing Plan

A Profit Sharing Plan, as its name implies, is a plan for sharing employer profits with employees. A profit sharing plan does not have to provide a definite predetermined formula for determining the amount of profits to be shared. However, in the absence of a predetermined formula, there must be substantial and recurring contributions to the plan. In addition, contributions can not be made that discriminate in favor highly compensated employees.

SIMPLE Plan

There are two types of SIMPLE plans. The first can be established in conjunction with an IRA plan for each employee, or the second, as part of a qualified cash or deferred arrangement similar to a traditional 401k plan. There are important differences between the SIMPLE 401k and traditional 401k plans. The SIMPLE Plan limits employee contributions to $6,000 per calendar year and the employer is required to match employee deferrals with a contribution of 100% up to 3% of pay. This cap on employer match can be lowered in two out of five years, but not lower than 1% of pay. An employer can, in lieu of a match, elect to make a flat 2% contribution for each employee each year. Because of the additional requirements of the SIMPLE plan, there are certain administrative benefits to the employer. These are: no need to have a complicated plan document; no need to have annual ADP tests (for discrimination); and no top-heavy minimum employer contributions will be required.