SERPs in common use among top industrials.SERPs IN COMMON USE AMONG TOP INDUSTRIALS Data compiled from proxy statements filed by 89 of the Fortune 100 industrial companies indicate 93% have some sort of supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP (1) (Search Engine Results Page) The page of results that a search engine returns. It includes links to pages that have been automatically discovered by crawlers, manually indexed by people or that are paid for by advertisers. See search engine. ). The data were collected for a recent Hewitt Associates Some of the information in this article may not be verified by . It should be checked for inaccuracies and modified to cite reliable sources. Hewitt Associates survey. Of the companies surveyed, 86% increased executive retirement income through an Employee Retirement Income Security Act The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C.A. § 1001 et seq. (1974), is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established Pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals enrolled in these plans. (ERISA See Employee Retirement Income Security Act. ERISA See Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ) excess plan, which attempts to make up for benefits lost because of Internal Revenue Code The Internal Revenue Code is the body of law that codifies all federal tax laws, including income, estate, gift, excise, alcohol, tobacco, and employment taxes. These laws constitute title 26 of the U.S. Code (26 U.S.C.A. § 1 et seq. restrictions on contributions to and payments from qualified retirement plans. Another popular supplemental plan offered by 34% of the companies is designed to recoup benefits lost because of the limits imposed by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 on the amount of compensation that can be recognized in calculating benefits for a retirement plan. The TRA's 1990 indexed ceiling is $209,200. While SERPs are in widespread use, they have drawbacks. They are nonqualified plans, which means they are not deductible for a company. Therefore, they usually are not funded, causing some concern for executives over the uncertainty of future benefits. |
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