About Us
In the early 1970s, we, the principals of PlanaSerp.com, founded Benefit Service Company and began our careers as benefit specialists. Since then, we have designed, installed and administered Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans for hundreds of private and public companies. These plans generally provide benefits for key non-owner executives on a discriminatory basis with the approval of both the IRS and Labor Department.
Historically, when a company or executive wanted to explore the pros and cons of a SERP plan, a consultant or product vendor was called and, one way or another, "the meter began ticking". We decided to reverse the process with the help of the Internet. We think you should be able to design and "cost" a plan before you go to a consultant or product vendor; to "kick the tires" before you spend your time and money. We want you to be in the position that, if you decide to go no further, you will have spent nothing and you will not have to explain to a consultant or vendor why you have made this decision. On the other hand, if you decide to proceed, you will know the costs, implementation steps, and administration requirements when you discuss a plan with a consultant or product vendor. Of course, we would welcome the opportunity to talk with you initially or after you might have received quotes of higher costs and/or less quality but, if this does not happen, we wish you luck and hope this site has been helpful to you.
Our team of benefit professionals is available for consultation before or after you have viewed:
- An explanation of what a SERP is and how a SERP might benefit both an executive and your company.
- The costs of a plan for a particular executive:
- Costs of actually paying the benefit (cash on cash cost, Profit & Loss cost, Net Present Value cost)
- Costs of implementing a plan, including legal documents for labor time of the sponsoring corporation.
- Costs of actuarial certification
- Unique design features that might be added, including:
- Payment of the education costs of an executive's children
- Pre-retirement tax-free death benefits for beneficiaries of executives who die while serving the employer.
- Retirement dates earlier or later than the normal age 65 retirement date.
- Cost of living increases applied to the SERP benefit before, after, before and after, the chosen retirement date.
- Vesting options or loss of benefit provisions.
We hope that this real time, interactive service will prove valuable to you.