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Retirement plans are employee benefit plans that are set up or maintained by an employer or a union that will provide income after the individual worker retires. There are different types of plans, including the 401(k) plan, and the defined benefit plan.

Most people who work in the private sector are covered by ERISA, which is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. ERISA provides some protections for those who participate in retirement plans. In addition, the individuals who manage the plans have to meet conduct standards under the responsibilities that are specified under the law.

The retirement plan set up by your employer is an essential part of your financial security in the future. It’s important that employees understand how their plans work, and what benefits they will receive. Just as you keep track of bank accounts, you should keep track of your retirement benefits.

The people who are responsible for the oversight and management of retirement plans have to follow certain rules that cover the operation of the plans, handling the money in the plan, and watching over the firms that are hired to manage the money. In addition, you should also understand and monitor your benefits.

There are two major types of retirement plans, and they are described as defined contribution and defined benefit.

A defined benefit plan is funded by your employer, and it promises you a monthly dollar amount upon your retirement. Plans like this may state the benefit as a dollar amount, or may calculate it through various formulas.

A defined contribution plan doesn’t tell you that you’ll get a specific amount when you retire. Instead, you or your employer put money toward your account and then these monies are invested. Most of the time, you are responsible for choosing how the monies are invested. In some plans, your employer will match your contributions.

Employers are offering you a benefit when they open retirement plans for their employees. Federal law does not require any employers to offer a plan, and the law also does not prohibit them from doing away with a plan they already have. Of course, if you have monies invested in a plan that your company terminates, the funds you put it will be available for withdrawal, or for rollover to a different 401-k from another company.

The PBGC – Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation – guarantees that certain retirement benefits will be paid to employees or retirees in most plans, if the plan is terminated and not enough money s left to pay all of its promised benefits.

Check with your Human Resources or Benefits Department at your company, to find out what type of retirement plan your company offers, and which one you signed up for when you hired on. Then keep an eye on the accounts so you can make sure that the money will be there for your retirement.

Qualified retirement plans are “qualified” because of the tax treatment that they receive under the Internal Revenue Code. Normally the qualified retirement plans are set up by employers as part of the employee benefit packet. To be on the lists of qualified retirement plans, the plan as to meet requirements set by the Internal Revenue Code When meeting these requirements the employer or self-employed individual is allowed to deduct the contributions to the plans Employees may be allowed to make additional contributions — pre-tax — and the employees are not immediately taxed on the contributions made.

A qualified retirement plan is one that meets the requirements of section 401(a) Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. The plans provide favorable tax treatment but the tax treatment is different for each one. Here are the three lists of qualified retirement plans. One list is a broad category encompassing more of the category. Here is the category of qualified retirement plans.

Defined benefit plan

Defined contribution plan

Hybrid plan

The “defined benefit plan” is simply the plan that is NOT a defined contribution plans promising a fixed or at least a determinable monthly payment at the time that the employee retires. Then compared to the “defined contribution plan” it does not generate a fixed level of benefits when the employee retires. Contributions are made by the employee but at the time of retirement the amount that the employee will receive is adjusted to the expenses or losses that the account has had. Consequently the employee has no way of determining an exact amount that he or she will receive at the time of retirement. The “hybrid plan” combines the features of the defined benefit and the defined contribution plans.

The second of the lists of qualified retirement plans covers the types of qualified retirement plans.

Annuity Plans

Money Purchase Plans

Pension Plans

Profit-sharing plans

“Annuity Plans” are distinguished by various things. Some of the annuity plans are the retirement annuity plan; the tax-sheltered annuity plan, self-directed annuity plan; immediate income annuity; single premium annuity plan, and many others. “Money Purchase Plans” has been referred simply to a pension plan. A fixed percentage of compensation is to be contributed to each of the eligible employees which the company or business has, annually. The “pension plan” is a steady income that is given to an employee at the time of retirement in the form of a guaranteed annuity. “Profit-sharing plans” are retirement plans where the employer is the only one contributing between 0% and 25% of participants who are eligible to participate in the plan. There is usually a maximum amount for each year.

The third of the lists of qualified retirement plans covers specific qualified retirement plan identified by the benefits received.

Government or 457 plans

Keogh plans

SIMPLE plans

Tax-shelter plans

401(k) plans

Each of these plans has various definitions of tax advantages. They may be defined contribution or defined benefit or particularly for the self employed.

Qualified retirement plan

This form of retirement plan is one that is certified by the ” Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)” and the “Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)” therefore it has more advantages regarding tax treatment, allowing employers to subtract yearly permissible contributions for every participating employee and the earnings on these contributions are “tax-deferred” until taken out for every participant; and some taxes may be deferred further by means of transferring into another different kind of IRA.

Let’s look at what this can do for employers.

First of all it can Draw experienced employees into their company. It can also motivate and retain good employees. It encourages employees to set aside financial aid for future use or for retirement because the benefits of the Social Security alone are not enough to support a sensible way of living for retirees, and it can Protect plan assets from creditors.

Two main categories of “Qualified retirement plans”

1. “Defined benefit plans” are company retirement plans, like pension plans, where when an employee, on reaching retirement, will receive a specified amount that is usually based on his salary and number of years in the service, whereby the employer carries the full risk in investment. Both employer and employee, or just the employee alone, can contribute.

2. “Defined contribution plan”. This type of plan outlines the amount that flows to employees and how much should be contributed by an employer each year to the retirement plan. It also keeps account balances of all members, and states that no member should receive an allotment greater than 25% of compensation or 30,000 dollars, (whichever is the lesser of the two) throughout any year.

“Non-qualified retirement plan”

These type of retirement plans do not meet requirements set by “Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)” and the “Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)”. They are financed by employers therefore are flexible compared to “qualified retirement plans” but do not have the tax benefits that “qualified retirement plans” offer. Benefits, structured in annuities form, are paid generally at retirement age and are liable to “tax” just like “ordinary income tax”; or in “lump sum” or in a payment that may be transferred or converted into IRA, to suspend or defer taxes.

“Top-Hat plans” (THP), “Excess benefit plans” (EBP) and “Supplemental executive retirement plans” (SERP) are types of non-qualified and deferred compensation plans patterned to complement or enhance “qualified retirement plans”.

“Non-qualified retirement plan” supplement “qualified retirement plans” by compensating the benefits that are unavailable to qualified plans and typically covers higher paid company employees. It may be non-funded or funded. The huge disadvantage with this plan is that there is no security promised to the employees in the event that the company should go into bankruptcy, or is sold to another company.

You must always know your options and should develop a plan way before your retirement. Pursuing professional investment advice will help you manage and synchronize your options with a complete and secure financial plan.

There are different types of retirement plans – government-sponsored plans, personal plans, annuities and employer-sponsored plans.

What’s the point of knowing all these plans?

This is because your employer’s retirement savings plan is important for your future financial security. You should understand how your plan works and what benefits you’ll receive. And it’s in your best interest to keep track of your retirement benefits too.

Let’s look at these different types of retirement plans.

Government-Sponsored Plans

Social Security plan is the best example in this category.

Personal Plans

Individual Retirement Agreement or IRA is the most well-known example. They can come in different types according to their tax treatments.

Annuities

These are contracts established with an insurance company. They can be fixed and variable annuities .

Employer-Sponsored Plans

2 types – qualified and non-qualified retirement plans.

Qualified Retirement Plans

These plans meet the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) requirements and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) requirements.

They offer several tax benefits such as allowing employers to deduct annual allowable contributions for each participant of the plan; contributions and earnings on those contributions are tax-deferred until each participant withdraw them and each participant can even further defer some of the taxes through a transfer into a different type of IRA.

You can go for these qualified plans:

(A) Defined Benefit (DB) Plans

These are company retirement plans like pension plans, in which a retired employee receives a specific amount based on salary history and years of service, and in which the employer bears the investment risk.

The employee, the employer, or both may contribute to the plan.

Examples of DB plans:

1. Pensions

They’re a type of retirement plan that guarantees a specific amount to be paid out to the employee when he/she retires. The amount is calculated based on an employee’s salary, years of service and a fixed percentage rate.

The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC), a federal agency, covers employer-sponsored pension plans.

Eligibility for the plan depends on a company’s policy. Some companies require their employees to serve for a certain period of time before they can become eligible for a pension plan. If an employee leaves the job, the pension plan stays with the previous employer.

2. Annuities

They’re retirement plans that have fixed monthly payments at the age of retirement. You can’t transfer the annuities into an IRA account, hence the amount is taxed as regular income the year you receive it.

(B) Defined Contribution (DC) Plans

These plans allow the employer and/or employee to make contributions, so that the final benefits depend on how much is in the account and the rate earned by the account’s investments. Each participant needs to set up his/her own individual account in the plan.

The government doesn’t guarantee a participant’s pension benefits. Instead, the plan allows employees to decide on the investment, based on the employer’s options.

Some examples of DC plans:

1. Profit Sharing Plan

It allows an employer each year to determine how much to contribute to the plan (out of profits or otherwise) in cash or employer stock. The plan contains a formula for allocating the annual contribution among the participants.

2. 401k Plan

An employee can make contributions from his/her paycheck before taxes are taken out. The contributions go into a 401k account, with the employee often choosing the investments based on options provided under the plan.

In some plans, the employer also makes contributions, matching the employee’s contributions up to a certain percentage.

3. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

The employer contributes shares of the company’s stock to employees in return for special tax benefits.

4.Stock bonus plan

It’s a type of profit sharing plan, where contributions are made in the form of company stock.

Non-qualified Retirement Plans

These plans don’t meet the IRC or ERISA requirements. Employers fund these plans. They’re more flexible but don’t have the tax benefits qualified plans have. Upon your retirement, your employer pay you the benefits (in the form of annuities) which are taxed as ordinary income tax, or in lump sum payments, which you can transfer into an IRA to defer taxes.

An example is the 457 plan.

This plan aims at state and local government employees of tax-exempt organizations. Your contributions and earnings are tax-deferred until you withdraw them.

Distributions start upon your retirement but you can also take distributions if you change jobs or if you’ve an emergency.You can choose to take distributions in one lump sum, in annual installments or as an annuity. Distributions are subject to ordinary income taxes and you can’t transfer the amounts into an IRA.