One page. Once a month. Written for business owners who would rather see what changed and what it means than read another twelve-page white paper.
Executive benefits move slowly and then all at once. A statute changes, a contribution limit resets, a court decides something about a plan document that has been sitting in a drawer since 2008. Most of it does not matter to you. Some of it matters a great deal, and the difference is rarely obvious from a headline.
That is what the Brief is for. Each issue is one page: what changed, who it affects, and what — if anything — to do about it before year end. If an issue does not affect you, we would rather you close it in ninety seconds than feel obliged to read it.
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What is in each issue
- What changedA statutory or regulatory development, in plain language, with the citation if you want to check it.
- Who it affectsWhether this lands on closely held companies, banks, nonprofits, or nobody you know.
- What it is worth doingThe action, the deadline, and an honest note when the answer is to do nothing.
- One thing from the practiceSomething that actually came up in a plan review this month, with the details changed.
Past issues
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October 2026 · Latest issue
December 31 Is a Deadline. 2027 Is the Plan.
National Retirement Security Month and year-end planning for 2027: the projected tax schedules and retirement limits, what changed in deductibility, and the moves to make before and after December 31.
- Projected 2027 brackets, §199A, §179, SALT and estate figures next to the 2026 numbers
- 401(k), catch-up, §415(c), §401(a)(17) and Social Security wage base changes
- A before-December-31 checklist and the programs to put in place for 2027
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December 2023
Latest Trends in Executive Benefits
Three ways owners were monetizing and protecting the value they had built, without giving up control of the company.
- Monetizing a business while keeping control of it, through an ESOP
- Retaining key employees with a deductible benefit carrying a real risk of forfeiture
- Putting a long‑term benefit in place company‑wide with little or no underwriting
While you wait
The Brief is the short version. If you came here with a specific question, these are the long ones:
- Executive benefits: the business owner’s guide — start here if you are deciding whether any of this applies to your company.
- NQDC executive benefits — plan types, funding and how to choose between them.
- 409A deferred compensation plans — the compliance rules, the penalties, and what changed for 2026.
- What is a SERP? — supplemental executive retirement plans explained.
- Phantom stock — the ownership feel without issuing equity.
- Bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) and corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) — how these plans get funded.
- The Perfect Plan® Podcast — longer conversations, including one with a former U.S. Treasury official who worked on the 409A regulations.