Designing Qualified Plans - CFP^®

Designing Qualified Plans to Meet Employer Objectives introduces students to the elements of qualified plan design to meet the needs of business owners. It discusses qualified plan design issues as they apply to both large and small companies. The emphasis, however, is on small company plans—specifically, qualified plans for those employers who have fewer than 25 employees.

The treatment of qualified plan design begins with a discussion of the characteristics of particular qualified plans in order to provide a foundation for the student to understand, in a general way, what they can accomplish for an employer. The focus of the course then changes to an examination of the three areas that employers need to address in deciding on the right plan. Those three areas involve:

1. What the plan should accomplish for the company
2. Who the plan should favor
3. How much can be allocated to pay for the plan

Following a discussion of these three general areas of employer concern, the course looks at how to identify employer objectives. Finally, the student’s attention is focused on the more analytical aspects of plan design: matching the common employer objectives with the appropriate qualified plan. At the conclusion of this course, the student can be expected to understand:

1. The basis of suitable qualified plan recommendations
2. The benefits that employers normally seek by establishing qualified plans
3. The ways that plan design may differ for employers based on their size
4. The basic characteristics of qualified plans
5. How qualified plans meet specific employer needs
6. How modifications to basic plans help qualified plan sponsors achieve their goals
7. The importance of qualified plan data gathering