I’m reading another great book, “Made to Stick” by Chip & Dan Heath (Brothers). Early in the book they write about “Commander’s Intent” a concept developed by the United States Army in the 1980’s that changed the planning process for battle plans. Apparently most of history’s battle plans turned out to be useless because according to Colonel Tom Kolditz “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” LOVE THAT!

Commander’s Intent seeks to keep everyone focused on what is most important.

In the design of Non-Qualified Benefit Plans sPlan5 has two objectives:

1 – Keep the plan design clean, simple and easy to understand and administer. This will result in lower cost and clearer communication.

2 – Always focus on the primary purpose of the plan which is to save for retirement.

Non-Qualified Plans can be designed with many design features and nuances which a few key executives will use but most do not. It is always tempting to build more and more features into a plan but this will usually result in diminishing benefit returns.

Let’s keep plan design beautifully simple:

– Focus on Retirement
– Think Long Term

At sPlan5 we believe that simplicity increases effectiveness with reduced costs. Some might argue that some executives will not participate in a plan because it does not have enough “flexibility” created by adding complicated features. But how many people do not participate because they don’t understand what is being proposed? And don’t you think it is true that every person is unique? The temptation is to design a plan that can cover all contingencies. But that might just create more questions than answers.

“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” ~ Albert Einstein

Commander’s Intent = Save for Retirement – Let’s not forget this!!!!

By the way, “Made to Stick” = Great Book – Thank you to my daughter Rebecca for the gift of this book!

Thank you for reading.

Doug Marshall617-520-4695 – Voice
206-605-4695 – Cell

jdougmar

You should follow me on twitter here ➡ www.twitter.com/jdougmar
From there you can link to @NQnext and @sPlan5

NQnext Blog – www.NQnexttheblog.com
sPlan5 Blog – www.sPlan5theblog.com

Let’s put you in the shoes of the Business Owner for a few minutes. You want to execute a program to attract and retain key employees but don’t want to get over complicated. Here is a simple Non-Qualified Benefit design that is easy to manage and explain.

Here is a sample benefit letter to a Key Employee.

Dear Key Employee –

ABC Company is creating a Non-Qualified Benefit Plan to reward you for excellent performance and contribution to the company. Here is a brief description of the plan.

1 – Each year ABC will contribute money into NQ Account for you and interest will also be credited over time. This is in addition to normal 401(k) and profit sharing dollars.

2 – The amount of the contribution will be 20% of your incentive bonus.

3 – You may choose to put additional money into the account before tax.

4 – At age 65 the account will be paid out to you over five years.

5 – The payments will allow you to take less out of your 401(k) and other retirement savings that do not need to be distributed until you reach the age of 70-1/2.

6 – If you leave the company before you are fully vested you will only be paid the vested amount.

7 – If you die or become disabled before you are fully vested the company will automatically vest you 100% and payments will be made to your or your beneficiaries.

Thank you for your dedication to the success of ABC.

SUMMARY – It really does not have to be complicated to get the job done.

Thank you for reading,

Doug Marshall

sPlan5 is: AN OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE changing the way they, they customers, feel about themselves and tell their own stories.

We are building a business, some might call it a movement, around people, not products. sPlan5 focuses on helping people tell the stories about themselves and the enterprises they run.

Not long before I left my former employer my team worked on an intriguing and sad project. The majority owner of the business learned he was terminally ill with maybe six months to live. It was important to him that he set in place a plan to retain and reward his top three executives. He needed the 100+ employees to know a strategy was in place to secure the future.

The owner told a story about himself, to his employees and to his family. It was a story saying he cared, it was his legacy and the best way to create the company’s future.

If we had focused on plans, strategies, financials and products we might have run out of time. If we had not kept the plan simple it might never had been implemented. sPlan5 in some ways has its ancestry in a case like this, the story of the customer and a commitment to keeping it simple.

I would like to recommend a book to you – “True Story” by Ty Montague. Ty Let me know what you think about his beliefs about “Metastory.” If this makes sense to you let’s engage.

People are hungry, not to buy products but hungry to tell their stories. By telling their stories they will create communities of like minded people. These community members are our customers.

Until next time!

You should follow me on twitter here ➡ www.twitter.com/jdougmar
From there you can link to @NQnext and @sPlan5