How on earth do you manage deferred compensation with an early retirement? That is what we're going to be talking about today. Even if you don't have a deferred compensation plan, I think this is going to be an entertaining episode for you. But let me have you judged that as opposed to me say that. So I hope you love this early retirement stuff. This is why I do the content that I do. I'm asked this often, and if there are other episodes

that you go, you know what, Ari, haven't quite heard you talk about this one topic, whether it be railroad benefits, whether it be Social Security early, you know, whatever it is, submit a question on my website. Either I have an episode for you on that, and I will send it to you, or I'll make a new episode for you on that. So I love doing what I get to do. submit a question on my website,

early retirement podcast.com. Before we hopped, or I'll make a new episode for you on that. So I love doing what I get to do.

Submit a question on my website, early retirement podcast.com.

Before we hop into today's episode on Deferred Compensation, please know you can always check out more on YouTube. And if you are looking for more information on working with me, check that out in

the description below. So what is deferred compensation? And especially

how does that impact an early retirement? Well, it's exactly what it sounds like. You receive

compensation, but you defer it to a later date. And once again, that's often in retirement.

So there are two types. There's a qualified deferred compensation, which is like a 401k.

Then there's non-qualified. Okay, that

non-qualified, that's what we're going to be talking about today, that latter of those two.

When you hear qualified deferred comp, here's what you need to think about. Qualified deferred

comp, that's protected by something known as ERISA. Okay. Now, ERISA is probably something you've never heard of, but it stands for the Employee Retirement

Income Security Act, ERISA, and lots of rules in ERISA.

They are plans designed to protect participants.

For most, it's a 401K, and that's your primary retirement asset.

So ERISA is just designed to protect that.

It's a federal law that implements standards so that certain employer-sponsored plans and

regulations have to follow these guidelines. So it prohibits like a fiduciary, for example,

from misusing funds and sets minimum standards for participation or vesting or benefit accrual. And so it doesn't just

allow highly comp employees to be able to benefit others employees do as well. So there's just some

more rules there. Why do I bring that up at all? Those non-qualified deferred comp, so not the

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