Anonymous wrote:Is deferred compensation such a great deal? Don't you miss out on what you could make investing the money plus you would be just another creditor of your employer went bankrupt.
I am the PP who brought up DCP before.. DCP can be invested just like 401k .. so essentially all of it can go to index funds, so your money grows pretax. The company also throws in a match for 4% with some threshold, so free money. DH works for a tech company like IBM so the chances for it going bankrupt in 10-15 years in minimal, but agree there is some risk involved. In DHs case, he took the longest possible withdrawal, so if he leaves the company then after 5 years, he would be paid his contributions plus gain over another 10 years so some of the money will be growing tax free for 15 years and will come in after we retire and are in a smaller tax bracket. unlike 401k you don’t have access to the money at will. You could elect to get the money at a certain age in lump sum as well.. so many options to choose from. Of course if there is death or disability or proven hardship then you can withdraw the money. Some people time it to coincide with kids college. In our case, we already have good amount in 529 and will cover shortfall from pay check.