Making the Most of Your Executive Benefits at PepsiCo
PepsiCo is consistently recognized as a world-class employer by putting its employees’ wellness at the forefront. With such a competitive offering for executives, it is important to educate yourself about the PepsiCo executive benefits available to you. You should also recognize that you will still need to do some planning on your part to maximize these benefits to reach your financial goals.
Enroll in the PepsiCo Savings Plan– If you are not in a grandfathered pension plan, PepsiCo makes contributions to your retirement plan through their Automatic Retirement Contribution (ARC) program. You do not need to enroll in the PepsiCo Savings plan to be eligible, but there are other benefits to this 401(k) plan. Eligible employees are automatically enrolled with a pre-tax employee contribution rate of 4% to 10% of earnings unless they declines to participate. Also, employees that are not accruing benefits towards a pension plan are eligible for a matching contribution. In general, the company matches 50% of employee contributions up to a limit ranging from 4% to 8% of eligible pay based on years of service.
Catch Up with Your Retirement Savings- IF you have reached age 50 this year or are over, you can make an additional catch-up contribution of $6,500 to your retirement account.
Restricted Stock Units- If you are an executive that receives restricted stock units, it is important to understand the vesting schedule, determine the tax implications and have a plan for how these investments will fit into your overall investment plan in the long run. You want to have a strategy in place that helps ensure that you do not have concentrated risk if this benefit becomes a big part of your net worth.
Adequate Insurance Coverage- The first step is to understand the group life insurance and disability benefits that are offered by PepsiCo and make sure that the benefit would meet your needs. In some cases, individual policies need to be purchased to supplement these benefits. There are many factors that go into this decision but an analysis that helps determine your dependents’ needs can help.
Tax Benefits for Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs- If you are enrolled in the Healthy Advantage health care plan, which is a high deductible plan, you qualify for a health savings account (HSA). Contributions to an HSA are not subject to federal income taxes, the earnings from interest or investments are tax-free, and distributions to pay for qualified medical expenses are tax free.
Charitable Contributions – The ability to deduct charitable contributions has become more difficult due to the SECURE Act which was legislation passed by Congress in 2019. There are strategies where you can bunch your contributions in a given year to increase the likelihood of being able to receive a deduction.
A career at PepsiCo can provide you with some great tools to work towards your financial well-being. If you have any questions about any of the above benefits or would like to discuss how they affect your own situation, feel free to reach out for a complimentary consultation.
Information about the PepsiCo Savings Plan was obtained from the Form 5500 for 2020 found at the Department of Labor website www.efast.dol.gov/5500search/
Other benefit information can be found in the “Total Rewards at a Glance” brochure https://www.benefitsaccountmanager.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Pepsico-Benefits-Summary-Total-Rewards-compressed_1.pdf
This material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific tax issues with a qualified tax advisor.
Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA / SIPC. Investment advice offered through Stratos Wealth Partners, Ltd, a registered investment advisor. Stratos Wealth Partners is a separate entity from LPL Financial.
