#executivecompensation

By:  Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA® Senior Financial Planner

We live in a world that admires hard workers. As we grow up, we try our best to get into the best universities, graduate with honors, and have a solid start to our careers. We dream about having a job with a big title and everything that comes with it; financial liberty, luxurious trips, more time with loved ones, experience, accomplishments, etc.

However, do we know how to maximize the benefits of hard work? Among the essential things we tend to disregard or misunderstand is executive compensation. More specifically, equity compensation is a great tool to grow wealth.

Here are some insights into the different types of compensation that may be available to you and how to take advantage of the benefits offered.

Some Helpful Terms

Before getting into the weeds of three basic forms of stock options that we will review today, let’s review a few terms:

• Grant Date: The date you are given the shares.
• Vest Date: The date your stock options become available to sell the stock options.
• Exercise Date: The date stock options are exercised (you get the right to buy or sell the stocks).

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs):

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are the most common form of stock options available these days. Companies favor these types of stock compensation because they don’t require the underlying stock on the balance sheet. In addition, RSUs are offered on a vesting schedule typically over four years.

Let’s assume a company offers 1,000 shares of Restricted Stock that vest 250 shares per year over four years.

As the shares vest each year, the value of the shares is taxed as ordinary income. Let’s assume the stock price is $100 a share on 3/1/23. The employee is then subject to $25,000 (250 shares * $100 per share) in additional taxable income for 2023.

After the stock vests, the employee can take cash and subtract the amount held for taxes after they sell the stock, or they can keep the shares and let them grow over time. It’s generally best to treat RSUs as a cash bonus and sell all the shares, since this is how the IRS treats them from a tax perspective. Then, the money earned can be reinvested to allow for better diversification.

Tips for RSUs

• Treat RSUs like a cash bonus and exercise (sell) them in the same year they vest. You can then reinvest the cash into other investments.
• If you hold the stock after it vests, wait at least one year to take advantage of long-term capital gains tax rates.
• Try to negotiate for non-qualified stock options or incentive stock options to receive a more favorable tax treatment of your stock options.
• You will lose any unvested RSUs when you leave the company.

Non-Qualified Stock Options (NSOs)

Non-qualified stock options (NSOs) work similarly to RSUs, where you receive a specified amount of stock options that vest over time. However, a key difference is how the NSOs are taxed. The NSOs have a stock price called the exercise price that is determined at the time the grant is received.

Unlike RSUs that trigger taxes at the time they vest, NSOs allow the employee to determine when the taxes are triggered. This is done when they exercise the stock options, and the difference between the exercise price and the actual stock price is the amount subject to income taxes.

Assume that 200 shares have vested in ABC stock. The exercise price on the stock is $25, and the current market price is $40. Below is how we calculate the amount subject to taxes.

Non-qualified stock options are more favorable for the employee than RSUs. The employee has a specified period (typically ten years from the date of grant) that they can choose to exercise the stock options. When they exercise, you can take the cash minus taxes or hold the shares. With NSOs (and ISOs, which we cover next), you can choose an 83(b) election that triggers taxes in the short term but can lower taxes over the long term. An 83(b) election has to be made when you receive the stock options (at the date of grant) and essentially requests the IRS to recognize income on the stock options now.

By paying income taxes on the grant when you receive them, you switch the growth of the stock options from the income tax rate to the lower long-term capital gains tax rates. 

Tips for NSOs

• Any NSOs not exercised when you leave the company will be lost.
• You can wait until the deadline (which can be as long as ten years) to exercise. This provides more flexibility from a tax perspective.
• When you exercise the stock option, you can take the stock or cash. However, if you choose to hold the stock, it’s best to wait at least one year to sell it and take advantage of long-term capital gains.
• Get insights from an expert to see if an 83(b) election is right for you.

Incentive Stock Options (ISOs)

The unicorn of stock options is Incentivized Stock Options (ISOs). These are the most favorable for an employee from a tax perspective. There are many rules around ISOs, which are common for employees working for start-ups in the tech space.

Since it’s difficult for them to compete for talent with the bigger names in the tech space, they have relied on ISOs as a critical differentiator to attract top talent. For most, ISOs work similarly to NSOs, where you pay taxes on the bargain element. However, the key difference is that with ISOs, you pay no taxes at the time of exercise and get more favorable tax treatment at long-term capital gains rates, if you meet certain requirements.

To get preferential tax treatment:

1. You must hold the stock for at least two years from the date of the grant
2. You must keep the stock for at least one year from the time of exercise.

Let’s take a look at the same example as the NSO above. We see the same $3,000 amount is subject to taxes. The difference is that the $3,000 for an NSO is taxed as income (highest rate is 37%) while for an ISO the $3,000 is taxed as capital gains (highest rate is 23.8%).

It’s imperative that you work with a Certified Financial Planner™ professional when working with ISOs. Aside from the complex holding period requirements, there are also additional requirements. For example, on the date you exercise (not sell!) the options, you trigger potential Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) issues.

The IRS also limits individuals to $100,000 in ISOs annually. Any amount exercised over $100,000 loses ISO treatment and is taxed like an NSO. Careful planning is required for ISO treatment, and you must remember this if you are considering switching employers.

Tips for ISOs

• Hold ISOs for at least two years from the date of grant, and at least one year from the date of exercise to get preferred tax treatment.
• It may be beneficial to intentionally trigger the NSO tax treatment for some ISOs (for example, leaving your current employer for a better position). A Certified Financial Planner™ professional or tax professional can help you understand and implement this strategy if necessary.
• In a down stock year, working with a professional and maximizing how many options to exercise is beneficial.
• Work with an expert to see if an 83(b) election makes sense since it can lower your AMT tax burden.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

While technically, this isn’t specific to executive compensation, ESPPs are an essential benefit offered by many employers that is underutilized and misunderstood. An employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) allows employees to purchase their employer’s stock, typically at a 5% – 15% discount. So, for example, if the stock is $20 per share and the company offers a 10% discount, the employee pays $18 per share. Additionally, they’ve had a $2 gain on the stock from day one. Typically, these stock purchases are made via payroll deductions like other benefits.

Participating in an ESPP can be an important strategy to accomplish your financial goals. For example, getting a discount on your stock purchase and holding it so it can appreciate over time is a good strategy to accumulate wealth.

The taxes on ESPP plans can be complex since not all plans are the same. The discount is taxed as ordinary income at the time of purchase. You will then pay taxes on the stock gains when you sell it (either short-term or long-term capital gains tax, depending on your holding period).

Tips for ESPPs

• ESPPs are a great way to accumulate wealth over time.
• Perform cash flow planning to help determine how much to contribute to an ESPP. You don’t want to save so much that you have trouble paying monthly bills.
• Be aware of stock concentration risk. We all remember Enron and the employees whose stock ended up being worthless.

The Bottom Line

Whether you are evaluating offered RSUs, NSOs, ISOs, or ESPPs, make sure you understand how to plan for taxes. This can be your advantage in a world of overachievers and hard workers. As an executive, you can maximize these benefits and reduce dependency on external factors to grow your wealth.

Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to BFSG’s website or blog or incorporated herein and takes no responsibility for any such content. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Please remember that different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy (including those undertaken or recommended by Company), will be profitable or equal any historical performance level(s). Please see important disclosure information here.

By:  Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner

As the final part of the series, we look at Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPP). Although these are not explicitly for executives, this is an important benefit that is not well understood and often underutilized. In case you missed Part 1 on Deferred Comp plans and Part 2 on Stock Options, read here and here, respectively.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

While technically this is not specific to executive compensation, it is an important benefit offered by many employers that is underutilized and not understood.  An employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) allows any employee to purchase their employer’s stock, typically at a 5% – 15% discount. For example, if the stock is $20 per share and the company offers a 10% discount, the employee pays $18 per share and from day one they have a $2 gain on the stock. Typically, these stock purchases are done via payroll deductions like other benefits. Participating in an ESPP can be an important strategy to accomplish your financial goals. Getting a discount on your stock purchase and holding it so it can appreciate over time is a good strategy to accumulate wealth.

The taxes on ESPP plans can be complex since not all plans are the same. The discount is taxed as ordinary income at the time of purchase. You will then pay taxes on the gains of the stock when you sell it (either short-term or long-term capital gains tax depending on your holding period). Speak to a Certified Financial Planner™ professional to understand the tax rules around your particular plan.

Tips for ESPPs

• ESPPs are a great way to accumulate wealth over time.
• Work with a CFP® professional or tax professional to understand the tax implications of your plan.
• Perform cash flow planning to help determine how much to contribute to an ESPP. You do not want to save so much that you have trouble paying monthly bills.
• Be aware of stock concentration risk. We all remember Enron and the employees whose stock ended up being worthless.

As you can see, we have just covered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding executive compensation. It is always best to work with a CFP® professional who can help you understand your benefits and put a plan together to maximize them.

Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to BFSG’s website or blog or incorporated herein and takes no responsibility for any such content. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Please remember that different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy (including those undertaken or recommended by Company), will be profitable or equal any historical performance level(s). Please see important disclosure information here.

By:  Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner

In the first part of this series, we reviewed deferred compensation plans. This week we are looking at stock options.

Stock Options

There are 3 basic forms of stock options that we will review today. We will look at them from most to least common:

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are the most common form of stock options available these days. Companies like them because they are not required to have the underlying stock on the balance sheet of the company. RSUs are offered on a vesting schedule over a period of time. For example, let’s assume a company offers 1,000 shares of Restricted Stock that vest 250 shares per year over four years. Vesting refers to a period of time an employee is required to wait before they can have access to the shares.

As the shares vest each year the value of the shares is taxed as ordinary income. Let’s assume the stock price is $100 a share on 3/1/23. The employee is then subject to $25,000 (250 shares * $100 per share) in additional taxable income for 2023. After the stock vests, the employee can choose to take cash less the amount held for taxes after they sell the stock, or they can keep the shares and let them potentially grow over time. In general, it is best to treat RSUs as a cash bonus and sell all the shares since this is how the IRS treats them from a tax perspective.  The money can be reinvested in other investments to allow for better diversification.

Tips for RSUs

• Treat RSUs like a cash bonus and exercise (sell) them in the same year they vest. You can then reinvest the cash into other investments.
• If you hold the stock after it vests, wait at least one year to take advantage of long-term capital gains tax rates.
• Try to negotiate for non-qualified stock options or incentive stock options for a more favorable tax treatment of your stock options.
• You will lose any unvested RSUs when you leave the company.

Non-Qualified Stock Options (NSOs)

Non-qualified stock options (NSOs) work similarly to RSUs where you receive a specified amount of stock options that vest over time. A key difference is how the NSOs are taxed. The NSOs have a stock price called the exercise price that is determined at the time the grant is received. Unlike RSUs that trigger taxes at the time they vest, NSOs allow the employee to determine when the taxes are triggered. This is done when they exercise the stock options and the difference between the exercise price and the actual stock price is the amount subject to income taxes.

Assume that 200 shares have vested in ABC stock. The exercise price on the stock is $25 and the current market price is $40. Below is how we calculate the amount subject to taxes:

Total Market Price ($40 * 200) – Total Exercise Price ($25 *200) = Bargain Element (Amount subject to taxes)

$8,000 – $5,000 = $3,000 subject to income taxes

Non-qualified stock options are more favorable for the employee than RSUs. The employee has a specified period (typically ten years from the date of grant) that they can choose to exercise the stock options. At the time of exercise, you can choose to take the cash minus taxes or hold the shares. With NSOs (and ISOs, which we cover next) you can choose an 83(b) election that triggers taxes in the short term but can lower taxes over the long term. An 83(b) election has to be made at the time you receive the stock options (at the date of grant) and essentially requests the IRS to recognize income on the stock options now. By paying income taxes on the grant at the time you receive them you switch the growth on the stock options from income tax rate to the lower long term capital gains tax rates. It is best to work with a Certified Financial Planner™ or tax professional to see if this makes sense given your situation. 

Tips for NSOs

• Work with a Certified Financial Planner™ professional or tax professional for tax planning (for example exercising more stock options in a year you have a lower income).
• Any NSOs not exercised at the time you leave the company will be lost forever.
• You can wait till the deadline (which can be as long as 10 years) to exercise. This allows you more flexibility from a tax perspective.
• When you exercise the stock option you have the choice of taking the stock or cash. If you choose to hold the stock it is best to wait at least one year to sell the stock to take advantage of long-term capital gains.
• Talk with a tax professional or Certified Financial Planner™ professional to see if an 83(b) election is right for you.

Incentive Stock Options (ISOs)

The unicorn of stock options is Incentivized Stock Options (ISOs). These are the most favorable for an employee from a tax perspective. There are many rules around ISOs and because of their complexity, they are the least common type of stock option.  Themost common place I see these are for key employees that work for start-ups in the tech space. Since it is difficult for them to compete for talent with the bigger names in the tech space they have relied on ISOs as a key differentiator to attract top talent. For the most part, ISOs work very similarly to NSOs where you pay taxes on the bargain element. The key difference though is that with ISOs you pay no taxes at the time of exercise and get more favorable tax treatment at long-term capital gains rates if you meet certain holding requirements (see below).

Total Market Price ($40 * 200) – Total Exercise Price ($25 *200) = Bargain Element (Amount subject to taxes)

$8,000 – $5,000 = $3,000 subject to long-term capital gains taxes

To get preferential tax treatment there are some requirements you must meet:

1. You must hold the stock for at least two years from the date of the grant
2. You must hold the stock for at least one year from the time of exercise.

It is imperative that you work with a Certified Financial Planner™ professional when working with ISOs. Aside from the complex holding period requirements, there are additional requirements as well. The date that you exercise (not sell!) the options you trigger potential Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) issues. The IRS also limits an individual to $100,000 in ISOs in a given year. Any amount over $100,000 loses ISO treatment and is taxed like an NSO. Careful planning is required for ISO treatment and you must keep this in mind if you are considering switching employers.

Tips for ISOs

• You must hold ISOs for at least 2 years from the date of grant and at least 1 year from the date of exercise to get preferred tax treatment.
• Work with a Certified Financial Planner™ professional and tax professional to put together a plan limiting AMT tax issues.
• It may be beneficial to intentionally trigger the NSO tax treatment for a portion of the ISOs (for example, leaving your current employer for a better position). A Certified Financial Planner™ professional or tax professional can help you understand and do this strategy if necessary.
• In a down stock year, it is beneficial to work with a professional and maximize how many options to exercise.
• Work with a Certified Financial Planner™ professional to see if an 83(b) election makes sense, since it can lower your AMT tax burden.

Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to BFSG’s website or blog or incorporated herein and takes no responsibility for any such content. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Please remember that different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy (including those undertaken or recommended by Company), will be profitable or equal any historical performance level(s). Please see important disclosure information here.

By:  Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner

You’ve likely daydreamed about the future. A future where you spend the weekend relaxing in front of the lake, and your grandkids run while you open a bottle of fine wine. Reducing preoccupations and enjoying the small details in life come from hard work and dedication. Undeniably, money buys necessities and luxuries in life. Though somewhat indirectly, one of the biggest things money can buy is financial peace of mind.

As an executive, you can maximize deferred compensation benefits to grow your success and get you closer to the life you envisioned. Here are some insights about the benefits brought by the big title jobs.

The Blueprints of Your Executive Compensation

You may have been offered executive compensation benefits as an integral part of your employment. These perks, benefits, or programs go beyond what average employees receive. Executive compensation is provided to an exclusive group of employees that the company has deemed vital to its ongoing success to help attract and retain its top talent.

You may be rewarded benefits like a company car or more significant benefits like additional insurance benefits. Most commonly, companies have plans to retain top talent using long-term incentives like deferred compensation.

Understanding what these benefits mean and how to maximize them is crucial. Not using these benefits properly will lead to a tax headache that can be avoided with proper planning. Let’s take a closer look at some of the more common benefits and how they transition from blueprints to materials that build the life you desire.

The Materials You Need – Deferred Compensation Plans

By definition, you are highly compensated if you have access to executive compensation benefits. Therefore, tax planning becomes vital to your success. At the end of the day, it’s about how much you keep and not how much you make.

Access to a deferred compensation plan can be the best way to save for the future and manage your taxes simultaneously. Through deferred compensation, you can choose to defer a portion of your salary and bonus into a plan where the taxes are deferred to a later date when you receive the payout.

Building Strong Foundations

Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation (NQDC)

A Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation (NQDC) plan allows individuals to defer a portion of their income now and then withdraw the money typically in retirement when their income is lower. Most of the time, the amount of money deferred can be invested in stocks or bonds, so the money can grow over time.

Deferred Compensation plans that are non-qualified do not have to comply with Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), like a 401(k) or 403(b). Additionally, they can be offered to a certain group of employees, like executives. These plans will have a written agreement between the employer and employee that outlines all the rules, such as how much can be deferred, when the payout can occur, and what investment options are available.

You will make annual elections on how much income you would like to defer and when you would like to receive that money back. There are two common choices, 1) a lump sum option, or 2) receiving payments over a set amount of time, like five or ten years. For example, if you defer $50,000 in 2022 you could choose to receive that $50,000 at retirement or as a $10,000 a year payment over five years.

Details You Can’t Miss

Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation plans do not follow ERISA guidelines, so it is very important to fully understand the rules for your plan. For example, some plans will have many investment and distribution options, while others may only offer limited (or no investment) options.

The deferred compensation stays on the company’s financial statements and is subject to creditor claims, so it is not fully protected if the company has financial issues down the road, like filing for bankruptcy. When choosing to use a deferred compensation plan it’s important to have strong faith in the company’s long-term viability.

Buying the Best Furniture – Choose Your Distribution Option Wisely

Once your distribution elections are made, it can take time to make changes. Most plans limit the changes you can make and require you to work for at least another 12 months before you retire. Another common rule is that any changes made will delay the distribution by five years. For example, an individual who is 59 and plans to retire at age 60 changes their elections for distribution. As a result, the new changes typically will be paid out at age 65 based on the five-year rule.

Let’s look at an example and why you typically want to spread the payments over time. Imagine an individual retires in 2022 with deferred compensation of $600,000 and chooses to receive everything as a lump sum. Assuming no other income sources, the $600,000 would be taxed at a Federal income tax rate of 35% for a couple filing jointly (based on current Federal income tax rates and not factoring in deductions). However, if they choose to spread the payments over five years, they would receive $120,000 per year for five years. Assuming no other income sources they would be taxed at a Federal income tax rate of 22% for each of those five years. By delaying the payments, the individual greatly reduces the tax burden and creates an income stream for the first five years of retirement.

Earthquake Proof – Tips for Deferred Compensation

• Work with a tax professional or Certified Financial Planner™ professional to determine how much to save and the distribution’s timing.
• Save to a deferred comp plan after you have maxed out your employer-sponsored plan like a 401(k).
• Remember that changes can be made to your distribution election, but this may force you to further delay when you receive the money.
• It is typically best to receive distributions years after you leave the employer.

Deferred Executive Compensation: Key to Financial Peace of Mind

Maximizing the benefits delivered to you through deferred compensation is a great way to protect your investments and grow your wealth. Understanding how to plan for taxes concerning your executive deferred compensation increases your chances of reducing your tax burden. By properly managing the benefits offered to you as an executive, your wealth can grow, and at the same time the external factors tied to your finances may be reduced.

Deferred compensation is one of many executive compensation plans you should keep an eye out for. Equity compensation, such as stock options, are incentives your employer provides that you can maximize to your advantage. Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), Non-Qualified Stock Options (NSOs), Incentive Stock Options (ISOs), and Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPP) are some of the stock options available to employees as compensation. We will discuss these further in an upcoming blog.

Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to BFSG’s website or blog or incorporated herein and takes no responsibility for any such content. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Please remember that different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy (including those undertaken or recommended by Company), will be profitable or equal any historical performance level(s). Please see important disclosure information here.

By:  Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner | Wealth Manager

Understanding the Basics

A Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation (NQDC) plan allows individuals to defer a portion of their income now and then withdrawal the money typically in retirement when their income is lower. Most of the time the amount of money deferred can be invested in stocks or bonds so the money can grow over time.

Deferred Compensation plans are called non-qualified because they do not have to comply with Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) like a 401(k) or 403(b) and can be offered to a certain group of employees like executives. These plans will have a written agreement between the employer and employee that outlines all the rules like how much can be deferred when the payout can occur and what investment options are available.

You will make annual elections on how much income you would like to defer and when you would like to receive that money back in the future. Most commonly you can choose a lump sum option or receive payments over a set amount of time like five or ten years. For example, if you defer $50,000 in 2021 you could choose to receive that $50,000 at retirement or as a $10,000 a year payment over five years.

Rules You Need To Know

Deferred Compensation plans do not follow ERISA guidelines, so it is very important to fully understand the rules for your plan.  For example, some plans will have many investment and distribution options while others may only offer limited (or no investment) options.

The deferred compensation stays on the company’s financial statements, so it is not fully protected if the company has financial issues down the road like filing for bankruptcy. When choosing to use a deferred compensation plan it is important to have strong faith in the company’s long-term viability.

Choose Your Distribution Option Wisely

Once your distribution elections are made it can be difficult to make changes. Most plans limit the number of changes you can make and require you to work at least another 12 months before you retire. Another common rule is that any changes made will delay the distribution by five years. For example, an individual that is 59 and plans to retire at age 60 makes some changes to her elections for the distribution. As a result, the new changes typically will be paid out at age 65 at the earliest based on the five-year rule.

Let’s take a look at an example and why you typically want to spread the payments out over time. An individual retires in 2022 with deferred compensation of $600,000 and chooses to receive everything as a lump sum. Assuming no other income sources the $600,000 would be taxed at a Federal income tax rate of 35% for a couple filing jointly (based on current Federal income tax rates and not factoring in deductions). However, if they choose to spread the payments over five years, they would receive $120,000 per year for five years. Assuming no other income sources they would be taxed at a Federal income tax rate of 22% each of those five years. By delaying the payments, the individual greatly reduces the tax burden and creates an income stream for the first five years of retirement. 

How We Can Help

We can look at your plan documents and provide guidance on how much you should save each year and provide recommendations on the best distribution options. If you have a plan in place already, we are happy to review it and see if any changes should be made to how you will receive distributions from the plan. These decisions vary for each individual based on their income needs and tax situation.

Summary

Deferred compensation plans offer a wonderful way for people to delay income which can potentially be taxed at a lower tax bracket in retirement and create a cash flow stream for a part of retirement. When these plans are structured effectively, they can allow you to retire early and have a stream of income in your early and middle years of retirement.

The challenge though lies in the options people choose for when to receive the money in the future. It is very important to work with your BFSG adviser so we can help you navigate how to receive the money in retirement. These plans can be complex, and it is important to understand how to most effectively use this great employer benefit!

Disclosure: BFSG does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to BFSG’s web site or blog or incorporated herein and takes no responsibility for any such content. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Please see important disclosure information here.