Best Practices of America

Mary Ann McCarthy

Mary Ann McCarthy is APS's resident expert on 412(i) Defined Benefit Plans. In her role as Director of The Hartwood Group (APS's 412(i) Division), Mary Ann assists agents and advisors in the sale and implementation of these complex plans. Mary Ann also assists in the sale and implementation of 419(e) Welfare Benefit Plans.

Mary Ann began her career in the qualified plans arena in 2001 as a financial advisor. She has extensive experience in all aspects of wealth management and retirement planning Prior to joining the APS team, Mary Ann was Vice President, Head of Retirement Services for a large national financial services firm. As such, she has a comprehensive understanding of qualified plans and the regulations that govern them. Her experience proves extremely beneficial in the sale of 412(i) and 419 plans. Mary Ann holds Series 7 and Series 6 Securities Licenses.

The Hartwood Group is dedicated to utilizing our expertise to support strategic advisors in providing advanced strategies to their business-owner clients in the area of:

Tax Reduction
Retirement Benefits
Employee Retention
Business-Based Contingency Planning

We assist advisors in choosing the most appropriate strategies in consideration of:

Desired Annual Pre-tax Contribution
Review of Employee Census Data
Related Employee Expense
ERISA Guidelines
Ownership Considerations
Risk Management
Time Horizon

With special emphasis in plan design, entity structuring and business-based contingency planning, we are able to assist the agent/advisor in determining the most sophisticated option for his/her business-owner client.

Possible solutions include:

Traditional Defined Benefit Plans
Section 79 Plans
419(e) Welfare Benefit Plans
412(i) Defined Benefit Plans
401(k)/Profit-Sharing Plans
Deferred Compensation Plans
Key Man Insurance
Buy/Sell Insurance

Advisors working closely with business-owner clients must stay abreast of the most advanced strategies. Talk with your clients about tax savings, employee incentive plans or business-based contingency planning. If they are interested in exploring these areas of their business/tax planning, the next steps are:

Establish Client Priorities (Tax relief, employee retention, risk management)
Collect census data for the owner(s) and all employees:

(DOB, DOH, Salary, Title, Annual Hours)

Identify a Desired Funding Amount
Contact Mary Ann McCarthy at The Hartwood Group, by calling
866-427-8966, ext 320, or by e-mail at maryannm@hartwoodgroup.com.

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