Executive Benefits
Retain. Recruit.
Retire with dignity.
New supplemental executive retirement plans — CASD, 457(f), and other nonqualified arrangements — designed for credit union executives, with a defined exit through the LifeNotes™ Trust from day one.
Credit union executives face a 42% retirement income gap compared to banking peers. That gap costs you talent.Source: infineo compensation benchmarking, 100+ credit unions
The Challenge
You are competing for talent with one hand tied.
Most credit unions over $200M already offer supplemental executive retirement plans. If yours does not, you are in the minority — and you are risking your best talent leaving for a credit union that does, or for banks and corporates that offer even more.
Traditional split dollar plans help — but they carry risk for both sides. The credit union holds a low-yield loan for 30 to 40 years with no defined exit. The executive carries the risk that a future board — one they may not know — will honor the benefit decades after retirement.
Plan Types — SERP Is the Umbrella
What types of SERPs do credit unions use?
Collateral Assignment Split Dollar (CASD)
The credit union loans premium dollars to fund a life insurance policy. The executive receives retirement benefits through policy loans. Technically, the credit union's loan stays in place until death — but with LifeNotes, the credit union's certificate matures in 10, 15, or 20 years.
457(f) Ineligible Plan
Tax-deferred compensation with a substantial risk of forfeiture — the golden handcuff. Vesting schedules drive retention, and the underlying CUOLI enters the LifeNotes Trust for yield optimization and a defined exit.
Other SERP Structures
Nonqualified deferred compensation agreements funded by credit union-owned life insurance. Provides supplemental retirement income that closes the gap between qualified plan limits and competitive compensation.
The Process
From compensation strategy to defined exit
Compensation Benchmarking
We benchmark your executive compensation against banks, corporates, and peer credit unions. The analysis identifies the gap and sizes the plan to close it.
Plan Design & Policy Placement
CASD, 457(f), or other SERP structures placed with top-rated carriers. Vesting schedules calibrated to your retention goals. Board-ready governance documentation included.
LifeNotes Trust Integration
The plan enters the LifeNotes Trust with a 10, 15, or 20-year defined exit. The credit union earns 0% (10yr), 1% (15yr), or 2% (20yr) — and the loan closes on schedule, not at executive mortality.
The LifeNotes Difference
How does a SERP exit from the credit union's balance sheet?
Traditional executive benefit plans treat the credit union as a permanent lender. The split dollar loan sits on the books until the executive dies — 30 to 40 years in many cases. The credit union earns 0 to 2% (AFR-based) and carries balance sheet exposure the entire time.
LifeNotes plans are different from day one. The underlying policy or CUOLI enters the trust with a fixed-duration investor certificate. The credit union gets a defined exit in 10, 15, or 20 years, plus pro-rata death benefit distributions along the way.
- ✓Board-ready governance documentation included with every plan
- ✓Eliminates imputed income tax burden for the executive
- ✓Plans diversified across 600+ policies and 22 carriers in the trust
- ✓Backed by institutional infrastructure: Doeren Mayhew audits, institutional-grade compliance
For the Executive
Better benefits. Less risk. More certainty.
LifeNotes is not just better for the credit union — it is better for the executive. Traditional split dollar plans leave the executive dependent on a future board to honor a benefit decades after retirement. LifeNotes changes that equation.
When the plan enters the LifeNotes Trust, the executive's benefit is secured by the trust structure — not by a future board vote. The risk transfers from the executive to the trust in exchange for a guarantee. No more returning to a boardroom full of people you don't know to request a benefit you earned years ago.
- ✓10–20% increase in benefit value through trust structure efficiencies
- ✓Risk transfers from the executive to the trust in exchange for a guarantee
- ✓No dependence on a future board to honor retirement benefits
- ✓Retirement income secured by a diversified pool — not a single policy
Strategic Impact
Retain. Recruit. Retire.
Retention
Golden handcuff vesting schedules give your best executives a financial reason to stay. 457(f) forfeiture clauses create real stakes. The plan pays out only if they stay through the vesting period.
Recruitment
Most credit unions your size already offer executive benefit packages. If you don't, you're the exception — and your next CEO knows it. A SERP signals that your credit union is serious about compensation and has the infrastructure to back it.
Retirement
Close the 42% retirement income gap. Supplemental retirement benefits let your executives retire with the same dignity as their banking counterparts — without the credit union carrying an indefinite liability.
Continue exploring
Education → design → due diligence → implementation → ongoing service.
Increase yield on existing split dollar and CASD plans already on your books.
CASD has state-by-state regulatory nuance. See how LifeNotes maps to DFI Letter CU 2-21.
Definitions, mechanics, exit terms, reporting, and trust governance.
Ready to design a plan?
We will benchmark your compensation, size the plan, and deliver board-ready documentation — no commitment to proceed.