Retirement Vesting: The Devil’s In the Details

Money rollAnd two common methods fully illustrated.

By Marc Rosenberg
Retirements & Buyouts

Vesting of retirement benefits is not unique to CPA firms. But vesting concepts for accounting firms are somewhat unique and are important to understand.

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Employee retirement plans are intended essentially as “savings programs” that people can take with them when they leave the firm, even if they depart well in advance of a normal retirement age. When there is employer matching, vesting provisions are common, and vesting is fairly rapid. In contrast, vesting in partner retirement plans is intentionally slow.