Willis Johnson & Associates is not endorsed by nor affiliated with Shell.
Industry Disclosures
Financial Planning for Shell Employees
As a professional at Shell, you probably have several lingering questions about your Shell Pension and other benefit plans. By coordinating company benefits with your outside assets, we help you understand each offering to maximize your benefits and achieve your personal financial goals.
Save More Using Shell’s Provident Fund 401k Plan
Whether retirement is off in the distant future or right around the corner, you want to ensure you save in the most tax-efficient manner for you and your family. Our team of advisors helps you get the most from both pre-tax and after-tax savings strategies in your Provident Fund.
How we help Shell Professionals with their Provident Fund:
- Annually convert after-tax money from the 401(k) to a Roth IRA, which allows for tax-free growth
- Optimize savings each quarter to receive the full 10 percent company match and not just a portion of it
- Coordinate annual backdoor Roth contributions in conjunction with your workplace savings to optimize wealth accumulation and tax benefits
- Monitor investment performance and implement investment, savings, and tax-minimization strategies tailored to your long-term goals
- Actively manage investment funds using strategies based on Nobel-Laureate research —no more passive set-and-forget approaches to savings and investments
- Access to additional funds through Fidelity Brokeragelink® accounts to better coordinate your 401(k) with non-company or outside assets
Learn More About Maxing Out Your Provident Fund or get your questions answered in a complimentary meeting with one of our Shell experts >>
Shell’s Provident Fund Benefit Restoration Plan (BRP)
Shell offers the Provident Fund Benefit Restoration Plan (BRP) for many of its high-income professionals. Excess benefit plans like this one can have significant tax ramifications when they payout, so it's crucial to appropriately time your retirement to maximize the benefit's after-tax value. Sometimes, retiring only 15 days later can save you a massive amount of taxes on these plans.
See the impact waiting one month to retire can have on your Provident Fund BRP here.
Utilizing Shell’s Incentive Plans
Are you a letter grade employee with minimum holding requirements? We get it. We can help you understand the vesting and taxation of awards, guide your savings prioritization plan, and strategize on how to take advantage of your awarded benefits best while minimizing your taxes. Our team of experts can help you set up a diversification strategy while ensuring you maintain the required holding of company stock and other requirements to get the most of your benefit.
How we help Shell Professionals with their Incentive Plans:
- Performance Share Plan (PSP) & Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) – When Shell employees are granted shares, it’s crucial to plan for taxation, investment, and risk as they vest to avoid any unwelcome surprises. Our team walks you through these considerations so you can manage your incentive benefits with assurance.
- General Employee Stock Purchase Plan (GESPP) – While the GESPP allows employees to purchase company stock at a discount from fair market value, many Shell employees get overly concentrated in Shell stock. We use strategies based on Nobel-Laureate research when making investment decisions to help diversify and rebalance our client’s portfolios.
Protecting Yourself & Your Family with Shell’s Health & Insurance Plans
If something unexpected occurs, do you have the right contingency plan in place to provide for and protect your loved ones? As a fiduciary advisor working in your best interest, we don't sell insurance products. Instead, we provide education and guidance to help you understand the various insurance options available to you. When helping you decide on a plan that works best for you and your family, our goal is to ensure that you only pay for what you need instead of all the extras you don’t.
Shell offers group life insurance plans, term insurance plans, a Long-Term Disability Program (LTD), a Disability Protection Plan, and an Income Protection Insurance Program (IPI).
Selecting the Right Shell Health Plan for You
With each of the plans listed below comes various opportunities and trade-offs. Our advisors walk you through each plan step-by-step and plan your contributions for healthcare costs and future retiree medical costs in the most tax-efficient manner. We also help you maximize your take-home pay by optimizing your healthcare and dependent care FSA accounts.
Shell offers Hospital Surgical Medical (HSM) plans, Be Well Kelsey Plans, and Regional Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans for healthcare.
Getting More From Your Finances Doesn’t Have to be Difficult.
Meet with one of our Shell experts to get started >>
Career Changes at Shell
Life is full of surprises, but it can be incredibly stressful when they concern your finances and career. Suppose you're presented with a layoff or voluntary severance package from Shell. In that case, we can help you understand the critical decisions about company benefits elections and if retirement is a viable option.
Layoffs and Severance Packages at Shell
If you're unsure how an untimely layoff could affect your future or your future employment at Shell, our team knows Shell’s packages and benefits. We can help you evaluate your goals, understand the big picture of your finances, and prepare for the next steps forward so you can start your next venture with confidence.
Facing a severance from Shell? Make sure you’re prepared using our Shell Severance Checklist >>
Navigating Promotions at Shell
Earning a promotion can be exciting and filled with new responsibilities, a new job title, and potentially a higher salary and benefits package. What many Shell executives fail to realize is that this also means more considerations and opportunities for mistakes. As you climb the corporate ladder, your financial plan needs to evolve alongside you. When you begin reaching certain income thresholds, there are more nuances regarding your 401(k) and other savings options, your taxes, and financial planning strategies you can leverage. If you aren’t adjusting your contributions or paying attention to specific tax forms, you could be leaving money on the table. We can help you pivot and adapt your financial strategy to ensure that you have a plan in place anywhere your career takes you.
Going Abroad for a Shell Assignment
If your career at Shell takes you abroad on an expatriate assignment, there are many financial factors to consider before making a move. As specialists in both U.S. company benefit plans and financial planning, we can help U.S. citizens and residents looking to optimize their savings and finances on the road to retirement wherever they are in the world.
Accumulating assets in multiple countries can make it difficult to know where to seek guidance from, so our table below may offer some guidance:
|
Your Situation Entails: |
Work With a U.S. Advisor Like WJA |
Work With A Foreign Advisor |
|
U.S. Citizenship or Resident Status |
Working with an advisor in the U.S. such as Willis Johnson & Associates can help you navigate the financial, tax, and legal guidelines you’re obligated to by your citizenship. |
If you’re not a U.S. citizen or resident, it may be more beneficial to work with an advisor in your home country or the one in which you're stationed. |
|
Assets Outside the U.S. Only |
Due to certain legal restrictions, U.S. advisors, such as Willis Johnson & Associates, are prohibited from managing certain foreign assets. If you’re planning to return to or retire in the U.S., Willis Johnson & Associates can help you convert your assets and leverage them accordingly. |
If most of your assets are outside the U.S., it may be best to work with an advisor in the country holding the assets to have the most flexibility in your options. |
|
Assets Across the Globe |
If you have assets in the U.S. and other countries, you'll likely need financial experts in each country. Willis Johnson & Associates can offer guidance on your domestic assets and help with converting or considering various foreign assets. |
|
|
Work for a U.S. Employer, but Working in a Foreign Country |
By working with an advisor in the U.S., such as Willis Johnson & Associates, you can avoid the pitfalls surrounding the financial, tax, and legal guidelines you're obliged to by your citizenship and your time abroad. If you're planning to return to the U.S., you'll want a domestic advisor to convert everything appropriately for your U.S. tax return upon your arrival back home. Additionally, as experts in the nuances surrounding domestic company benefit plans, Willis Johnson & Associates is well-suited to help you make benefit elections no matter where you’re at in the world. |
Suppose you're not a U.S. citizen or resident and are working in a non-U.S. country. In that case, it may be more beneficial to work with an advisor in the country you're stationed in to get the proper guidance and education you need for your finances and taxes. |
For Shell professionals who prefer to keep their assets in a foreign country, we recommend working with an advisor in that country who's well-versed in its tax, financial, and legal guidelines. Similarly, for Shell employees on the company's international benefit plans, we recommend reaching out to your HR department or an advisor with expertise in your benefit plans and guidelines to understand best how to utilize them.
Learn How to Avoid Common Financial Mistakes Expats Make Here >>
Leaving Shell to Become Self-Employed
Many of our clients choose to continue working as consultants after leaving long careers at Shell. If you plan to do this, we can help you understand how to structure your finances and retirement to fit your new role. Our team of tax and financial professionals can help you navigate:
- Liability Protection for LLCs
- Tax Deferral Strategies for Solo 401(k), Sep IRA and Solo Pension Plans
- Tax forms unique to consultants, such as Form 1099 and the correct way to file them
- Negotiating compensation and hourly fees with an understanding of how consultants get taxed
Learn more about setting up a consulting practice here >>
Evaluating a Job Beyond Shell?
Being recruited is exciting, but how can you know if accepting a new position is the right move? It is often difficult to directly compare the value of two compensation packages and all the benefits on the table. With our expertise in corporate benefit plans, we can map out the difference in value between your current job and the one you're considering to help you decide between them or leverage for a better offer. Pensions, deferred compensation plans, and stock benefits are just a few of the benefit options you may be weighing. Whether you decide to take the job or not, we’ll help you optimize your elections — at Shell or your new company.
Getting More From Your Finances Doesn’t Have to be Difficult.
Meet with one of our Shell experts to get started >>
Retirement Plans for Shell Employees
Retirement is as much a new personal and emotional chapter, as it is a financial one. We've helped hundreds of Shell professionals navigate retirement without leaving money on the table. We will walk you through the complex options and timelines to correctly handle all elections and give you the peace of mind knowing your benefits and taxes are optimized even after retirement.
We’ll also help you answer common questions like:
- Which savings account should you draw from first, and when should you take Social Security?
- Should you take the annuity or lump sum payout of your pension, and when’s the right time to start taking it?
- If you want to consult before winding down, how can you start a consulting business?
- How should your investment strategy change in retirement?
Leveraging the Savings in Your Shell 401(k)
Shell’s Provident Fund
As you think about retirement, you might be asking the question: From where should I take the money I need for expenses first? Our team can assist with rebalancing investments within your Provident Fund to transition into retirement while considering your full financial picture. To ensure you have the proper allocation for your goals, we can also annually convert after-tax money to a Roth IRA for tax-free growth. The transition from accumulating assets to living off of them can be tricky, so working with an advisor can help you understand which assets you should be pulling from and in what order to minimize taxes for a smooth retirement.
Shell’s Provident Fund Benefit Restoration Plan (BRP)
Shell offers the Provident Fund Benefit Restoration Plan (BRP) for many of its high-income professionals. Excess benefit plans like this one can have significant tax ramifications when they payout, so it's crucial to appropriately time your retirement to maximize the benefit's after-tax value. Sometimes, retiring only a few days later can save you a massive amount of taxes on these plans.
See the impact waiting one month to retire can have on your Provident Fund BRP here >>
Shell Trading Executive Plan
We know how to leverage your Shell benefits and payouts to spread out your tax burden over time. Our advisors help you select the appropriate distribution options to ensure you promptly get your money while reducing your tax liability by spreading out distributions.
Making Elections for Shell’s 80 Point Pension & Alternative Pension Formula (APF) Plans
One of the most significant decisions you make when retiring from Shell is when to receive your pension benefits.
Shell’s 80 Point Pension Plan
We use cash flow and modeling software to help you make the appropriate timing decisions about your Shell 80 Point Pension, including whether to begin payments immediately, delay to age 60, and take the 100% or 50% survivorship option.
Shell’s Alternative Pension Formula (APF) Plan
Similarly, we can help you make the appropriate decisions about your APF Pension Plan. Understanding the trade-offs between a lump sum or annuity is not the only consideration. When to begin distribution, how interest rates affect the annuity payment amounts, and understanding this income stream in coordination with your other assets are all important as well.
Setting Up Your Consulting Practice
Upon retiring after a long career at Shell, many of our clients choose to continue working as consultants. If you plan to do this, we can help you understand the guidelines and implications of how to structure your new practice’s finances and retirement to fit your new role.
- Negotiating Compensation with an Understanding of How Consultants Get Taxed (1099)
- Tax Deferral Strategies for Solo 401(k), Sep IRA and Solo Pension Plans
- Liability Protection for LLCs
Learn more about setting up a consulting practice here >>
Am I Ready to Retire from Shell?
The date you decide to retire from your career at Shell can significantly impact your retirement income. Sometimes, waiting a few weeks or retiring just a month earlier can be a difference of tens of thousands of dollars. By understanding the timing of your benefits' payouts and tax implications, along with the segment rates, we can determine the most tax-efficient retirement date for you that optimizes your income into your retirement.
See how recent interest rates are impacting lump sum BRP payouts here >>
Picking Your Optimal Retirement Date to Get the Most From Your Benefits Doesn’t Have to be Difficult.
Meet with one of our Shell experts to get started >>
