n627  0312  09 Nov 77
 
BC-Manager 11-09
Attention: Financial editors
The following is a column intended to provide nuts and bolts
information to business in a wide variety of fields
 
By DAN MILLER
(c) 1977 Chicago Daily News
    OUTSIDE DIRECTORS of corporations can shelter a hefty
portion of their director's fees from the IRS by creating
their own private retirement nest egg with a Keogh plan.
    Robert Fischer, tax partner with Arthur Young & Co. in
Chicago, says directors can protect their fees by treating the
money as income from a ''free-lance'' occupation: professional
corporate director. A director can sock away 15 per cent
or $7,500 a year - whichever is less - of the fees earned
for serving on a board, thus creating a comfortable
retirement fund in addition to whatever pension benefits
are available from the director's fulltime employer.
    A bank, savings and loan association, mutual fund or
other financial institution can provide directors with
an already-approved Keogh plan, typically involving
certificates of deposit or mutual fund shares. It may
not be the most dynamic investment, but it is inexpensive
to set up and maintain. And the interest earned on the
Keogh investment is non-taxable until a distribution is made. A
variety of payouts are available when the director is
ready to pay himself a pension (lump sum distribution,
10-year average of maximum tax rates on earned income, among
others), but the key, says Fischer, is that the professional
corporate director can choose the year himself, ideally
when his tax liability is less than when he earned
the fees originally.
    xxx
 
    A SUCCESSFUL CAREER requires thoughtful planning, an
industrial psychologist says. That appears obvious, but
Arthur Witkin, chief psychologist for Personnel Sciences
Center of New York, says he is amazed at how many executives
do an excellent job of planning their companies' future
''but utterly disregard the equally important task of
planning their careers.''
    Witkin cautions managers that they can't be content
merely to do a good job ''because you may find that
what's considered useful, effective performance today may
be inappropriate or outmoded tomorrow.'' He notes predictions,
for instance, that by 1985, 3 out of 4 U.S. jobholders will be
producing services or goods that haven't yet been invented or
aren't available today. ''And even if there's a continuing
demand for your abilities, you may find yourself competing
against executives with specialized skills that give them an
edge.''
    He suggests executives analyze their situations by asking
three questions:
    -What's the outlook for the field in which your organization
operates? ''Look closely at problems like raw material
shortages or environmental pressures that may inhibit
growth.''
    -How well will your organization compete in its field?
''Consider, for example, whether it can get large-scale
financing if this is needed.''
    -What's the outlook for your job in the way that you now
perform it? ''For example, if you're a training director who
is skilled at lecturing, will the new programmed teaching
systems eliminate the need for your brilliant lectures?''
    Says Witkin: ''Better to manage your career than to be
carried helplessly by the tides of change.''
    xxx
 
    GOOD WEATHER FOR JOB HUNTING, says Heidrick & Struggles,
international management consultants. The firm says
visible demand for executives hit a 3-year high in the
third quarter, rising 9 per cent from the previous quarter
and 11 per cent from the same period a year ago.
    Demand for engineering executives showed the most robust
growth, climbing 23 per cent (on top of a 25 per cent
gain from the 1975 third quarter). Finance and marketing
posted gains of 18 per cent, and manufacturing stood
16 per cent ahead of a year ago despite some slackening
demand late in the quarter. General administration
tumbled 12 per cent (but showed renewed strength in the
quarter), and demand for personnel execs was unchanged.
    The quarter ended with the firm's Executrend index at 81,
far below the 1967 base of 100. The index is based on help-wanted
display advertisements in national publications, computed
monthly and adjusted for seasonal variations.
rr    (Endit Miller) 11-09
 
 
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