Employees who once routinely deferred compensation are now rethinking those habits after tax reform under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. One concern is whether it may be better to take income today because of uncertainty about tax increases in the future. This article shows how you should consider tax changes and investment returns when analyzing whether to participate in your company's nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan.

Your decision about how much of next year’s salary to defer through a nonqualified plan can be influenced by the yearly IRS contribution and benefit limits that apply to qualified retirement plans…