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.

Nonqualified deferred compensation offers you a way to accumulate wealth above the amount you can defer in a 401(k). Depending on your income, there may be a substantial gap between what you can put away with a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, what you will get with Social Security, and what you will need in retirement…