Your Southern Company Benefits & Career: Financial Planning for Employees and Executives

Do you work at Southern Company? Get the resources you need and expert insights from financial professionals who specialize in helping Southern Company employees make the most of their compensation package and benefits.

Whether you’re a new Southern Company employee or you’ve moved up the ranks into a management or executive leadership role over a multi-year career, it’s important to make smart money moves with your income and employee benefits. For example:

✅ Do you know the right moves to make to get the greatest value from the Southern Company benefits available to you?

✅If you’re thinking about leaving Southern Company for another job or planning to retire from the company in a few years, are you taking the right steps today to ensure you will receive all of the compensation and benefits that you’ve earned?

Get the Most Value from Your Southern Company Benefits and Compensation Package

Throughout the year, Southern Company provides its employees and executives with updates about their benefits ranging from health insurance and health savings plans to retirement plans like a 401(k), deferred compensation plans, and stock options. While the company offers many useful resources and access to knowledgeable staff who can assist with questions, you’ll also find financial professionals not affiliated with Southern Company who specialize in helping Southern Company employees make the most of their income and benefits.

Whether you work in the Southern Company headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, another office location around the country, or remotely from home, you may have questions about your compensation package and benefits better suited for a financial professional who can offer unbiased advice and guidance.

For example, sensitive topics like discussing the steps you should take before quitting your job at Southern Company to work elsewhere, protecting yourself in advance of a corporate layoff, or deciding when you should plan to retire are all conversations that may be more comfortable with a trusted financial professional.

💡 In the Q&A below, you’ll gain insights from financial professionals who work with Southern Company employees to help them make smart decisions to get the most value from their compensation and benefits, reduce their money stress, and prepare for a comfortable retirement.

🙋‍♀️ Do you have questions not yet answered? Use the form below to submit questions anonymously and watch this article for updates with answers to your questions. You can also reach out to the financial professionals below to set up an introductory call or contact them with your questions by email.

💸 Smart Money Insights for Southern Company Employees & Executives

This page is organized into sections to help you quickly find the information you need and get answers to your questions:

1. Q&A: Financial Planning Tips for Southern Company Employees & Executives
2. Get Answers to Your Questions About Your Southern Company Benefits and Career
3. Quick Facts & Resources for Southern Company Employees
4. Browse Related Articles

Q&A: Financial Planning Tips for Southern Company Employees & Executives

Answers to Employee Questions with Chris Boyd-Witherspoon, MBA

Chris Boyd-Witherspoon is a financial professional based in Atlanta, Georgia who specializes in offering financial planning services to Southern Company employees. Chris helps her clients get the most value from their Southern Company benefits and compensation package so they can enjoy life and feel confident about their financial future.

Q: As a financial professional with experience helping Southern Company employees save for their retirement, how do you help them make the most of their employee benefits?

Chris: I have worked in the energy industry and have a hands-on understanding of its benefits, including the pension components, as many employees continue to work elsewhere after they retire and draw the pension.

Q: When you first speak with a Southern Company employee, what questions do you like to ask to better understand their unique circumstances and determine how you can best help them achieve their goals?

Chris: I generally ask if they have a military background to ensure I incorporate those benefits, ask what their pension goals are, and learn about their 457b deferred compensation plan and other employee health and LTC benefits.

Q: Is there a particular benefit available to Southern Company employees you feel isn’t as well utilized or understood by employees as it should be?

Chris: Their pension benefit, employee stock purchase, and 401k RMDs.

Q: Beyond Southern Company employee benefits for retirement savings, are there other types of benefits offered by the company that you find valuable to discuss with your clients?

Chris: Health savings and stock employee purchase.

Q: For Southern Company employees thinking about leaving the company to accept a job elsewhere, what actions do you recommend they take before resigning and shortly thereafter?

Chris: They need to understand their pension process and options for their 401k / 457b.

Q: For Southern Company employees approaching retirement age, how do you recommend they prepare to make the transition from living off their salary to relying upon other sources of income?

Chris: I would need to meet with them to understand their goals, such as the percentage of annual income they want in retirement, their health issues and costs (current / expected), and assess all their retirement accounts/balances to understand where they are today so I can identify any gaps. I also want to understand their legacy/inheritance objective and estate planning intentions.

Q: For Southern Company employees who have managed their finances on their own to this point, what would you suggest they consider to help them decide if they should begin working with a financial professional at this stage in their lives?

Chris: Do they think they are on track to meet their goals? Are there any concerns about running out of money in retirement? Do they understand the various retirement products/options available? Have they correctly assessed the tax implications on their 401k due to RMDs? Are they confident they have properly accounted for inflation on their retirement income? Do they have a long-term care plan / veterans benefits that include the cost of staying in their home/being placed in a home? Have they had a conversation with their family about their LTC plan and how it should be implemented? Have they created a will/trust/medical POA?

Q: What are some of the unique financial planning challenges you commonly see among your clients who are Southern Company employees and how do you help them overcome these obstacles?

Chris: Financially efficiency/allocation options. They are normally engineers and are very analytical. I approach them as a just second set of eyes to review/confirm they are on track for their plan and make sure they are being as financially efficient. Managing the integration of their health / LTC benefits with the VA medical benefits and Medicare. How their pension works with social security.

Q: What questions do you recommend Southern Company employees ask financial professionals they’re considering hiring to help them decide if they’re a good fit?

Chris: What does the professional think their role is? Employees are normally engineers who are well-educated, very analytical and have already drafted a plan. They need a partner.

Get to Know Chris Boyd-Witherspoon, Financial Professional for Southern Company Employees:

View Chris’s profile page on Wealthtender or visit her website to learn more.

Q: Is there anything that comes up frequently in your initial meeting with Southern Company employees that surprises you?

Chris: They value their 401k or employee stock accounts but lack savings/insurance not tied to work. They are avid savers and take immense pride in that, but they don’t really consider things like trying to get life insurance or LTC coverage that is not work-related because it’s difficult/expensive to get at 60.

Q: For highly compensated Southern Company employees and executives, are there any special benefits you believe it’s important to take into consideration when preparing their financial plan?

Chris: How to handle their qualified taxable investments before they retire.

Q: Is there a particularly memorable experience or a moment you recall with a client who worked at Southern Company when you realized they have unique opportunities and circumstances when it comes to their financial planning needs?

Chris: I had a client with a $3M 401k that he was proud of, that he had not touched it. I illustrated that he would have a $920k tax bomb due to RMDs. He said he wasn’t going to pay taxes and let his kids deal with that. I developed an insurance strategy to address the tax issue so his kid would receive the whole $3M.

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