A guide, intended to help independent schools attract and retain competent people through appropriate compensation packages, provides the basis for a review of a school's current general benefits program. It also contains suggestions for improving compensation packages by offering a wider range of tax-favored nonsalary benefits without necessarily increasing the overall cost to the school. The first of four sections, "Capital Accumulation Plans," describes plans for pensions, tax-sheltered annuities, deferred compensation and continuation, and individual retirement accounts. "Financial Protection Plans" describes 10 plans that provide medical and dental, disability, and death coverage; prepaid group legal coverage; and financial counseling. The third section, "Indirect Pay Plans," describes plans that cover professional memberships, tuition payments, dining hall privileges, automobile leasing, housing, and sabbatical leaves. The final section, "Cafeteria Compensation Plans," refers to plans that allow employees, within legal limits, to design benefit programs that meet their own particular needs. Concluding the guide are summaries of cafeteria plans and of the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 that resolved many issues that surrounded cafeteria plans. (MLF)