No benifits for higher pay

When one is offered a job it's usually salary+ benefits. What if your salary is only 25k but you get full benefits?

How much are benefits worth and can you negotiate for a higher salary without benefits? Has anyone tried this tactic before?

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Forsaken_GA

erpadmin wrote: »

Time out though. When you make $40k, you're not bringing all of that home with you....after taxes and deductions, take home is around $28-$34, and that's maybe a little less or a little more depending on how your W-4 is looking like, plus what deductions you have (401k, health, etc., etc.,). When I was making 41, I brought home $28600 yearly net.

And when you're making $25k, you're also not bringing all of that home! You're actually likely to be bringing more home (again, as you mentioned you, W-4 and deductions count), since 25k is in a lower tax bracket than 40k, a 10% difference in tax rate. So yeah my take home was roughly 28k as well, and 14k of that went to either paying off debt or into savings. Never had a problem keeping the lights on or being fed or keeping gas in the car. Had a problem going out to the movies and ordering pizza though.

So when someone is making $25k....it's almost like they're making $15k-$20k, unless they have kids....then you get into EICs and all of that. It's crazy!

Right. That's part of my point... if you're living within your means, $25k is enough to keep you living. What most folks actually mean when they say they can't live on something like $25k is that they can't live the way they want to, and that's a behavioral issue.

For someone starting out, making $25k with a good benefits package is not bad, especially if they're healthy and single. If I was new to the job market, I'd probably take that with the aim of using that job to get my feet wet to show some experience, and then moving on to a higher paying job in a year or so, 2 max. As others have said, opting out of benefits for more pay isn't likely to gain you much, if anything. Most of my jobs have been 'here's what we offer for benefits, some are automatic, some you have to elect to participate in, do so if you want, otherwise, no sweat off our back'

tanix

I have been hit and miss in the past concerning what I would like in this specific.

In some cases, the health plan is a bloated, bit costly, and pointless plan to which I would rather take the higher pay and then get my own private tailored plan for cheaper and more appropriate to my desires.

Though some places have excellent plans that are dirt cheap and so it would be more cost effective to take a lower salary with that particular plan.

It all depends really. I have seen some that proclaimed themselves to be excellent plans, yet they were so restricted and confusing that a private plan would have been far cheaper and better suited.

tanix

tpatt100 wrote: »

I think you can feed a family but feed a family "well" is another. When I tried to eat less processed food and instead eat more fresh fruits and vegetables our grocery bill went up quite a bit.

Depends...

With the right recipes and some frugal shopping, I have went the route of lots of veggies and even the "health crap" food in the past and my bill actually dropped.

It takes more time though to shop prices and prepare specific recipes and this isn't always feasible for some people.

My favorite is a vegetable soup recipe I make which is dirt cheap, yet is filling and healthy. I think it runs around 20 dollars for a weeks worth every 2-3 weeks (for specific ingredients for cooking) and around 12-15 every week for the vegetables alone.

Very cheap, but you do get tired eating it 24/7. *chuckle*

Devilsbane

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Well when you bring family into it, that's a different ballgame (that was not mentioned initially). Sure, it's hard to feed 5 kids off $25k, but still possible, just means someone's doing an awful lot of food preparation, plus you might as well take advantage of those government programs that they keep taxing us for.

Actually I just read something on this yesterday. The poverty level for a family of 4 is $21,000. So if your family income is more than that (not sure if that is pretax or posttax) then the government is going to do very little if anything for you.

RoadwarriorsLive

Healthcare is expensive to get on your own. Have had my own business for close to 10 years and with the wife and 2 kids we were paying $800.00 a month for crappy coverage.

"I never get sick" is not the mentality to go into it with. Stuff happens and happens quick. Of course it only happens after you drop your coverage. My big concern was something like a car accident or the big "C". If you can get coverage go for it. Dropping the coverage wont bump your salary too much since your employer gets a better deal than you trying to get it on your own. Not much of a deal but the insurance companies like big number enrollments since there is a good chance the majority of them dont get sick and the one that does is offset by the others.

Most hiring managers dont even know what the company is paying per person for benefits. It's not part of their budget. The numbers they get are a salary budget. Not salary & benefits since everyone is different because of family situations and such. Most people dont understand how expensive they really are unless you had to pay for it yourself for a long period of time.

The only time to figure your benefits in as far as extra pay is if your doing contract work or starting you own business.

Devilsbane

RoadwarriorsLive wrote: »

"I never get sick" is not the mentality to go into it with. Stuff happens and happens quick.

My brother got a cyst on his leg that became infected. My mom saw it and told him to go to the doctor. Several appointments later and over $1,000 it is gone. Nobody is going to plan for that to happen.

Paul Boz

Devilsbane wrote: »

My brother got a cyst on his leg that became infected. My mom saw it and told him to go to the doctor. Several appointments later and over $1,000 it is gone. Nobody is going to plan for that to happen.

He could have fixed it with a wood burning kit and a can of air duster, srsly.

Devilsbane

Paul Boz wrote: »

He could have fixed it with a wood burning kit and a can of air duster, srsly.

Maybe, but he had to go in several times so that they could pull out dead skin and such. Could he have done it himself, probably. But I personally don't like digging around inside of my leg and pulling stuff out.

NinjaBoy

I'm also from the Uk, so I can only discuss about what's over here...

ArabianKnight wrote: »

When one is offered a job it's usually salary+ benefits. What if your salary is only 25k but you get full benefits?

How much are benefits worth and can you negotiate for a higher salary without benefits? Has anyone tried this tactic before?

Yes, we do have the NHS over here, but every working person pays into it - not just the rich.

As for benefits, you can get some companies/organisations that can offer 1 or more of the following:

1. Pension Schemes where the employer pays a contribution or even the full cost of it.
2. Gym membership
3. Professional membership to a Professional association.
4. Continuing Professional Development, Academic/Vocational qualifications: in some cases up to Master degree level. Professional: MCSE/MCITP, etc...
5. Private healthcare

If you can stick at the job for 2-4 years and come out with a Bachelor or Master degree level education & experience and without the debt... I would say that it's worth it. After all you can then apply for higher paid jobs alot easier than someone who doesn't have the qualifications and experience.

As for trying to negotiate for a higher salary without benefits, I haven't heard of anyone doing that. Normally the organisation buys into the program for everyone so it really doesn't affect the company one way or another if you rejected the benefits. However I have heard of people re-negotiating their salary due to changes in responsibilities and/or excellent performance.

-Ken

erpadmin

Devilsbane wrote: »

Actually I just read something on this yesterday. The poverty level for a family of 4 is $21,000. So if your family income is more than that (not sure if that is pretax or posttax) then the government is going to do very little if anything for you.

Yes...because a family of 4 making $25k is much better than a family of 4 making $21k...(and that's gross [pretax]--whatever your "MAGI" ends up being when you file your taxes...)

In order for the government to help you in this case, it's basically having one more kid.

Yeah...welcome to America...lmao.

Paul Boz

Are you guys seriously arguing about the economic difference between 21k and 25k with regards to providing for a family? I used to find it extremely difficult to take care of my wife and I on 40k and we don't have kids. The dollar is so weak now compared to what it used to be that 21k-25k is hardly enough to live with a room mate never mind put food on the table for a family.