Hello everyone, I believe this has been covered but every situation is unique so I wanted to share mine and get some feedback.
Me – 31 years old, Single, No Kids, No debt, Living in CA
Company A (current)
– Base Salary: $135,000
– Bonus: $7,500-$25,000 (depends on company and employee performance)
– Annual Raise: 2.5% – 4.5%
Benefits
– 401k: Company matches 6% of salary
– ESOP (Fully Vested): Contributes 15% (I've been here for about a decade and the increase ranges between 15%-25% which has equated to, in recent years, a $50k-100k increase)
– Health/Dental – Premiums 100% covered (HDHP $5,000)
– HSA with employer contributions
– Car Allowance: ~$700/month
– Company Gas Card (if gas card is deferred, allowance would go up to about $1,000/month)
– PTO: 27 days
Company B (offered amount)
– Base Salary: $170,000
– Bonus: Minimum: $15,000
– Typical Raise: 3%
Benefits
– 401k: Company matches 4% of salary
– Car Allowance: $1,2000/month
– Cellphone Stipend: $100/month
– PTO: 18 days
– Health/Dental – Plan is unknown
Both are the same amount of work (with B being slightly more as I would handle more projects for the company and it's just started and growing in the area of CA I live in). Not to go too much detail on the company culture but from both, the people are great (seem so from Company B) and have a "appreciate your people first" type culture.
Let me know your thoughts. Much appreciated 🙂
Lower Salary w/ Higher Benefits vs. Higher Salary w/ Lower Benefits (need advice)
byu/ScoopaSauce inpersonalfinance
Posted by ScoopaSauce
10 Comments
Whichever job gives you the most amount of work/life balance. Don’t matter how much you make if you have no time to spend it.Â
How much is your cost of living and how’s the commute? Do these feel like companies that you’ll retire from or are these 1-2 stepping stones till you get the next bigger opportunity?
At 31, you take the money here…
Which position offers more job growth within the company or provides more opportunities for learning and skill development?
They are pretty much neck and neck as far as I can tell, although Company A would pull ahead pretty quickly if annual raises end up on the high end of that range. Outside of the strictly finance aspects, I would definitely consider whether you want to give up an extra 2 weeks of vacation days.
Putting them in dollars:
Company A:
– Base salary – $135k
– Bonus – $7.5-25k
– 401k – $8.6-9.6k
– ESOP – $21.4-24k
– Car – $12k
– PTO – $14k
– Total – $198.5-$219.6k
Company B:
* Base salary – $170k
* Bonus – $15k
* 401k – $7.4k
* Car – $14.4k
* Cell phone – $1.2k
* PTO – $8.8k
* Total – $216.8k
The total comp seems pretty close. At 31 with no kids I’d honestly say whichever puts you in a better position later on in your career
Stay. You have 401k + ESOP. Deductible is stupid high but whatevs as long as it makes sense. I’m guessing you’re field sales if you have car and phone allowances. But I see a higher stipend for car for B — which could mean you’re covering a bigger territory and more driving.
I would stay put:
It seems like your bonus could bridge about $10,000 of that gap if it’s good and the other benefits do seem to make up for the $35,000 difference.
You’re in your early 30’s , in about 10 years that 100% healthcare coverage is going to look pretty sexy.
Another thing that most people don’t factor in is how much clout you have built up at your current company. If something becomes avaible that pays more at your current company – you might be able to get it better than the newer company where less people if any are going to know you.
And as others have said – you’ll need to consider the growth factor: there might be something available at your current company that pays more.
What industry are you in that they give you a car allowance? Is it solely because you have to commute?
A is my pick. Care more about their employees