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While reading through various topics, I’ve seen comments about choosing a job based on pay rather than benefits as well as discussion about health insurance being tied to employers. I believe it was Monkey Mama who indicated they pay for insurance privately rather than having it tied to an employer. Can you talk some about that? I’ve recently gone back to full time work and now have benefits through my employer, but to be honest, the hours are hard on me and I’m reconsidering my options, so various thoughts and ideas would be appreciated.
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don't have many options unless you can afford the high $$$ out of pocket premiums (and thats before you buy any medical products or services, because you will likely face a Non-substantial deductible that must be met).
You better have a stable income immediately, upon leaving a Corporate Teet. Or take the alternative route, find a part time job that will establish your minimal medical benefit needs & time to work that job. Then in your (partially remaining spare time) pursue your dream.
-or- choose better politicans / country that is more devoted towards including "medical care" as part of a country's infrastrure. Rather than an industry of potential profit.
Personally, I think the part time route will be most pragmatic (if your alternative, is not a low risk + stable income option). here's a link of 11 that will get the ball rolling! https://www.moneycrashers.com/part-t...ance-benefits/ <------ Costco, REI, UPS, Starbucks, Lowes. If you can put in a few hours at some of those, you'll have your Freedom to pursue the job you like more!
Or - Conform to the current system, ensuring you are making profits for them, but at least you are safe to fight another day. And plan for your F.I. -
until we elevate to the medical system standard of the rest of the developed & developing (in some cases) , My plan will be eventually to go the Part time route, almost exclusively for Insurance benefits and additional retirement benefits.
I'll continue to earn my side money from my projects I enjoy the most : Investing (real estate and equities), selling things I create (IP and hand made things, getting crafty now that I'm non-corporate) , simple services I enjoy (mowing lawns, contracting w/ friends) , and any other income streams of value you think you can add!
It's not too hard when you can shortcut the Insurance loophole (working part time @ a mega corp)!
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I think I'm one of those who made a comment about choosing good pay vs. good benefits.... If I can explain a little better, it's not necessarily that getting good benefits through one's job is a BAD thing. It's just that you don't want to accept sub-par pay in order to get cushy benefits -- even worse, STAYING in a bad job simply because you feel trapped because you don't want to lose the great benefits they offer. HINT: Somebody else will offer the same benefits and/or pay better, AND be a better/healthier fit for you. I don't care who you are or what you do, there is ALWAYS another good option if you're willing to pursue it.
It's a common error that people make, because great benefits are hard to quantify -- they just sound great! But when you actually dig into it, the difference between great benefits & mediocre benefits (medical, PTO, gym memberships, whatever...all combined) in reality will typically only amount to $5k-$10k (were you to purchase those same benefits privately, as you & MM have referred to). So it wouldn't make sense to take a job paying $70k with great benefits in lieu of a $100k job with basic benefits. If the benefits are really that important to you (and especially for medical, they might be depending on your family's circumstances), then you can use your higher income to go out into the private market to purchase those better benefits yourself, and you still come out ahead.Comment
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I made a comment on this topic as well. And I'll expound, that there are a number of factors - benefits, pay, type of work, work environment, potential career trajectory, flexibility, travel requirements etc. that, for me, would weigh on any decision regarding choosing between employment options I'm sure others can add to the list of considerations and certainly how each of us would weigh the importance of these factors is highly personal. While pay (and benefits) are important, what's actually proven to be more important for me was the type of work (highly diverse assignments) and career trajectory (a growing company with the ability to elevate into a leadership role).Originally posted by kork13 View Post“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.”Comment
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I've personally never seen the point of employer health benefits. Early on, it cost the same to keep substantially better benefits (first job at large international firm). I chose the "cost the equivalent same to me" private insurance. This became more of a no-brainer as I switched to working for very small companies (which can't offer much in benefits).
There was a time where I was in a "will work for benefits" mode and considering the possibility. Our medical insurance costs went up about 1000% between 2000 and 2010. But... Then my husband developed a pre-existing (this was way before ACA) and had some very expensive medical procedures. Was grateful we never went "cheap" and had the better insurance. Around the same time my Dad had a heart attack, lost his job, so lost his benefits. Which was when I decided I was *never* participating in the employer health insurance scam. At least my premiums aren't going to quadruple if I lose my job (for any reason). & of course, fast forward another 10 years, I can see this is the most sensible route anyway, since I don't plan to work full-time past age 50. If you take "employer insurance" out of the equation, it just becomes about having the money saved up to cover, or working just enough to pay for healthcare.
I did switch jobs in 2018 (walked from a bad job situation) and was open to anything. Applied to some mega corps, tested the waters. In the end, the only reasonable pay offer I got was for another small company. The owners are mega wealthy and have a Gold health insurance plan. It's the only time I have ever been offered a health plan that wasn't absolute crap. But... Still, it literally costs the same as I was already paying for private insurance. So... Obviously keeping the private insurance and not participating in the mess, that just costs me the same either way. I have no doubt that I am compensated more in salary than healthcare benefits, which was probably a lot of my shock (at low salaries) when going back out on the job market for the first time in 18 years. This employer just paid more in general (which is a good way to weed out who values employees), but I did negotiate my non-participation in their health plan, and getting more salary instead.
For me, it's also a lot about quality of healthcare. I don't identify with what most people go through with US healthcare. We just don't participate in most of that nonsense. I don't know, going in for surgery and getting surprise medical bills because the anesthesiologist wasn't covered under your plan. Just nonsense like this. It's always been more a choice about quality than cost, for us.
What surprises me is pretty much no one else seems to shop around or consider other options. I personally have always stuck with the insurer my parents had (insurance I had through college), because it's just always been the better option (price and quality). I've seen other people say that they did use an insurance broker and were able to find healthcare options that fit in their budget and allowed them to work part-time.Comment
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MM, fantastic perspective. And I'll highlight this point -- by participating in the employer's healthy insurance plan, the employer is typically paying some portion of the premiums. So if you choose to use a private insurance plan, negotiating your salary higher based on their lower cost for keeping you as an employee (because they're not paying any insurance premiums for you) is an excellent option to pursue.Originally posted by MonkeyMama View PostComment
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That said, YMMV. I don't think it's a great negotiating point because very small businesses need more employees to participate. But it worked in this specific dynamic, and I would most certainly ask during any job offer (because... it never hurts to ask).Originally posted by kork13 View PostComment
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At my job, there was nothing that was negotiable. The contract was what it was, take it or leave it. Everybody in the same position gets the exact same offer. If you opt out of getting your insurance through them, that doesn't change your compensation.Originally posted by MonkeyMama View PostSteve
* Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
* Why should I pay for my daughter's education when she already knows everything?
* There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.Comment
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So it really depends. DH and I have never had small employers. Everywhere we've worked until now has been large. So for us since 2000 we've had our premiums almost 90-100% paid. I would say that against MM the benefits are about $25k-30k/year according to the w2. We currently paid $3500/year medical premiums for family of four. This is DH's current large employer of $132.92/biweekly pay period. When we left our premium health plan in 2015 it was $82/biweekly for a family for our share . Industry standard. We did not let medical influence our decision and that I agree with what Kork posted above.
Currently I'm about to find out how it is buying our own insurance pretty much. We are switching. I know it's going to kill us because we don't pay so much. And negotiating is not possible. But we always negoatiate for more stocks, more salary, more signon bonus so the cash is what is king.
For us when we retire early and we will I am going to guess buying insurance won't matter. We aren't retiring until we have comfortably afford healthcare without needing to work again.Comment
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