Want a better paying job? First you need to figure out how much you really make
So many factors go into deciding whether to quit your job, but pay is a big one.
Even if money isn't your top priority, it's important to figure out how much you're actually getting from your current employer because what you make is more than just your salary or wage.
Estimating your total compensation gives you a truer measure of how much your employer actually spends on you. And it will help you figure out if a new job offer will work as well or better for you financially.
To make the comparison, include in your tally bonuses and other forms of incentive pay, the value of the current benefits you use as well as those benefits on offer that you might use in the future (e.g., paid parental leave if you plan to start a family).
All in, your total compensation may be 25% to 40% higher than your gross salary or wages, according to compensation experts.
Crunch your numbers
Some employers make it easy for you to see your total compensation by providing a "total rewards statement."
But if yours doesn't, check your internal human resources web site, which may provide an annual benefits statement and annual pay statements. Your annual W-2 is another resource to check, not only for gross pay, bonuses and taxes, but also for information on your employer's costs regarding your health coverage in Box 12DD.
Consider, too, how your total compensation has changed over the past few years since employer benefits and costs may vary.
"Trend it. Have your overall benefits gone up or down? And what is that related to?" said Katie Manning, vice president in the compensation and career strategies practice at Segal.
Here are some key benefits to include on top of salary and bonus.
Health coverage: Employers typically cover the lion's share of your health insurance premiums -- often 70% to 85%, according to 2020 data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
But some employers may offer a smaller subsidy if an employee chooses a family coverage plan, according to Rob DeNinno, principal at Precision Benefits Group, which works with small to mid-size businesses.
If you're participating in a health savings account, don't forget to include what your company pays into your account.
Or if you don't have an HSA, but you participate in a tax-advantaged flexible spending account for out-of-pocket health or dependent care costs, consider the limit on contributions your employer sets and how much that saves you in taxes.
For instance, if your employer lets you contribute $2,500 a year, your tax savings comes to $550 if your top federal income tax bracket is 22% ($2,500 x 22%). Even though it's a tax benefit from the federal government, it's good to keep in mind because not all employers offer FSAs or if they do, they may set a different limit on contributions than your current company.
Include, too, your employer's cost to provide vision and dental insurance.
Retirement savings: Check your pay stub to see how much money your employer pays into your 401(k) every pay period and multiply it by the number of paychecks you get per year. Or, get the total amount your company contributed in 2020 from your online account at your plan provider. If that's not available to you, do your own calculation based on the formula your employer uses to match your 401(k) contributions, which should be available on your HR site.
One common formula employers use is a 50% match on your contributions up to 6% of your salary, according to data from Brightscope/ICI. Another is a dollar-for-dollar match on your contributions up to 4% of your salary.
So if you make $100,000 and save at least $6,000 a year in your 401(k), your employer would kick in another $3,000 to $4,000 under those formulas. And that's money you don't have to pay tax on until you retire.
Remember, too, different companies may have different vesting schedules -- the time you must work there before being able to keep all your employer's 401(k) contributions.
Some employers may contribute to your retirement savings through a profit-sharing plan. Their contribution may vary from year to year, depending on business performance. But they will make the contribution whether or not you put money away yourself in your 401(k) or IRA.
Stock options: If you're lucky enough to have the option to buy your company stock at a discount and your options are close to being vested, how much will the discount your employer offers save you (i.e., the difference between your "strike" or "grant" price and the current market value)? Suppose you have 50 options at a strike price of $20 a share and the stock is trading at $35 today. You might consider that $15 gain in share price multiplied by your 50 shares as part of your pre-tax compensation the year you exercise your options.
Paid time off: Count the paid weeks off available to you in a given year whether or not you take them all (e.g., for vacation, holidays and sick days). Then calculate what you would be paid for that time.
For example, if you typically gross $3,000 every two weeks, and you are entitled to take up to seven weeks off, that's worth $10,500.
Then do the same with other types of paid time off that you might use in the future, such as parental leave, bereavement leave or family care leave.
Educational benefits: If your employer offers tuition reimbursement, student loan assistance, or pays in full for training or career development classes, add that to your compensation, Manning said.
Less immediate but valuable benefits: Disability insurance and life insurance are both good to have. If it's tough to ferret out what your employer spends on these, a good ballpark range for both types of coverage combined might be $300 to $800 annually, depending on your income and the plan's design, DeNinno said.
Wellness and assistance benefits: He also recommends valuing the various wellness benefits your employer provides (e.g., gym discounts or nutrition counseling) and the services available to you through an Employee Assistance Program. These may include psychological, grief or substance abuse counseling, financial coaching or legal assistance. Some EAPs may also provide help with daycare or eldercare, Manning said.
If you use any of these services, assess how much money you're saving by not paying for them yourself.
Hard-to-price but important benefits to value
Beyond total compensation, consider benefits on offer that are hard to put a fixed dollar amount on but which are very valuable to you, said Monica Martin, the total rewards leader at Willis Towers Watson.
Maybe your company lets you work at home a few days a week -- how much does that save you in commuting, dry cleaning and other related costs?
Or what about career growth opportunities or mentoring programs that could lead to a bigger paycheck down the line?
For lower wage workers in particular, Martin said, even if a new employer offers a higher hourly wage but skimps on benefits you currently have, will that new offer really provide more money at the end of the day than you're making now?
"Think about the total package," she said.
想要一份薪水更高的工作？首先你需要弄清楚你真正赚了多少钱
决定是否辞职的因素有很多，但薪酬是一个很大的因素。
即使金钱不是您的首要任务，重要的是要弄清楚您实际上从当前雇主那里获得了多少，因为您所做的不仅仅是薪水或工资。
估算您的总薪酬可以让您更真实地衡量雇主在您身上的实际花费。它将帮助您确定一份新的工作机会在财务上是否对您同样有效或更好。
为了进行比较，请在您的计分奖金和其他形式的激励工资中包括您当前使用的福利的价值以及您将来可能使用的福利（例如，如果您计划开始带薪育儿假，一个家族）。
根据薪酬专家的说法，总而言之，你的总薪酬可能比你的总工资或工资高 25% 到 40%。
紧缩你的数字
一些雇主通过提供“总奖励声明”让您轻松查看您的总薪酬。
但如果您没有，请查看您的内部人力资源网站，该网站可能提供年度福利报表和年度薪酬报表。您的年度 W-2 是另一种需要检查的资源，不仅可以查看总工资、奖金和税收，还可以查看有关您雇主在方框 12DD 中的健康保险费用的信息。
还要考虑一下您的总薪酬在过去几年中的变化情况，因为雇主福利和成本可能会有所不同。
“趋势吧。你的整体收益是上升还是下降？这与什么有关？”西格尔薪酬和职业战略实践副总裁凯蒂曼宁说。
除了薪水和奖金之外，还有一些主要福利。
健康保险：根据凯撒家庭基金会 2020 年的数据，雇主通常会承担您健康保险费的大部分——通常为 70% 到 85%。
但根据与中小型企业合作的 Precision Benefits Group 负责人 Rob DeNinno 的说法，如果员工选择家庭保险，一些雇主可能会提供较小的补贴。
如果您参加了健康储蓄账户，请不要忘记将贵公司支付的金额计入您的账户。
或者，如果您没有 HSA，但您参与了一个税收优惠的灵活支出帐户，以支付自付费用的健康或家属护理费用，请考虑您的雇主设定的供款限额以及为您节省的税款。
例如，如果您的雇主允许您每年缴纳 2,500 美元，而您的最高联邦所得税税率为 22%（2,500 美元 x 22%），则您的税收节省将达到 550 美元。尽管这是联邦政府的税收优惠，但最好记住，因为并非所有雇主都提供 FSA，或者如果他们提供，他们可能会设置与您当前公司不同的供款限额。
还包括您的雇主提供视力和牙科保险的费用。
退休储蓄：检查您的工资单，了解您的雇主在每个支付期向您的 401(k) 支付多少钱，然后乘以您每年获得的薪水数量。或者，从您的计划提供商的在线帐户中获取您的公司在 2020 年的捐款总额。如果这对您不可用，请根据您的雇主用来匹配您的 401(k) 供款的公式自行计算，该公式应可在您的人力资源网站上找到。
根据 Brightscope/ICI 的数据，雇主使用的一种常见公式是您的供款比例为 50%，最高为工资的 6%。另一种是对您的供款进行一美元对一美元的匹配，最高可达您工资的 4%。
因此，如果您在 401(k) 中赚了 100,000 美元并每年至少节省 6,000 美元，那么根据这些公式，您的雇主将另外支付 3,000 至 4,000 美元。这是你退休前不必纳税的钱。
还要记住，不同的公司可能有不同的归属时间表——您必须在那里工作的时间才能保留您雇主的所有 401(k) 供款。
一些雇主可能会通过利润分享计划为您的退休储蓄做出贡献。他们的贡献可能每年都不同，具体取决于业务表现。但是，无论您是否将钱存入 401(k) 或 IRA，他们都会做出贡献。
股票期权：如果您足够幸运，可以选择以折扣价购买公司股票，并且您的选择权已接近归属，那么您的雇主提供的折扣将为您节省多少（即，您的“罢工”与“罢工”之间的差额）或“授予”价格和当前市场价值）？假设您有 50 份期权，执行价格为每股 20 美元，而该股票今天的交易价格为 35 美元。您可能会将 15 美元的股价收益乘以您的 50 股作为您行使期权当年的税前补偿的一部分。
带薪休假：计算给定年份中可用的带薪休假周数，无论您是否全部休假（例如，假期、假期和病假）。然后计算你在那个时间会得到多少报酬。
例如，如果您通常每两周收入 3,000 美元，并且您有权享受最多七周的假期，则价值 10,500 美元。
然后对您将来可能使用的其他类型的带薪休假也做同样的事情，例如育儿假、丧假或家庭护理假。
教育福利：如果您的雇主提供学费报销、学生贷款援助，或全额支付培训或职业发展课程的费用，请将其添加到您的薪酬中，曼宁说。
不太直接但有价值的好处：伤残保险和人寿保险都是很好的选择。 DeNinno 说，如果很难弄清楚您的雇主在这些方面的支出，根据您的收入和计划的设计，这两种类型的保险组合的理想范围可能是每年 300 至 800 美元。
健康和援助福利：他还建议评估您的雇主提供的各种健康福利（例如，健身房折扣或营养咨询）以及通过员工援助计划为您提供的服务。这些可能包括心理、悲伤或药物滥用咨询、财务指导或法律援助。曼宁说，一些 EAP 还可能提供日托或老年护理方面的帮助。
如果您使用这些服务中的任何一项，请评估您通过不自己支付费用而节省了多少钱。
难以定价但重要的价值优势
Willis Towers Watson 的总奖励负责人 Monica Martin 说，除了总薪酬之外，还要考虑提供的福利，这些福利很难用固定的美元金额来计算，但对你来说却非常有价值。
也许您的公司允许您每周在家工作几天——这可以为您节省多少通勤、干洗和其他相关费用？
或者可能会带来更高薪水的职业发展机会或指导计划呢？
马丁说，特别是对于工资较低的工人，即使新雇主提供更高的小时工资但削减了你目前拥有的福利，新的提议最终会提供比你现在赚的更多的钱吗？
“想想整个方案，”她说。
