Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and Matt.
Speaker 1: Today we're discussing your employer benefits you're missing out on. Dude.
Speaker 1: It makes me think back to my first job when
Speaker 1: I was working at the local golf course there in Augusta,
Speaker 1: not the Augusta National less prestigious golf course, but man,
Speaker 1: to see the numbers that were coming out of my
Speaker 1: pay I was like, how come I'm not getting the
Speaker 1: amount that I'm supposed to receive. In that case, I
Speaker 1: wasn't receiving benefits. It was all taxes. But there are
Speaker 1: a lot of benefits that sometimes are deductive from our paychecks.
Speaker 1: And that's what we're gonna focus on today. Not all
Speaker 1: benefits that you might receive from your employer are deducted
Speaker 1: from your paycheck, but about half the ones we're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about today are, and about half of them aren't.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to talk about this today with you, my friend. Yeah,
Speaker 1: let's talk about something that we're not deducted from your paycheck.
Speaker 1: Probably back then, I'm sure you got to hit the
Speaker 1: golf ball some like, you know, for free. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you got some free food from the clubhouse on occasion
Speaker 1: pretty much anytime we wanted, probably got to act like
Speaker 1: a madman in the golf cards and driving around the
Speaker 1: golf course, and unlimited range tokens as well. You can
Speaker 1: just go by, grab some of those range tokens, head
Speaker 1: over to the driving range, smash a bucket of balls
Speaker 1: if you wanted to. It was a lot of fun
Speaker 1: back the day. Those are the important kind of things
Speaker 1: that to take note of when you're especially when you're
Speaker 1: talking about a teenage job. Oh, certainly meaningful as a kid. Yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: those secondary benefits really do pay off in a big way, like,
Speaker 1: oh cool, let's stay for an extra hour and hit
Speaker 1: some balls on the range for free. But yeah, real quick,
Speaker 1: before we get to our topic. Um, there's this game
Speaker 1: I stumbled upon called Money Habitudes, and it's a game
Speaker 1: that apparently is supposed to help you talk about money,
Speaker 1: And yeah, I was just wondering, like, you got a
Speaker 1: chance to take a look at it too, What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts that? Don you think? You and I are
Speaker 1: big fans of encouraging people to start money conversation sas,
Speaker 1: and we know that it can be hard. You don't
Speaker 1: want to necessarily just go out there and be like, hey,
Speaker 1: how much money do you make every year? You know,
Speaker 1: it's like a bad question to get the ball rolling,
Speaker 1: but you know there are it's a bit abrasive, right exactly,
Speaker 1: peper to ask it like that? Well whoa slow down? Um,
Speaker 1: But there's obviously some some good that comes from opening
Speaker 1: up the lines of money communication. And yeah, I was
Speaker 1: wondering do you think a game can be helpful on that? Well,
Speaker 1: so I do like it because it provides a format
Speaker 1: or a framework to have these conversations in right, the
Speaker 1: actual So it's like a deck of cards almost uh uh,
Speaker 1: this habitudes money habitudes like cards against humanity, but for
Speaker 1: money and way safer, way less offensive. And honestly, on
Speaker 1: the face of it, it's a little cheesy, you know,
Speaker 1: like I was reading some of the cards and some
Speaker 1: of the prompts. Really it's a bit lame. But the
Speaker 1: thing is it doesn't have to be the coolest thing ever.
Speaker 1: Like the whole point is to get the ball rolling,
Speaker 1: to get these conversations started. And you know that there's
Speaker 1: a deck of cards, and you know, and you can
Speaker 1: play it with somebody else too, Like that's the whole
Speaker 1: point is that, Like, in particular, if you have a
Speaker 1: significant other, you sit down together and you can flip
Speaker 1: through these and essentially you identify with you know, what
Speaker 1: it's saying on the card. You either say, oh, that's
Speaker 1: totally me, or that's me sometimes or that's never me. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so it's a good way to talk with you know,
Speaker 1: a partner about money, but you can also do it
Speaker 1: by yourself. And so I think it could be a
Speaker 1: good thought exercise if these are things that you haven't
Speaker 1: really thought all the way through. Maybe you listen to
Speaker 1: the podcast, but maybe you're wanting to see where you
Speaker 1: stand when it comes to some of these other areas
Speaker 1: that maybe we haven't even talked about. It makes me
Speaker 1: think about, like I think my girls when they got
Speaker 1: a kid's meal at Chick fil A. One of the
Speaker 1: things that came in it was some cards that would
Speaker 1: help facilitate like dinner discussion. And some of those are
Speaker 1: kind of lame too, but actually ultimately they're pretty fun
Speaker 1: um at the end of the day, even though they're
Speaker 1: kind of like maybe maybe it's a lame question on
Speaker 1: the face. On its face, it seems lame, but if
Speaker 1: we have a good time with it, you know, that's
Speaker 1: exactly so it all depends on what you do with it.
Speaker 1: Like I could totally see like maybe a set of
Speaker 1: these cards like at a brewery or something like that,
Speaker 1: like a coffee shop. If it was sitting there, I'd
Speaker 1: be like, oh, what's that? And you pick it up
Speaker 1: and kind of flip through it like you would flip
Speaker 1: through a magazine maybe, but instead of just chatting about
Speaker 1: whatever you're seeing in the book or the magazine. And
Speaker 1: people aren't really doing that anymore, right, Like, no one's
Speaker 1: really going into a coffee shop and sitting there and
Speaker 1: like it's been a while reading a book at person.
Speaker 1: But I can first see into the future maybe sometime
Speaker 1: this summer doing that, and that would be a lot
Speaker 1: of fun out of brewery, be like, oh, what do
Speaker 1: you think about you know X? Like like or how
Speaker 1: would you respond to this money situation? It's kind of
Speaker 1: like what we do here on the show. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I like that, So I we'll put a link to
Speaker 1: that game in the show notes if you're interested, And again,
Speaker 1: you've got to kind of go into it with your
Speaker 1: own flare because it's not gonna provide much of that
Speaker 1: on its own. Yeah, this isn't a full on endorsement,
Speaker 1: but I gave. But if you do try it, let
Speaker 1: us know how it is, because I haven't actually tried it,
Speaker 1: or even if you have it, maybe you already have
Speaker 1: it at your house. Yeah, that could be pretty cool
Speaker 1: to hear from somebody who has used it, totally. Alright, Well, Matt,
Speaker 1: let's mention the beer that we're having on the show.
Speaker 1: This one's called Cocoa Bunny. It's by Creature Comforts Awesome
Speaker 1: Brewery out of Athens, Georgia, and this is a milk porter.
Speaker 1: So looking forward to having this one on the show
Speaker 1: with you today, my friend. Yeah, that's right. And also
Speaker 1: before we launch into things, I'm just gonna say real quick,
Speaker 1: there's chainsaws going on outside outside our studio here to
Speaker 1: palatial How To Money Studio. Yeah yeah, and I don't
Speaker 1: think people gonna hear them, but just in case you can. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's actually here on the recording, and it's not happening
Speaker 1: there in your neighbors. Yeah, it's it's it's happening where
Speaker 1: we are, all right. Yeah, Well, let's get onto the
Speaker 1: subject to hand. We're talking about employer benefits that you're
Speaker 1: missing out on. Matt. I recently mentioned on the show
Speaker 1: that I just left my job to become a full
Speaker 1: time podcaster. Body, you kind of have been forced into
Speaker 1: that through the pandemic as weddings are mostly non existent,
Speaker 1: although they're they're on the comeback and you've done a few.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a hot year for right, It's like
Speaker 1: that pent up demand. Oh yeah, everybody's gonna be getting hitched.
Speaker 1: It's even if they don't want to, they're gonna do it,
Speaker 1: you know. And I'm pumped to be working on how
Speaker 1: the money stuff with you full time, my friend. Good stuff,
Speaker 1: But I will say I'm already missing some of the
Speaker 1: people that I worked with, as well as some of
Speaker 1: the secondary benefits that my former employer offered. Uh, Matt,
Speaker 1: you're a pretty good buss, right, but uh but you know,
Speaker 1: you just don't offer the range of benefits that I've
Speaker 1: kind of grown accustomed to. Hey, I do allow us
Speaker 1: to continue drinking beer every well almost every episode. That's
Speaker 1: a good point. That's a very good benefit. And uh yeah,
Speaker 1: so I've I feel like I did a solid job
Speaker 1: taking advantage of those benefits over the years where where
Speaker 1: when I had access to them, but given how extensive
Speaker 1: they were, I probably could have made it even more
Speaker 1: of a priority to use them on the leg And
Speaker 1: I feel like that's the impetus for this episode, Like
Speaker 1: we want to talk about what benefits are often available, um,
Speaker 1: and then encourage you to take advantage of them in
Speaker 1: the right ways. Yeah, that's right. And the fact is, dude,
Speaker 1: you are not alone. There are many potential benefits that
Speaker 1: folks who are listening out there that your employer probably
Speaker 1: offers that you may or may not be taking advantage of, right,
Speaker 1: but not using those benefits to their fullest potential can
Speaker 1: be akin to leaving money on the table. And we're
Speaker 1: fans of you never leaving a dollar behind. Not every
Speaker 1: benefit that we mentioned here today is going to be
Speaker 1: of interest to you, but it's at least worth doing
Speaker 1: a little digging to see what is available so that
Speaker 1: you aren't leaving any any awesome benefits by the wayside.
Speaker 1: We want to make sure that you're squeezing every little
Speaker 1: less bit of toothpaste there out of the tube. It's
Speaker 1: just they're waiting on you. Yeah. Yeah, And you know,
Speaker 1: your salary obviously is a massively important feature of taking
Speaker 1: a job. It's the biggest benefit that you're gonna receive.
Speaker 1: Like I doubt that anybody out there has secondary benefits
Speaker 1: that outweigh the regular income that they get, right, um,
Speaker 1: except for like the super high rollers getting paid you
Speaker 1: know in stock options. That's uh, that's not our listeners.
Speaker 1: I don't think though. So. But your compensation package, of course,
Speaker 1: goes far beyond just the salary piece, And especially if
Speaker 1: you're in the job market looking for a new position
Speaker 1: right now, it's really important to dissect not just the
Speaker 1: upfront salary number, but to assess the additional benefits that
Speaker 1: are being offered to you as well. You might find
Speaker 1: that maybe a job with a five thousand dollar higher
Speaker 1: starting salary is actually worse for you when you run
Speaker 1: the numbers than another job, purely based on how the
Speaker 1: benefits stack up. The job that pays more money might
Speaker 1: restrict or not even offer other really important benefits. And
Speaker 1: those benefits really really at up. Yeah. And one of
Speaker 1: the other cool things about employer benefits as opposed to
Speaker 1: increased pay is the fact that many of these benefits
Speaker 1: aren't taxed all, or maybe they are tax efficient, right.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like how the cash back that you
Speaker 1: might earn with a credit card isn't taxed versus what
Speaker 1: you earn on a savings account each year is taxed.
Speaker 1: It's similar with some of these additional benefits, and so
Speaker 1: we wanted to point this out because this is a
Speaker 1: major reason that we are paying attention to these secondary benefits.
Speaker 1: You know, having a bump in your pay is nice,
Speaker 1: but when some of these benefits aren't taxed, you are
Speaker 1: receiving that, you know, the full benefit, versus something being
Speaker 1: taxed multiple times, which is what happens to your pay.
Speaker 1: And that's what makes these benefits so valuable. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: glass doors, well, they actually found that eight percent of
Speaker 1: employees would prefer an uptick in benefits to getting more pay,
Speaker 1: and that makes sense to me. Matt, My my last
Speaker 1: boss offered the incredible benefit of a free international flight
Speaker 1: every year. And it's not something we're offering here yet.
Speaker 1: How the money not yet maybe someday, but that was like, man,
Speaker 1: that was one. It was great for bonding with my
Speaker 1: colleagues too. I get to see another part of the world.
Speaker 1: I got to explore six different continents this way and
Speaker 1: that as a park. We didn't go to Antarctica. I
Speaker 1: don't know why, um, but yeah, not yet, But I
Speaker 1: gotta say I know why four out of five people
Speaker 1: would prefer an excellent benefit to more pay. There are
Speaker 1: lots of employer benefits that can be even more rewarding
Speaker 1: than just adding more pay into the equation. And I
Speaker 1: feel like often those unique benefits develop an even greater
Speaker 1: sense of loyalty to the place where you're working. Sometimes
Speaker 1: those benefits you actually overvalue them. And I think it's
Speaker 1: okay like to to say, you know what, this benefit
Speaker 1: means more to me than cash, Like that's a normal
Speaker 1: response when a solid benefit is offered from an employer
Speaker 1: that you love. Yeah, in fact is those benefits are
Speaker 1: not only good for you as the employee, but like
Speaker 1: you said, like they're good for the employer as well. Right.
Speaker 1: That bonding that takes place during something like a vacation, uh,
Speaker 1: something like a trip where you're all kind of doing
Speaker 1: it together, that's that's awesome. And the fact it's too
Speaker 1: Had you just gotten more pay, there's a chance like
Speaker 1: maybe you would have gone on another extra trip or
Speaker 1: something like that, but you likely would have done the
Speaker 1: smart and responsible thing with that money. You would have
Speaker 1: sucked it away, you would have invested it. You wouldn't
Speaker 1: have taken these steps that would have ensured a better
Speaker 1: U workplace. Uh, camaraderie with your with your fellow coworkers,
Speaker 1: right completely. Yeah. If if it weren't in the form
Speaker 1: of free travel, I would not have spent it on travel. Probably,
Speaker 1: you're right. And I think that's another reason that the
Speaker 1: benefit is helpful, because it almost forces you to do
Speaker 1: something or helps you do something that you might otherwise
Speaker 1: put off. It's that nudge in the right direction. So,
Speaker 1: but international plane tickets are pretty rare there when it
Speaker 1: comes to different employers. Uh. And also too, we're not
Speaker 1: going to be talking about like the Google style benefits
Speaker 1: like yoga classes and chair massages, chef made meals I've
Speaker 1: got going on there during lunch. But we will get
Speaker 1: to the more common benefits that you're likely to have
Speaker 1: access to and their importance. And we're gonna get to
Speaker 1: all of those right after this break. All right, we're back.
Speaker 1: Let's start talking about the most beneficial benefits Boo, yes,
Speaker 1: I went there, and how you can use them to
Speaker 1: your full advantage. And and let's start off like the
Speaker 1: benefit that pretty much everybody knows if they have access
Speaker 1: to this or not, is a workplace retirement account. Whether
Speaker 1: it's oh yeah, four oh one k A four or
Speaker 1: three B a t SP And we talk about this
Speaker 1: a lot on the show. Getting a match is obviously
Speaker 1: the big perk if your employer offers one of those
Speaker 1: alongside it, so make sure not to leave that match
Speaker 1: just sitting there. That was in our Money Gears episode
Speaker 1: we talked about that it's such an important part of
Speaker 1: building up wealth in your life. But even if you
Speaker 1: don't have a match, there's a really good chance you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to participate in your workplace retirement account. It
Speaker 1: gives you access to being able to invest quite a
Speaker 1: bit of money every year for the future, but also
Speaker 1: to We're not gonna dwell on this topic very much
Speaker 1: because we have talked about it before, but we couldn't
Speaker 1: do this episode about benefits and not even mention it
Speaker 1: at all. Yeah, that's right, And also it's worth noting
Speaker 1: that there are sort of these hidden benefits kind of
Speaker 1: located within a work sponsored retirement accounts, So for example,
Speaker 1: you might have some automatic increases that are built into
Speaker 1: your retirement plan. It sounds like it's not a big deal, right,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna argue that it is because it helps
Speaker 1: you to overcome the behavioral uh ineptitude that we all faced.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's tough to manually increase what we're
Speaker 1: investing every year. Uh So oftentimes we don't increase how
Speaker 1: much we're saving every year because it's not something that
Speaker 1: you know is automatic. But many four ow K plans
Speaker 1: will allow you to automatically increase the percentage of your
Speaker 1: pay that you put into your retirement plan without having
Speaker 1: to think about it. It's sort of like this automatic stairstep,
Speaker 1: this kind of automatic ladder that's implemented. Uh and you
Speaker 1: get to see those percentages increase every single year. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So if you do have that, put it intomotion so
Speaker 1: that you don't have to think about it from here
Speaker 1: on out, whether whether you choose one to three every
Speaker 1: year that you're going to step up your contributions increase
Speaker 1: every year. I mean, if you're a real bott let's boy,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think taking the advantage of that though,
Speaker 1: sending that emotion so that you really don't have to
Speaker 1: think about it. That the less you have to think
Speaker 1: about contributing money to for your future, uh, the easier
Speaker 1: it's going to be. Right. Yeah, And I mean I'll
Speaker 1: say to we kind of have a love hate relationship
Speaker 1: to automation. Right on one hand, I hate when we
Speaker 1: become overly depend on this technology and you don't internalize
Speaker 1: the fact that you are an investor. You like, you
Speaker 1: haven't internalized you can't kind of come up with the
Speaker 1: reason why it is that you're doing that. I don't
Speaker 1: like that. However, at the same time, if it means
Speaker 1: that you're starting to set money aside for your retirement
Speaker 1: that you would not have done otherwise, than I mean,
Speaker 1: I can't really argue with that, you know, totally, Like
Speaker 1: in this case, I feel like it's an instance where
Speaker 1: go ahead and start doing the thing that you should
Speaker 1: be doing, even if you don't even necessarily completely know why,
Speaker 1: and then over time you can kind of grow into
Speaker 1: those bridges and totally. A potential downside to a workplace
Speaker 1: retirement plans that's worth mentioning is that your employer might
Speaker 1: be offering you a plan that has really had fees
Speaker 1: inside of that workplace retirement account. It's still likely worth
Speaker 1: it if they offer a match, but if they don't,
Speaker 1: you might be better off investing inside of your own
Speaker 1: I RA first. A good rule of Thomas actually look
Speaker 1: for the funds in your employer's plan that have the
Speaker 1: lowest expense ratio. Those are often total stock market funds
Speaker 1: or target date retirement funds, which are great funds. They're
Speaker 1: well diversified, and they're like the easiest ones to pick.
Speaker 1: So if you're kind of be fuddled by which fund
Speaker 1: to its started investing in in your employer's plan, look
Speaker 1: at the expense ratio, go down the list, find the
Speaker 1: lowest one. In all likelihood that is going to be
Speaker 1: one of the best funds for you to put your
Speaker 1: money in. That is true, man, And so let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and move on then to the next benefit that
Speaker 1: we want to cover. U. Some employers are helping to
Speaker 1: pay down student loan balances for their employees. Your employer
Speaker 1: can pay five thousand, two hundred fifty dollars annually towards
Speaker 1: your student loan balance, and the best part is that
Speaker 1: it doesn't count towards your taxable income. This is a
Speaker 1: perk that is becoming more common, UH and one that
Speaker 1: is massively beneficial to many of the young people in
Speaker 1: the workforce today. And your employer can make these payments
Speaker 1: either directly to you, the employee, or directly to the
Speaker 1: lender who is servicing your loan. This is specifically a
Speaker 1: benefit due to the the Cares Act from last year,
Speaker 1: and it's set to go through five. At that point
Speaker 1: we will see if it continues to be a tax
Speaker 1: free benefit. Yeah, and I like that to Matt. Since
Speaker 1: this is a relatively new benefit potential for employers. As
Speaker 1: an employee, it's worth bringing up and asking your HR
Speaker 1: department the question, Hey, is this offered? If not, is
Speaker 1: there any plan in the future that this might be offered,
Speaker 1: Because Yeah, that's a good chunk of change that you're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to get tax free to go towards
Speaker 1: your student loans if your employer jumps on board. So yeah,
Speaker 1: worth asking the question. At least. The next benefit that
Speaker 1: we want to cover is h S, A S and
Speaker 1: f S as Health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts
Speaker 1: are often another killer perk that offer significant tax benefits
Speaker 1: to you if you use them wisely. H s as
Speaker 1: in particular, if you have a high deductible healthcare plan
Speaker 1: are or like having another tax advantaged retirement account. They're
Speaker 1: actually the most tax advantaged account that currently exists on
Speaker 1: the face of the earth. That triple triple tax advantage exactly.
Speaker 1: We talked about this in depth and episode one oh five,
Speaker 1: So don't skip over those plans when open enrollment is
Speaker 1: going on where you work. If it makes sense for you,
Speaker 1: going into a high deduct corble healthcare plan just to
Speaker 1: take advantage of an h s A essentially could be
Speaker 1: a killer move because it's gonna allow you to save
Speaker 1: and invest more for your retirement inside of this little
Speaker 1: vehicle that not many people know enough about. And h
Speaker 1: h s as have become way more common as employers
Speaker 1: offer more and more high deductible plans in order to
Speaker 1: cut their healthcare costs. Uh. And then f s a
Speaker 1: s have an even longer history and go beyond healthcare expenses.
Speaker 1: You can open a healthcare and a dependent care f
Speaker 1: s A as a way to avoid income tax on
Speaker 1: the money that you will spend this year on either
Speaker 1: healthcare expenses or daycare. And you know, if you max
Speaker 1: these out, you will avoid tax on seven thousand, seven
Speaker 1: fifty dollars and earnings. Uh. That's a good chunk of
Speaker 1: money that you are receiving full on without being taxed on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's so great. Yeah. Yeah. And again I F I say,
Speaker 1: though you have to pay specific attention to the details,
Speaker 1: because if you stock all that money away and then
Speaker 1: you don't actually use it that year, f I say,
Speaker 1: is like use it or lose it, And and so
Speaker 1: you want to make sure that you're only putting away
Speaker 1: what you're going to be able to use the next year.
Speaker 1: Matt was just giving the maximum amount that you can
Speaker 1: put away tax free, but only if you're gonna actually
Speaker 1: use that much on healthcare and dependent care expenses. Otherwise
Speaker 1: you might end up with a ton of sunscreen in
Speaker 1: your closet that might go bad over the years. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: And no matter where you're employed and h s A
Speaker 1: or an f s A, those are those are pretty
Speaker 1: popular offerings. You're likely going to have access to one
Speaker 1: of the two at many employers that you'd work for.
Speaker 1: One that you probably don't have access to or very
Speaker 1: few people do as an e SPP employee stock purchase plan.
Speaker 1: And if you do and you use it properly, this
Speaker 1: can be another solid benefit. I don't want to dwell
Speaker 1: on this because this is not a benefit that most
Speaker 1: people have that we've talked about it in the past, though.
Speaker 1: We'll put a link in the show notes to an
Speaker 1: episode where we did discuss ees pps in some detail.
Speaker 1: And and Matt, two, let's talk about life insurance. Many
Speaker 1: employers will offer you free life insurance coverage. This isn't
Speaker 1: a major perk because term life insurance is pretty cheap,
Speaker 1: so but it's still nice to have, right, It's still
Speaker 1: a benefit that that you can that you can get
Speaker 1: through a lot of employers. And I will say it
Speaker 1: becomes an even better benefit though if you have like
Speaker 1: severe medical issues that would prevent you from being able
Speaker 1: to shop for term life insurance and get a policy
Speaker 1: on your own on the open market. Like, if you
Speaker 1: have like a medical history that's not looking so good,
Speaker 1: a life insurance company is less likely to offer you
Speaker 1: a policy or or it's likely to cost you a
Speaker 1: whole lot of money. And for most people, getting even
Speaker 1: just a little bit of free life insurance through your
Speaker 1: employer it is a nice little benefit. Yeah, absolutely, man,
Speaker 1: it is. And of course, in addition to that that
Speaker 1: free amount that your employer offers, you want to make
Speaker 1: sure that you're snagging your own life insurance by shopping
Speaker 1: on a site light policy genius. You'll likely have the
Speaker 1: choice to pay for more life insurance through your employer,
Speaker 1: but that's a bad deal. That's a bad idea in
Speaker 1: almost all cases. It's almost always going to be cheaper
Speaker 1: to shop for your own policy. Plus that policy remains
Speaker 1: with you even after you leave your employer, which is
Speaker 1: very important to not have to worry about reinstituting a
Speaker 1: new policy. Worried to change jobs. Yeah, I mean just
Speaker 1: talking about my situation for a second, Matt, Like, I
Speaker 1: had uh life insurance up to my annual income covered
Speaker 1: by my employer every year, right, but now I don't
Speaker 1: work there anymore, and so uh little how to money?
Speaker 1: We don't don't have any life insurance offering, right, so
Speaker 1: I've gotta go get my own. I already had obviously
Speaker 1: my own in place. But it does make me think
Speaker 1: maybe I need to get another policy. Maybe I need
Speaker 1: to do some laddering, because layering, that's how I like
Speaker 1: to picture it. Layer. It's like you got one layer
Speaker 1: of like one umbrella. That's like, but maybe another umbrella
Speaker 1: just in case, you know, with everyone masking it up,
Speaker 1: it's like, maybe does one more one more layer will
Speaker 1: help us out here? Right? Yeah? The double mask they
Speaker 1: the double life insurance policy. And so yeah, now that
Speaker 1: I no longer have that smaller policy like through my
Speaker 1: through my former employer. Uh, it's it probably has time
Speaker 1: for me to get a second policy for myself to
Speaker 1: cover to cover my family. Uh in the case that
Speaker 1: I died, right time to double up. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: So those are some like really hard benefits. I would
Speaker 1: say that a lot of people have access to. They
Speaker 1: offer you tax benefits, They offer you the ability to
Speaker 1: invest for your few sure inside of these tax advantaged accounts,
Speaker 1: and working for the man has its benefits in that regard, right,
Speaker 1: But then there are other benefits that your employer might
Speaker 1: offer you, And we'll get to some of those kind
Speaker 1: of more secondary benefits that can still come in clutch
Speaker 1: and be really meaningful. We'll talk about those after this break.
Speaker 1: All right, we are back from the break, and we're
Speaker 1: talking about these benefits that you can receive in your
Speaker 1: paycheck that you're probably missing out on. Maybe it's because
Speaker 1: you you you haven't opted in, but maybe it's also
Speaker 1: because too you're with an employer who doesn't necessarily offer
Speaker 1: some of these benefits. And so we feel that it's
Speaker 1: important to at least be aware of these different benefits
Speaker 1: when the time comes maybe for you to negotiate your salary.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're even looking at other positions. It is important
Speaker 1: to know what is out there. Uh, and Joel, before
Speaker 1: the break, most of the benefits we were talking about
Speaker 1: would be maybe what I would consider like paycheck benefits.
Speaker 1: It's something that you see deducted from your pay but
Speaker 1: it's something very tangible that that you receive. But we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk now about some of these like softer benefits.
Speaker 1: They're more like perks oftentimes from working for a specific company. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I will say too, when you're thinking about leaving
Speaker 1: the workforce, in starting your own thing, becoming self employed,
Speaker 1: working as a contractor, these are the kind of things
Speaker 1: you have to take into account too, because you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to start funneling more of your own resources towards
Speaker 1: some of these benefits, right towards uh, saving money in
Speaker 1: your own i RA or getting your own life insurance policy.
Speaker 1: That you might have been content with what you had
Speaker 1: through work, but if you signed to go do your
Speaker 1: own things, start your own business. Uh, those are expenses
Speaker 1: that you're gonna incur that aren't covered by your employer anymore. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Or even if they're not necessarily expenses, there are things
Speaker 1: that you're gonna have to be more intentional about right,
Speaker 1: and so case on point, let's talk about flexibility. Uh.
Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, Fractal Today survey and they found that flexibility
Speaker 1: is the number two most desired benefit, right behind better health,
Speaker 1: dental and vision insurance. Some workplaces, once you at your
Speaker 1: desk from end of five, no matter what its scheduling,
Speaker 1: a morning uh like dennisappointment is going to be out
Speaker 1: of the question for you to take care of your teeth.
Speaker 1: But other employers won't make you take a chunk of
Speaker 1: PTO just for showing up a touch late or you know,
Speaker 1: shifting your schedule around for personal needs. That's a real benefit,
Speaker 1: So make sure that you recognize it as such. All
Speaker 1: employers aren't created equally here, right, there's definitely something that
Speaker 1: are employeers, no employees. All employeers are not created. Some
Speaker 1: are definitely more demanding than others. Let's now, I want
Speaker 1: to mention to like unlimited PTO policies. That was something
Speaker 1: that was kind of starting to get instituted where I
Speaker 1: worked before I walked out the door. Sounds pretty great.
Speaker 1: It sounds great on its face. It makes it sounds
Speaker 1: like like an old like Ryan's buffet, Golden Corral buffet.
Speaker 1: Did you ever get to those back? Yes, it's been
Speaker 1: quite a while though, and I'm glad it's been quite
Speaker 1: a while. Same here, But yeah, it does feel like
Speaker 1: four decisions. Wait, I can take as much vacation as
Speaker 1: I want. This is like the best park in the world.
Speaker 1: But it's it's funny. In reality, it doesn't work out
Speaker 1: like that for most people. Most people feel guilty about
Speaker 1: taking paid time off for taking vacation time when it
Speaker 1: is an unlimited policy. I think when you're created a
Speaker 1: certain number of weeks, four or five weeks of vacation,
Speaker 1: you're more apt to take those days. But when an
Speaker 1: employer is like it's unlimited, you're like, oh, man, I'm
Speaker 1: not going past a week and a half. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to let everyone down. I don't want
Speaker 1: to get get fired or something like that. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I wanted to mention that because I feel like those
Speaker 1: unlimited PTO policies are becoming more and more of a thing.
Speaker 1: People are already kind of reticent to take their vacation,
Speaker 1: and when they don't actually know how much they have,
Speaker 1: I think it actually makes them, you know, less willing
Speaker 1: to take some time off. Yeah, so honestly, it kind
Speaker 1: of makes me think of this illustration where, like you say, picture,
Speaker 1: you've got a bunch of kids playing on a playground,
Speaker 1: right uh, and it's next to a busy road and
Speaker 1: there's no fence, and so most kids and a lot
Speaker 1: and obviously adults as well, are gonna want those kids
Speaker 1: to basically stay as far away from the road as possible,
Speaker 1: right right, because it's just kind of like, well, you
Speaker 1: know how far is definitely way too far, but between there,
Speaker 1: who knows right first is now imagine that playground then
Speaker 1: has a fence around it, right Well, in that case,
Speaker 1: the kids are gonna be able to play all the
Speaker 1: way up to the edge of that fence, and there's
Speaker 1: gonna be way more of the playground that's utilized versus
Speaker 1: you know, the other example where it's just like, well,
Speaker 1: there's a whole chunk of the playground like the kids
Speaker 1: never go on because it's kind of closer to the road.
Speaker 1: When you have sort of these very clear, definite boundaries,
Speaker 1: there's a clear understanding of what you can and can't do,
Speaker 1: and and yeah, when you say unlimited, well, unlimited is
Speaker 1: super vague and there can be a lot of judgment
Speaker 1: calls that have to enter the equation, right, And so
Speaker 1: it's not just the fact that something is unlimited, it's like, well,
Speaker 1: in reality, that means something very different than than what
Speaker 1: it sounds like. Yeah, man, I hope those unlimited pto
Speaker 1: play and start going away because they're rough and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean they don't have to be rough, but it
Speaker 1: seems that in practice they're more difficult to implement, uh
Speaker 1: than you might think. I think more often they go underutilized.
Speaker 1: I would love to hear from a listener who has
Speaker 1: one of those and they're like, I take fifteen weeks
Speaker 1: a year. It's great. If that's the case, please let
Speaker 1: us know. I would love to hear that, all right.
Speaker 1: The next soft benefit that a lot of people are
Speaker 1: receiving at their workplace now is free counseling and wellness initiatives.
Speaker 1: Some employers matt or even offering their own gyms before
Speaker 1: you work out in right, Hey, we've got a kettle
Speaker 1: bell down here, dog swing And I'll count that as
Speaker 1: a benefit, I guess. And like, one of my friends
Speaker 1: actually recently posted that her employer just constructed an office
Speaker 1: gym for employees. I guess they had been given a
Speaker 1: free membership to a gym, and a lot of the
Speaker 1: employees felt uncomfortable going, so they built one in house. Um,
Speaker 1: and that's that's kind of cool. I'm thinking about maybe
Speaker 1: buying a pullet bar down here. What do you think
Speaker 1: about that pullet bar and the kettle bell? What else
Speaker 1: could I want? You know? Nothing? And so like, it's
Speaker 1: it's cool to see that employers are doing this. We
Speaker 1: actually had a gym that I could have gone to
Speaker 1: up at corporate, which is not where my office was,
Speaker 1: so it was a massive drive. And there's I went
Speaker 1: in there and I saw it one day. But there's
Speaker 1: just I mean, I'm not fighting forty five minutes both
Speaker 1: ways in Atlanta traffic to go work out right, and
Speaker 1: also to check to see whether or not your workplace
Speaker 1: offers some sort of free counseling or subsidized counseling. A
Speaker 1: lot of employers are prioritizing mental wellness for their employe ease.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what, Like, counseling is a great thing.
Speaker 1: Therapy can be a great thing for a lot of folks,
Speaker 1: but it's not cheap. Anybody who has booked their own appointment,
Speaker 1: UM and put that on a credit card. Knows that
Speaker 1: it costs quite a bit of money in order to
Speaker 1: to get that mental help. And employers are starting to
Speaker 1: recognize this, and it's definitely worth checking in to see
Speaker 1: if your employer is offering anything for you on that front. Absolutely, Man,
Speaker 1: another benefit, let's talk about discounts. Uh. There are discounts
Speaker 1: that you can get a different service providers, like, for instance,
Speaker 1: with a cell phone provider or maybe some different electronic retailers.
Speaker 1: You might be able to get tim person off an
Speaker 1: Apple or Dell product, or or even off of your
Speaker 1: cell phone bill with one of the major carriers. So
Speaker 1: we've talked before, how back in the day, we had
Speaker 1: this giant tin person family plan going on. Uh, And
Speaker 1: we did it through your work, and we were able
Speaker 1: to get a nice discount, which is part of how
Speaker 1: we got it down so cheap. Yeah, that was still
Speaker 1: the cheapest cell phone plan I've ever had in my life. Yes,
Speaker 1: although we're pretty close to there right now, like going
Speaker 1: solo with Mint, but yeah, it was. It was ridiculously cheap. Uh.
Speaker 1: And And yeah, my form employer, Matt, offered discount memberships
Speaker 1: to the zoo, to the aquarium where we live, it's
Speaker 1: worth taking thirty minutes or so to dig into those offerings,
Speaker 1: especially if you're planning to make a major purchase. I
Speaker 1: know a lot of those offerings are are reserved for
Speaker 1: people that work for a bigger employer, but but man,
Speaker 1: some sometimes those benefits get really extensive, and so it's
Speaker 1: worth digging in on the back end of that employer
Speaker 1: benefits website to see what's there. Yeah, and some employers
Speaker 1: too are offering advanced education opportunities. I'm thinking about Starbucks.
Speaker 1: They are one of the employers that has done an
Speaker 1: incredible job on this front. Uh. They offer higher education
Speaker 1: opportunities to employees who work more than twenty hours a week. Uh.
Speaker 1: They get tuition reimbursement for classes that they take at
Speaker 1: Arizona State University. And so this is worth noting. Your
Speaker 1: employer might offer continuing education classes. Uh. And or they
Speaker 1: might be willing to pay for you to go back
Speaker 1: to school. UH. Definitely something to keep in mind. Obviously,
Speaker 1: some employers as well are even willing to kind of
Speaker 1: go in with you on an MBA program. With a
Speaker 1: rising costs of higher education, this is definitely a benefit
Speaker 1: that you do not want to discount. Yeah, and additional
Speaker 1: benefits like that can be can be so meaningful, right,
Speaker 1: It can turn a job where you're getting paid let's
Speaker 1: say at a Starbucks fifteen sixteen seventeen an hour, into
Speaker 1: with those additional benefits, it can feel like you're getting
Speaker 1: paid twice that much, right easily. Yeah, it's like this
Speaker 1: feels like a thirty dollar an hour job. Now, yeah,
Speaker 1: totally with with a with a free education and also
Speaker 1: to the retirement plan that they have at Starbucks is clutch. Um.
Speaker 1: If I was looking for something part time, like twenty
Speaker 1: hours a week, man, Starbucks would be a go to
Speaker 1: thought because of the additional benefits. It's it's not just
Speaker 1: the pay that they give you for every hour that
Speaker 1: you work, plus the free panel of coffee every week. Right,
Speaker 1: that's another go one I think you do. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: that's pretty sweet and intangible. It's better than the kettle
Speaker 1: bar we've got down here, but kettle kettle bell sir,
Speaker 1: That's what I meant to say. That's how much I
Speaker 1: use it. If only you swung it around, so I
Speaker 1: think you would know what it's called. You're right, it's
Speaker 1: I think it's important to note though, that like uh
Speaker 1: benefits that your employer offers are really there to help
Speaker 1: retain talent, like they want to keep you on board
Speaker 1: by offering some of these benefits. It's a way that
Speaker 1: they can kind of make their workforce happy. And so
Speaker 1: if there's a benefit that we've mentioned that you would
Speaker 1: love to have that your employer doesn't currently offer, I
Speaker 1: think it's okay to bring that up. It's okay to
Speaker 1: ask for that. Um, you're not being greedy. You're saying, hey,
Speaker 1: this is I've seen other employers in the industry offering
Speaker 1: something like this. Would we ever consider offering something like
Speaker 1: this too? And then ask HR two if they know
Speaker 1: about that tax break that allows employers to help their
Speaker 1: employees pay off student loans, because hey, that could be
Speaker 1: make a big difference in the lives of our workforce.
Speaker 1: But it's easy to see as we run through this list, Matt,
Speaker 1: how these benefits really add up and how they can
Speaker 1: make or break your work experience. They can cause you
Speaker 1: to want to leave your job with crummy benefits to
Speaker 1: find one that has great benefits, or they can cause
Speaker 1: you maybe to even be more thankful for the job
Speaker 1: that you currently have, because it's not just about the paycheck.
Speaker 1: It's about all these other things that come alongside of
Speaker 1: getting to to work that place. Yeah, and especially these
Speaker 1: days too, I think a lot of employers might be
Speaker 1: unwilling to raise pay right, there might be pay freezes
Speaker 1: in place, But by offering these benefits, it's a way
Speaker 1: for them to, you know, make some concessions because they
Speaker 1: know that not everybody will necessarily take advantage of these benefits.
Speaker 1: But because you're listening to this episode today, you're you're
Speaker 1: gonna know to keep an eye out. But again, like Joel,
Speaker 1: coming back to what you're saying, advocating for these benefits
Speaker 1: you know from your employer is what we're encouraging here.
Speaker 1: They're not set in stone, they're not static, and if
Speaker 1: you approach that conversation well with your employer, you could
Speaker 1: have an impact on helping your employer to modernize their
Speaker 1: their benefit offerings and making them more tailored to the
Speaker 1: workforce that they're they're hoping to attract. And for many
Speaker 1: of our listeners who employ other people, do take note
Speaker 1: of the benefits that your employees get most excited about
Speaker 1: the ones that you hear them talking about. Right, many
Speaker 1: of the most valued benefits don't actually hurt your bottom
Speaker 1: line all that much, and in fact, offering more enticing
Speaker 1: benefits in the future could help you to keep top
Speaker 1: employees and to save you money you might lose through
Speaker 1: through higher level as of turnover. So in particular, offering
Speaker 1: a retirement account is so cheap, so much easier than
Speaker 1: it used to be. We would recommend for employers to
Speaker 1: go check out guideline dot com. They've got uh some
Speaker 1: amazing resources over there if you're looking to expand what
Speaker 1: it is that you're offering to your employees. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: going back to kind of that perk, I was able
Speaker 1: to receive Matt the free international trip every year. It
Speaker 1: was always a really cheap ticket, Like we would go
Speaker 1: internationally for four bucks sometimes and um, and obviously that's
Speaker 1: not free, that costs money. But people that got a
Speaker 1: job where we worked never left. And so yeah, employee
Speaker 1: turnover training another person to take over this job is
Speaker 1: is so expensive that when you think about it, that perk,
Speaker 1: that benefit is a drop in the bucket um when
Speaker 1: it comes to the cost of doing business of keeping
Speaker 1: great talent around. So I think that's how employers should
Speaker 1: think about it. Especially recently, we talked about the efficiency
Speaker 1: wage theory oftentimes adding a little bit more to what
Speaker 1: you're offering your employees is actually gonna benefit your bottom
Speaker 1: line in the long run too. Yeah, It's it's funny
Speaker 1: to think about, like, have somebody that might have a
Speaker 1: salary between like I don't like fifty sixty seventy dollars
Speaker 1: and like we're yeah, we're talking about maybe a FI
Speaker 1: ticket here, Like that is a relatively small increase and
Speaker 1: what quote unquote their pay is right and what the
Speaker 1: benefit they're receiving. But it feels like so much more
Speaker 1: like it's sexy, it's kind of it has this glow
Speaker 1: around it, and it's things like that that make an
Speaker 1: employers stand out and makes you want to continue to
Speaker 1: work for them, yea, and work harder for them. All right, Matt,
Speaker 1: Let's get back to the beer that we had on
Speaker 1: the show today. This one was called Cocoa Bunny. It's
Speaker 1: a milk border from Creature Comforts, uh, and it's brewed
Speaker 1: with coconut cocoa nibs and coffee. What are your thoughts
Speaker 1: on this beer? Man? Honestly, I think I have forgotten
Speaker 1: how good this beer is. This is such a good beer.
Speaker 1: You pick these up, put them in our our little
Speaker 1: beer fridge down here in the office, and I saw
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, that's cute cocoa bunny. It's been
Speaker 1: a while since we've had it. And by the way,
Speaker 1: it's spelled ko ko bu, and I I'm not sure
Speaker 1: what that. I don't know what that spelling means. Bunny.
Speaker 1: But it's not like a little chocolate bunny or something
Speaker 1: like that, but it may as well be, because that's
Speaker 1: what it tastes like, right, It's got like these nice roasty,
Speaker 1: toasted flavors. Going on the fact that it's a milk porter,
Speaker 1: it just it makes it so smooth in your mouth,
Speaker 1: like there's it means there's a good amount of lactose,
Speaker 1: uh milk sugars within this beer. But that in combination
Speaker 1: with that that coconut, that cocon nuts, the coffee, what's
Speaker 1: the girl's got cookie with a with a coconut samoa?
Speaker 1: Is that a samoa? I think? But it kind of
Speaker 1: reminds me of that. But but even smoother like like
Speaker 1: that has almost like this kind of sharpness to it,
Speaker 1: which I enjoy, Like there's a lot of punch, but
Speaker 1: this is just like nice and like blist out. It's
Speaker 1: like a blissed out version of a samoa as a beer.
Speaker 1: I'm not a huge fan of coconut usually when I'm
Speaker 1: eating it, Dude, I love, but toasted coconut and a
Speaker 1: beer Like I love the taste of it, I don't
Speaker 1: love the texture of coconut usually okay, um, and so
Speaker 1: it's too stringy. Yeah, that's why I like, I choose
Speaker 1: not to eat cookies or like a cake with coconuts
Speaker 1: or branola. I mean, I will if I'm forced it,
Speaker 1: but I'm not going to be into it. If I
Speaker 1: force you to eat this cake got coconut on it,
Speaker 1: if like, if it's to save my life, I'll do
Speaker 1: it right. But um, but I love actually the flavor
Speaker 1: of it, And toasted coconut in a beer is I
Speaker 1: think one of those great elements that works so well,
Speaker 1: especially in like a stout or reporter, And this one
Speaker 1: is pulled off impeccably well. Like you said, super smooth.
Speaker 1: All those ingredients make it kind of like a Desserty beer,
Speaker 1: but that's not overly sweet. Coca Bunny is a seasonal beer,
Speaker 1: but it's well worth picking up when it's on the
Speaker 1: shelves here in Georgia and soon there's a good amount
Speaker 1: of it. Yeah, there's a good amount. Like it is seasonal,
Speaker 1: like you mentioned, it's not year round. But when they
Speaker 1: do have it, I mean you can find it anywhere.
Speaker 1: You can find it on the grocery on the grocery
Speaker 1: store shells for sure. That's where we live, right, Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well,
Speaker 1: I will say too soon to be California because they're
Speaker 1: launching a brew hub in l A later this year
Speaker 1: next year, so getting closer to that launch, California friends
Speaker 1: will be able to pick up some Creature Comfort stuff then,
Speaker 1: and yeah, you're gonna know what you've been missing all
Speaker 1: these years. And when you finally can, it's uh such
Speaker 1: a good brewery. Yeah. Ever since Avengers Endgame where Thorne
Speaker 1: was drinking the Creature Comforts Bears within the movie, they
Speaker 1: made a little connection there with those producers out West
Speaker 1: and they're like, we really love your beer. We're gonna
Speaker 1: help you get set up here out West. I think
Speaker 1: that's how it went down Atty. Sure it is well,
Speaker 1: good for them, man. We're hoping for a Creature Comfort
Speaker 1: spru pub in Atlanta one of these days too, so
Speaker 1: that would be nice, all right, that's gonna do it
Speaker 1: for this episode. We'll put our show notes up on
Speaker 1: the website at how to money dot com. That's right,
Speaker 1: and Jel, you know, week after week we sit here,
Speaker 1: we try to provide some valuable content to our listeners
Speaker 1: out there. But if you're sitting here and you're listening
Speaker 1: to this episode and you have some feedback for us,
Speaker 1: if you think that there is a way for us
Speaker 1: to improve, we would encourage you to go to the website,
Speaker 1: go to how the Money dot com, forward slash do Better,
Speaker 1: and from there you can leave us a message. We're
Speaker 1: always looking for ways to actually do better, Yes we are,
Speaker 1: and we want to hear from you if you've got
Speaker 1: something to say there as well. So we want to improve, man,
Speaker 1: we don't want we don't want to be static, you know,
Speaker 1: like just like benefits aren't static. Matt and Joel are
Speaker 1: not static, and we want to do better. So that
Speaker 1: is true. But yeah, well that's gonna be it for
Speaker 1: this episode, dude. Until next time, Best Friends Out, Best
Speaker 1: Friends Out, bo