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10 ways to maximize your salary -- Page
2
By Jenny
C. McCune • Bankrate.com
6. Diagnose the best health coverage
Make time to go over your coverage to guarantee
that you get the medical benefits you want for the least amount of
money. If you're married, don't forget about your spouse's coverage.
By comparing each of your company plans, you can decide whether it's
more cost-effective for you each to carry separate health care or
to combine coverage under one employer plan.
"People often don't take the time to go to their
company's Web site or read the company's benefit materials item
by item to understand their benefit options," says Karin Maloney
Stifler, a certified financial planner with True Wealth Advisors
LLC in Hudson, Ohio. "This can be a good way to maximize benefits
and salary."
7. Dine at your company's cafeteria plan of benefits
In addition to the more-basic employee benefits, many companies
offer programs so that workers can establish accounts with pretax
dollars to cover uninsured health care expenses, dependent care
costs and even the price of commuting. These can save you big since
you're paying with money before the Internal Revenue Service gets
its cut. If your company doesn't offer such benefits, lobby for
them.
"This is a no-brainer," says Mitchell Freedman,
CPA and personal financial specialist with MFAC Financial Advisors
Inc. in Sherman Oaks, Calif. "It's not hard or costly for companies
to set up such programs, so even if your employer is small, urge
your company to do this."
8. Examine all your potential company benefits
Some valuable benefits also might be hidden deep within your employee
manual.
Does your company offer life insurance? What about
options to purchase disability or other forms or insurance at lower-cost
group rates? Maybe the company offers tuition reimbursement, which
could help you get the training necessary to demand a bigger pay
raise next time around.
Some public companies sell their stock to employees
at a discounted price. The practice builds in a profit for the employee
shareholder and provides the worker with another investment vehicle.
"You can buy common stock of your own company very often at
a discount and with no commission," Stifler says. "It's
better than buying it off the street."
9. Refuse allowances
Companies often provide car allowances to employees who frequently
travel. "I recommend that they ask to be given reimbursement
for their actual auto expenses instead," Freedman says. "The
reason is that the car allowance is added to their income and is,
therefore, subject to tax, whereas reimbursement is not."
10. Make sure your savings keep pace
Your boss finally signed off on your raise! Now don't waste a penny
of it.
Financial planner Stifler recommends that when your
salary increases, bump up your savings, too. If you get a 3 percent
raise, she says, increase your 401(k) contributions by the same
percentage.
If you make this savings move as soon as your raise
is effective, the transition should be relatively painless. Remember
tip No. 1? It's always easier to sock away money before you
get used to having the extra cash to spend. And the sooner you add
more to your retirement plan, the bigger the eventual payout will
be.
Jenny C. McCune is a contributing
editor based in Montana.
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