Many Soldiers get out of the Army in hopes of leveraging their military experience and in search of earning more money. While that is definitely an admirable goal, many young members of the military forget that their compensation is made up of more than just their base salary and housing allowance. Yahoo recently had a great article about how benefits make up a significant portion of our annual compensation.
Most companies, the United States Government included, pays you almost 30% more money that the amount you see at the bottom of your paycheck every month. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, companies spend a significant amount of money on their employees in the form of other benefits that are salary.
These are some of the other benefits and their percentages of your total compensation that many people do not remember to consider when job hunting….
- Health Insurance Benefits, + 11%
- Social Security, Medicare and Other Insurances, + 8%
- Retirement Plan, + 6%
- Vacation, Sick Leave, Personal Time, + 7%
- Other Less Common Benefits, + 1-10% (Stock Options, Company Cars, Gym Memberships, Lunch, Coffee, Snacks, Bus Passes)
So, if you are comparing jobs, remember to compare apples to apples. Do not just look at the salary. What kinds of benefits are you earning as well? This is why you should look at TOTAL compensation when considering a new job. If you do not consider all your benefits, you may end up with a higher salary but actually making less in the end because your total benefits are lower.
For members of the military, consider how the military sets aside money for your housing, free health care for you and your family, free gym memberships on the base, etc. There are a lot of items that should be considered compensation in the military…more than just the salary at the bottom of your pay stub.
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