Are you sitting on a pile of unclaimed money and
if only you can find it, you can get a pay increase without
asking for a raise that could add up to hundreds,
thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars each and every year.
Well in this video, I'm going to tell you five places to look
to make sure that you're maximizing your salary at work.
And quick note, just for fun through this video,
we're gonna follow Emily who makes $75,000 a year and
see how much more she can make by implementing these strategies. Let's
start off with the obvious 401 K plans. About 60% of Americans have access
to an employer sponsored plan though it's estimated only 41% are using them
let alone and making the most of them leaving 1000s of dollars on the
table. In addition to the tax deductions, most employers who offer an 401k
plan offer 401 K matching whether it's a full dollar $2 match or a partial
where say for every dollar that you put in, they give you an additional 50
cents. Even better when you contribute to your employer sponsored 401 K
plan. It's typically done through an automatic payroll deduction, meaning
you are truly paying yourself first and getting that salary bump in the
process. Let's see how that would apply to Emily who has a $75,000 per year
salary. Emily decides that while she can't maximize her 401 K contribution
up to the federal limit, she does want to take full advantage of her
employer's 6% matching. So she sets it up for her automatic payroll
deductions. And over the course of the year, that means she contributes
$4,500 Because she's at the 6% maximum, her employer is going to match the
same $4,500 per year which means Emily is off to a great start 3940 This is
hard with fake money. This is not real money, my friend. I wish it was real
money, it is not pretty for 45 There we go 4500 additional dollars. While
this additional $4,500 A year is fantastic. You're probably thinking about
money that you have access to before you reach the age of retirement
something with more immediate benefits. Like maybe there's a benefit that
can get you the newest iWatch or pay for your Pilates classes. Well, you
just might wellness benefits have been growing in popularity as an employee
benefit. Typically what this benefit looks like is a reimbursement on
personal spending that you do on any health related activities, devices, or
even apps, which means that this is a benefit you have access to it'll pay
for your ClassPass membership, your peloton subscription any fitness
equipment that you buy to use at home or even devices like a Fitbit or an
Apple Watch. Of course, depending on your employer's specific policies, the
Wellness Benefit Plans that I've reviewed typically range between $100 a
month and $150 a month though they can be even better than that, for
example, I came across on meta or Facebook's page that their wellness
reimbursement is up to $3,000 per year. The thing is, is that if you don't
use it, you don't get it. And this is where a ton of people are missing
out. In addition to being Miss compensation. This is also something that
can help you set and maintain better work life boundaries, and to obviously
improve your health. That's the point of it. Now lucky for Emma, her
employer does reimburse up to $100 a month in a Wellness Benefit. And she
happens to have a gym membership and take yoga classes here and there. So
she's spending the money. But now she can get that money back, which is
going to earn her an additional $1,200 A month bringing Emma's increased
compensation without getting a raise up to $5,700. Already, that's nearly
the equivalent of a cost of living increase at me $75,000 per year. And
we're still just getting started. Especially if you're someone who wants to
make a positive change in the world. This next one is for you. It might
just be your favorite one. It was mine when I was in corporate charitable
donation matching. If you make regular contributions to a charity or
nonprofit, this is a way to double your donation without spending any more
money making your donation dollars go even further. And while this isn't
necessarily dollars that are in your pocket, they're dollars that you're
doing good with. So we're going to count them for nothing other than the
karma points and it feels good to give now lucky for Emma, her employer
does provide charitable giving donation matching up to $1,000. She doesn't
quite have the ability to get that much yet, but she does regularly donate
$500 to her favorite nonprofit organization, and it's on the list and her
employer is going to match it giving her an additional $500 In compensation
and bringing her total to $6,200.
Do you think there's any more one of the biggest add in my experience, one
of the most underutilized benefits might just help us double Emily's number
and yours. And frankly, it's one that I didn't take advantage of nearly
enough when I was in corporate and that Miss money mistake is something I
still kicking myself about. And then additional compensation can come in
the form of education reimbursements. I know what you're thinking schools
like $50,000 a year my employer is only going to cover just over 5000 What
would be the point I know because I thought the same thing, but your
ongoing professional development can be served by taking one or two Do
courses here and there and can increase your competitiveness and likelihood
to get promoted at work even if you're not getting the degree or that
degree is going to take you forever to get because you're going to courses
at a time. While there are companies that limit the education reimbursement
to a accredited institutions and limit it to coursework. Not all companies
are that restrictive. You may be able to use your Education reimbursement
to take prep classes and write certification exams, getting some valuable
certifications onto your resume or without paying for them. Some companies
will allow you to use your Education reimbursement to enroll in
professional associations, tech conferences, and so much more. In fact,
some of my clients have had their employers reimburse them for courses and
programs they've enrolled in with me in most companies, this is going to
align with how much they can write off in taxes, which is $5,250 per year.
Of course, as soon as Emily found out about this, she took advantage of it
right away, and she found a way to fully maximize it bringing her total up
to $11,450. This is an accelerating increase in her compensation. It's a
knowledge and certification she gained when she used it is positioning her
onto the career fast track and bringing more opportunities her way. Now,
there's one last way that you can increase your compensation without
getting a pay raise. But I'm going to need a coffee to get into this one.
My Gen Z friends have been much better about utilizing this fully and my
European career besties. But the rest of us need to have a conversation.
Just let me finish my business and get some milk. Ready for me to spill the
tea? Or in this case, coffee take time off, you probably have a lot of
vacation time. When was the last time you took it? Are you taking every
single vacation day that you have available to you? Or are you living them
rollover or expire? At the end of the year, there's a weird badge of honor
with a whole no days off thing. And over the last few years with that
global situation we were dealing with PTO usage actually decreased, I would
assume the fact that we can go anywhere had something to do with that. But
now that we're in a new, new, new normal and you can get on the plane or
have an awesome staycation, it's time for you to use your paid time off.
And this is particularly true for those of you that are in one of those
unlimited PTO situations. Because if you don't take PTO, they don't even
owe you anything at the end of the year at the end of your employment, none
of it. So how much money does this equal? Well, I'll tell you that if I
know first take your annual salary and divide it by 260, which is the
average number of working days per year. For example, if you're like Emily
and you make $75,000 per year, that works out to be $288.46 per day. So
that five days of PTO that expired before Emily got to use it is worth
$1,442.30. But when we take it we get to claim it. As soon as Emily heard
this, she made sure to book that PTO right away. After looking in these
five places. Emily was able to add $12,892.30 to her $75,000 a year salary.
That's a pretty good pay raise and without getting a pay raise at all.
Actually, that's still not all I have one more tip that can equal 1000s of
dollars that I'm going to share in my next short make sure you're
subscribed so that you don't miss it. utilizing all of your benefits to
maximize your compensation is great, but it's not as great as actually
getting a pay raise one watch this video to find out how to boost your pay
and your job title.