JobWhip
The Journal
What Happens When You Hit the PTO Cap?
At 150 hours with a 160-hour cap and 4.62 hours a paycheck, you hit the cap in the third paycheck and stop earning. How caps work, what the calculator does at the cap, and how to plan around one.
Is a Bonus Worth as Much as a Raise? One-Off Pay vs Permanent Pay
A 5% raise on $65,000 and a one-off $3,250 bonus pay the same in year one. Over three years, with 3% raises after, the raise is ahead by $6,795.43, and the gap keeps growing. How to compare them.
Day Rate or Hourly Rate? Pricing Freelance Work Both Ways
A $94.10 hourly rate is a $752.83 day rate on 8-hour days, $705.78 on 7.5 and $564.63 on 6. How to set a day rate from your hourly floor, and what long days do to it.
Why Freelancers Can't Bill 40 Hours a Week: Billable Hours and Your Rate
The same $60,000 target needs $51.24 an hour if you bill 40 hours a week and $81.99 if you bill 25. Pricing as if every hour is billable leaves a $35,359.71 hole. Here is the arithmetic.
Valuing Benefits in a Job Offer: 401(k) Match, Health Cover and PTO
An $80,000 offer with a richer health plan and 20 days off edges an $83,000 offer by $443.08 in total compensation, but only because of how paid time off is counted. How to put a dollar figure on each benefit.
Is a Higher Salary in an Expensive City Really More?
A $95,000 city job beats a $78,000 home-town job by $20,490.77 in total pay. At a cost-of-living index of 128 it is $4,300.34 behind. How to run the comparison, and where the index is too blunt.
Starting a New Job? How Long Until You Have Earned a Week Off
On a 12-day accrual policy at 40 hours a week, you earn a full week off after about 22 weeks. How the answer changes with per-paycheck accrual, a front-loaded grant or a waiting period.
How to Compare Two Job Offers When the Salaries Are Close
An $88,000 offer beats an $85,000 one on salary. Add bonus, retirement match, benefits and paid time off and the $85,000 offer leads by $6,629.23, until you test what happens if the bonus does not pay.
Part-Time PTO: How Accrual Scales When You Work Fewer Hours
At a 10-day full-time accrual rate, a 24-hour week earns 48.05 hours of PTO a year: six 8-hour days, but still two full weeks off. How part-time accrual works, with worked numbers.
Biweekly, Semimonthly or Monthly: Why the Same Salary Gives Different Paychecks
A $58,000 salary at a 22% effective rate is $1,740 every two weeks, $1,885 twice a month or $3,770 once a month. Why the paychecks differ, and how to budget around the two extra biweekly checks.
Does a 401(k) Contribution Cut Your Paycheck by the Full Amount?
On an $80,000 salary at a 24% effective rate, a 6% contribution puts $184.62 a paycheck into the plan but lowers net pay by $140.31 in the calculator's model. Why, and where that model stops.
How Much of Your Salary Will You Take Home? Find Your Effective Tax Rate First
On a $65,000 salary, the difference between a 25% guess and a 21.6% rate read off a pay stub is $2,210 a year. How to find your own effective rate and use it.