For the employed physician out there, your salary comes to you in forms other than your monthly paycheck. This post is a reminder not to give some of it away.
employer match for retirement
You may have heard the advice to contribute to your retirement account, at least enough to get your employer match. That it’s free money.
Well, that money isn’t free. Your employer considers that money part of your compensation; if you don’t contribute to your retirement account enough to get your full match, you are working for less money than your boss is willing to pay.
If you make $150,000 per year, and your employer will match 3% of your salary in your 401(k)–that’s $4500 a year more of income that your employer is planning to pay you. Don’t leave it on the table! Make sure you put away enough to get that match.
CME funds
Similarly, if you have funds to pay for CME, use them! That money could have been paid to you directly as salary. Since it isn’t, use it to buy reference books you need, pay for licensing (if your employer doesn’t pay for it outright), cover dues to your specialty group, or attend a meeting. If your CME fund is generous enough, do several of those things.
This is really part of your salary. But if you don’t use it, your employer will happily pocket the rest.
I am still kicking myself over missing out on CME funds at my first position. I went to a meeting held in a resort town, and was told when I came home, “don’t do that again.” No explanation of what was wrong. But, trying to be a good employee, I didn’t use my CME money for 2 years after that. I certainly saved my employer plenty of money, money which was meant to be part of my compensation.
Insurance
Of course, health insurance (and maybe dental or vision insurance) are definitely factored in to your overall pay package. I know very few people who don’t take advantage of this benefit.
If, for some reason, your spouse has access to better coverage, I can see giving up this benefit. It might be worthwhile seeing if you can get extra salary in exchange for forgoing insurance coverage through your employer. They will definitely save money if they aren’t subsidizing your coverage, but I think it is less common for an employer to share that savings with you.
Other Perks
Your employer may have other perks that you should look into as well: discounts on cell phone coverage (if you need it for work, they might even pay for it), internet access at home, commuter passes, parking, gym membership, museum membership. Some locations may even offer housing allowances. These may be more or less valuable to you, but there is no reason not to accept your employer’s financial support if you were going to pay for the phone/parking/gym anyway.
What do you think about these perks? Is it selfish to take advantage? Did I miss an important perk an employee shouldn’t miss?