Benefits Are Pay: Total Compensation and the Employer Match

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy adds up what a job is worth beyond the salary: the employer's share of the health premium, the employer's half of Social Security and Medicare, and the retirement match.

He follows one employee earning $50,000 and shows that total compensation comes to $63,100, and $750 less when a default contribution rate leaves half the match uncollected. Along the way he defines vesting, points to the one line on a W-2 that shows what your health coverage costs, and shares the Bureau of Labor Statistics finding that benefits are 30 percent of what private employers spend on pay.