Reposting from last week, since I posted late in the week…
What percentage salary increase would it take for you to accept a new job, assuming you are happy with your current job?
At this point you could offer me 500% and I probably wouldn’t budge. I’m saving 85-90% of my net salary already, and have reached my coast-fire number, so I really couldn’t be bothered to change a running system.
I’m probably closer to 50%. I like my team and all and I’m basically coast-FI as well (should be retired by mid-50s w/o any more investment), so gambling on a new team isn’t particularly interesting. I should be FI within 10 years, and a 50% increase in salary would cut that by ~3 years, which isn’t a ton, but it’s not nothing.
That said, there are some non-monetary reasons I might accept a different job offer:
- within biking distance
- more interesting work
- a lot more PTO (I get about 3.5 weeks, should be 4.5 weeks next year)
- more flexible hours - I’m interested in dropping to 20-ish hours/week at some point
I could probably get 20% more by switching if I put some effort in, but that would only change my FI date by a year or so, and that’s not worth it if I end up hating the team.
I got 30 days paid leave and unlimited sick leave, work 100% from home and can work remotely without the need to confirm with anyone. I’ve been traveling 4 weeks in Malaysia this year, 2 weeks in Thailand and 2 weeks in India, and only used 5 leave days for some actual flight days that didn’t fall onto weekends. It’s really hard to beat, I can schedule my time whichever way I see fit, with the exception of a handful of fixed meetings I have on a weekly basis.
That sounds awesome, and might get me to switch from my current job.
But next year, I’ll have 22 days off, which is pretty close, 2x in office (not strictly mandatory, just need to give notice if I WFH), and my boss is really flexible about remote work (we’ve had people work remotely for 1-2 months at a time). Not quite as nice as your gig, but in the same ballpark.
My problem is basically every job opening I see gives less PTO than my current role (5 weeks, plus the company is shutdown the week between Xmas and NYD).
Yeah, I might be able to do a little better on PTO, but only by a couple days. We get 3 weeks vacation, 2 days “PTO,” and 12 company holidays, which is pretty competitive. I could also negotiate more days if I wanted, but I don’t see the point when I can just take unpaid time off at my current job.
But honestly, even then I might not bother switching. I can see the finish line, so I’d prefer to just stick it out instead of gamble.
I’ve been reading and watching a lot about portfolio structure theory (lots of Ben Felix videos), and I’ve decided to add in a small cap value tilt, especially since the last 10+ years have had outsized returns for large caps. So I’m shifting to a 10% tilt toward small cap value, and I may end up extending that to 20% depending on how my research goes.
I used to have a small tilt toward small caps and the healthcare sector, but I didn’t have good data to back that up and I ended up killing those tilts about 10 years ago. But the research is looking a lot more compelling, and now there are some solid ETFs that have reasonable expenses. Here are the funds I’m looking at:
- AVUV - small cap value, with an “active” component that removes less profitable companies, but it’s all based on data; related funds: DFSV (similar to AVUV, but with some different thresholds), RWJ (S&P 600 small cap value, but revenue weight instead of market weight), IJS (S&P 600 small cap value by iShares)
- AVDV - int’l small cap value, again with an “active” component like AVUV; related funds: DISV (similar to AVDV, but run by Dimensional International), ISVL (iShares int’l small cap value, but only in developed markets), AVES (same company as AVDV, but emerging markets all cap value)
I’m thinking of splitting between AVUV and DFSV for better diversification (quite a bit of difference), and AVDV and AVES for international (probably not going to bother w/ DISV). I’m still researching, so I’m DCAing the portfolio into the new allocation.
I used to be 100% total market cap, with a small tilt toward US (70/30 US/international), and I’m moving toward the same US/international weight, but adding a 10% tilt toward small value, and I may end up doing a 10% tilt to value across the board (in addition to the 10% small cap value tilt).
Not sure if this is going to work out, but I figure it shouldn’t be a huge difference vs a more boring 2-fund or 3-fund portfolio. I’m 100% stocks for now, and I intend to keep it that way until I’m within 5 years of my FI number (and may stick with it, depending on what I choose to do after FI).
It’s open enrollment time here at the company and I was wondering if anyone is familiar with the HSA contribution limits.
Mainly, my spouse and I each are eligible for an individual HSA. However the combined maximum of 2 individual accounts is more than the family limit. My question: is our combined max the family limit or the combo of 2 individual limits? My benefits HR person said it’s the individual limits, but I’m skeptical.
I don’t know, but I’m guessing your HR person is right, because I think it’s based on the plan. So if you’re foregoing family coverage, they’re two separate individual plans, so two separate limits. That said, if one of you gets a family plan, I think you wouldn’t be able to contribute to both HSAs.
But I’m not a tax expert. The difference is $50, so if you’re wrong, the penalty would be pretty small.
