YATJO(Job Offer)T: I need your input... job A or B? [[UPDATE Uh oh...]]

[madoka]

A few things to think about:

Taxes
If job A is done as a 1099 you will have to pay the employer share of the SS and Medicare tax which will add about 7% on the first $114K and 1.45% between $114 and $200K.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as an independent contractor, wouldn't you be able to deduct a lot more business related expenses on your taxes? Stuff like your new computer, the miles you drove for work, etc.

 

[rh71]

20s with no kids right? Start your career and 401k as early as possible - you don't need that "burst" money now.

B. Though 4% contribution is kind of low, the salary helps.

I'm sure A will come along again if you don't get B.

 

[brianmanahan]

Contracting agencies take a decent chunk. That $95/hr cost for dev jobs.. the devs are probably making in $50-60s.

Why are you scared of contracting?

mainly because of the increased cost of things like taxes and insurance, plus no benefits like 401k/pension. especially the insurance, cuz with my medical history i dont think any insurance company would want to take me. maybe with obamacare that wouldn't be a problem. i am not sure the increased cost of everything

that and no vacation.

but i really think that the type of work software development contractors tend to get - focused on getting 1 or 2 things done vs juggling a&d, development, support, people management, etc - would be way better for me. i end up envying most of the contractors i work with because i would much rather be doing their work than mine.

 

[Imp]

This is interesting... overwhelmingly "B". I'm going to agree.

"A" might pay slightly more in terms of direct salary, but way more risks wit health insurance and job security/outlook.

"B" has way more benefits, "permanent" on paper, and it's in Manhattan. Cost of living might kill you, but one item on my "if I ever get rich" list is to live in Manhattan for a while.

 

[brianmanahan]

"B" has way more benefits, "permanent" on paper, and it's in Manhattan. Cost of living might kill you, but one item on my "if I ever get rich" list is to live in Manhattan for a while.

manhattan would suck

 

[ThatsABigOne]

I would pick B as well. More stable income it seems. I hope all goes well with you regardless of the path you choose.

 

[EagleKeeper]

62$ for contract work? ugh, i wouldnt touch it for any less than 80$. i just interviewed some devs for 6 month contracts that cost anywhere from 80$ to 95$ per hour. of course, they might not be seeing all that money, but still.

i vote B. maybe. you could get insurance from your wife and give A a try.

actually go A and let me know how contracting is, lol. i really want to do it but am scared to try.

Contracting agencies usually get about 1/4-1/3 of the rate that the bill the client depending on how good the consultant is and how many layers to go through to get to the contractor.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Conservatively speaking, I'll get at least 50 hrs a week x $62 x 52 weeks = $161,200 in a year.

* Let's take out the average of 9 holidays & 3 weeks of vacation & 1 week of sick day I won't get paid = 6 weeks of non-pay. So the 'real' take home pay is 46 weeks = $142,600

* No healthcare. I have no idea how much healthcare costs, never gotten one outside of work. How much approximately for single (or can I go under my wife's work plan?)

* Contract is 12 months minimum with possibility of extension and/or permanent hire.

Depending on the client; you may be able to work through the "lost" holidays and vacation time.

Health insurances can be covered by your wife if she has it.

You can stuff as much as 35%of your pay into a SEP account (equivalent to an IRA)

 

[Tweak155]

I'm a contractor that gets benefits and I'm on W2. You CAN have the best of both worlds!

There is nothing scary about contracting as long as you're good with money. I haven't seen any downtime since I started contracting, and I'm on my 4th company. Of course, it has been on my terms that I have left each of them, but 3 out of the 4 have extended upon initial terms because they liked my work.

As long as you kick ass, they'll find work for you.

 

[Doppel]

I'm kind of torn and thinking out loud:

Job A [Contract position in NJ]: $62/hr full time. They have lots of work and they pay overtime. They said I'll need to work 55-60 hours potentially. That's good money right there. But it's a bare contract job. No vaca, no benefits, no holidays, nothing.

* Conservatively speaking, I'll get at least 50 hrs a week x $62 x 52 weeks = $161,200 in a year.

* Let's take out the average of 9 holidays & 3 weeks of vacation & 1 week of sick day I won't get paid = 6 weeks of non-pay. So the 'real' take home pay is 46 weeks = $142,600

* No healthcare. I have no idea how much healthcare costs, never gotten one outside of work. How much approximately for single (or can I go under my wife's work plan?)

* Contract is 12 months minimum with possibility of extension and/or permanent hire.

* I have the offer letter in my hand.

Job B [Permanent position in Manhattan]: $115,000 -120,000 a year. This is a full-blown perm position in a hippie company with what seems to be excellent benefits. Notably:

• Organic breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks ($0 spent daily on food!)
• Complimentary in-house yoga classes
• Full health care benefits
• Destination staff retreats (nice)
• Paid vacation days and major holidays
• 401K with 4% employer contribution
• Monthly TransitChek pass (free $112 monthly)
• Biweekly chair massages
• Chiropractic adjustments
• Staff concierge service

Obviously yoga, massage and chiropractic stuff are fluff. But they all add up to be a nice startup-esque environment. It sounds like it would be a fun, dynamic place to work than job A.

* It's clear that job B is more desirable in both pay, growth, stability, and outlook.

I do NOT have job B's offer. Only second round of interview.

The question is... do I pass on job A because I could possibly land B? A wants me to start on 18th (moving very fast). I think I'm going to ask B if they can hurry up nicely.

Pros and cons of job A:
+ Lots of 'burst' money from get-go with OT. Easy to save up money fast for buying a house.
+ Work will be frantic and hard, but it will be 'easy'- stuff I already know.
+ Job offer in hand. I can take it and go. Both jobs are better than my current one.
- Not a 'career', no guarantee of extension (although likely) or perm hire
- Boring ass inland NJ. This effectively ends my 'youth'. Go to work, come home in NJ, boring.
- Need to buy/lease a car.

Pros and cons of job B:
+ Better overall compensation
+ Great work environment
+ Gets to work in Manhattan which I've never done and always wanted to do once in my life. I always wanted to work, then hit up happy hour/bar crawl with friends and coworkers in NYC. This personal fulfillment cannot be underestimated. I need to get this out of my system for few years.
+ No need for car
- Looks like challenging new work & lots to learn. Frankly I'm so used to being comfortable, I'm bit scared to tackle new things.
- Don't have the offer.

Hmmmm what are your thoughts? I should take A and just run with it. It'd be foolish to throw what I have on the table just for the B's prospect of offer.

This is easy. Tell B to hurry up. In the meantime if they cannot answer soon take A. If B then comes alone tell A sorry nice to know you.

 

[EagleKeeper]

I'm a contractor that gets benefits and I'm on W2. You CAN have the best of both worlds!

There is nothing scary about contracting as long as you're good with money. I haven't seen any downtime since I started contracting, and I'm on my 4th company. Of course, it has been on my terms that I have left each of them, but 3 out of the 4 have extended upon initial terms because they liked my work.

As long as you kick ass, they'll find work for you.

Some big name (nationwide) contracting agencies will provide you with benefits; Most do not.

I have worked with two: Technisource and Robert Haft that had benefits available. Haft was more a employee and paid you such.

 

[JBT]

I'd lean on B hard. Sounds like a great place.

 

[Zeze]

Update in OP.

 

[Zargon]

dude you forgot that you have to pay 15% self employment tax vs 7.x% so you need to subtract that ~7.5% off the pay for a

 

[Drako]

You should have taken B

 

[Ns1]

'grats on the new gig!

 

[Scarpozzi]

Congrats. Keep your eyes peeled for other opportunities before your contract runs out. My bro-in-law used to play the contract game. He changed jobs every 1-2 years and couldn't guarantee pay on the next one would be as good as the last. He also struggled with healthcare costs and insurance headaches because the insurance provided was often 3rd tier plans that only reimbursed 30-60 days after he fronted the cost of whatever services he got.

My point is, if you get a permanent job offer somewhere, definitely consider leaving the higher pay for more stability unless you're comfortable living off the wife's salary when you're in between contracts for 6 months or longer.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

62$ for contract work? ugh, i wouldnt touch it for any less than 80$. i just interviewed some devs for 6 month contracts that cost anywhere from 80$ to 95$ per hour. of course, they might not be seeing all that money, but still.

i vote B. maybe. you could get insurance from your wife and give A a try.

actually go A and let me know how contracting is, lol. i really want to do it but am scared to try.

I just saw this thread. I decided to do contract-based consulting in August and haven't looked back. I figured I'd learn much more by being exposed to different client environments and build new skillsets. One key factor in my favor is that my wife is a state government employee so I just jumped on her insanely cheap (relatively speaking) benefits and have no worries.

You're right about the numbers above -- those guys aren't seeing those numbers. I know what my company bills me out at and I get about 40% of the hourly rate. Still a good chunk of change (a little more than the OP's hourly rate) and I'll probably hit them up for a raise when the first year is over.

I'm a contractor that gets benefits and I'm on W2. You CAN have the best of both worlds!

I'm a W2 contractor as well but the benefits were more expensive than just going on my wife's plan.

 

[Ns1]

Congrats. Keep your eyes peeled for other opportunities before your contract runs out. My bro-in-law used to play the contract game. He changed jobs every 1-2 years and couldn't guarantee pay on the next one would be as good as the last. He also struggled with healthcare costs and insurance headaches because the insurance provided was often 3rd tier plans that only reimbursed 30-60 days after he fronted the cost of whatever services he got.

My point is, if you get a permanent job offer somewhere, definitely consider leaving the higher pay for more stability unless you're comfortable living off the wife's salary when you're in between contracts for 6 months or longer.

srsly though, if wifey's got a full time gig with insurance why doesn't he just go under her plan?

 

[Scarpozzi]

srsly though, if wifey's got a full time gig with insurance why doesn't he just go under her plan?

Yeah...he should. I was just giving an example of how much I've seen contract jobs negatively affect folks. You can take a huge hit if you don't have benefits....

 

[Zeze]

dude you forgot that you have to pay 15% self employment tax vs 7.x% so you need to subtract that ~7.5% off the pay for a

This is W2 contract, not 1099/C2C crazy tax-ridden non-sense.

 

[Zeze]

You should have taken B

Who wouldn't if I had the option?

 

[onza]

Def. C

 

[Zeze]

Def. C

Th... those days are behind me.

 

[Zeze]

So.. mini update.

I went to the Job B interview for the hell of it.

It went.... really well. God dammit. I didn't tell them I took a job offer.

FFS.... I want B...