Salary is One Thing, But Total Compensation is Where Wealth Resides

We’re talking money today. More specifically, we’re talking total compensation: what that actually means AND how to make sure you’re not leaving a dime on the table when you’re taking a new job or re-negotiating at a current job. We all need to understand the entire picture of compensation. Look at your career as the "business of you" because it IS business.

Here is what I mean when I say ‘total compensation package:

Cash + Benefits + Equity/Incentives + Time Off = Total Compensation Package?

While many of us look at the base salary, a significant part of maximizing your total package is understanding exactly what your company's benefits are and how to maximize them. That means identifying companies that have the specific benefits you might want at your current stage of life or the next stage if you plan to stay in the role for a while. And don’t underestimate how fast your stage of life can change and how what you need most from work can change with it—any caregivers or new parents out there??

It's easy to identify great benefits if you're in a sales role and get a company car with gas and car insurance covered. But many times, some of the biggest bang benefits aren’t so easy to spot. For some, finding a company with female-friendly benefits could be worth upwards of $30,000 when you take into consideration egg freezing or IVF benefits. That’s not going to be included in the number on your offer letter, but it can’t be ignored.?

Education benefits are well known — most of the big employers offer to help employees get a new degree or certifications. But did you know some companies help pay off student loans? According to a recent report from the College Board, 54% percent of career starters enter their jobs with student debt (with the average debt level at $29,100!) — and that number goes up exponentially for Black and Latino professionals. On average, $25,000 more for Black graduates.?

There are employers that will pay up to $10,000 toward your loans! And that’s not going to be on your offer letter. But researching and knowing which companies offer that benefit can make all the difference.?

LinkedIn’s Job Collection feature allows you to expand job search and discover jobs that not only match your skills and experience but offer the benefits such as education and student loan assistance, flexible work, parental leave, 401K, and many more as part of the total rewards package.?

Here are a few tips to make sure you don’t leave any money on the table:

Pump up your financial literacy?

Many professionals of color are first generation knowledge workers or the first in their families to work for companies offering “off the offer letter benefits” and incentives. For many of us, not only are we the first generation to work in a white collar job, we’re the first to graduate college. And when we took our first steps into the business world, we faced a very real information deficit.?

As we negotiated compensation at our first job, we didn’t have foundational knowledge to help guide us. Our parents weren’t in jobs that had 401ks or employee stock purchase programs. In fact, study after study shows that Black and Latino workers are notably less likely to maximize their 401ks, likely because no one has explained the financial benefits or shared models for how to make wealth planning part of our daily practices. Language and lexicon matters — and the more informed you have walking into that first negotiation, the more money you’ll likely leave earning.?

• Pro Tip: Take a class to increase your prowess in the financial world. LinkedIn Learning offers courses that are good for foundational knowledge. Check out: Build Your Financial Literacy and Financial Literacy: 401(k), 403(b), and Self-Directed IRA . LinkedIn Top Voices such as Tiffany ‘The Budgetnista’ Aliche and Ash Cash , ‘The ‘Hip-Hope Financial Advisor speak directly to people of color about financial security. Follow them as these voices can help you determine what exactly your total compensation package can and should be.?

Special shout out to my friend Tiffany Aliche who advises new professionals to plan for contributing to 401Ks and employee stock purchase programs by splitting their check before getting their check–to automate investments through easy payroll deductions with a simple call to HR. That’s smart money!?

Build your own personal Board of Directors

Early in my career, I got a job offer that included Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) and I had no idea what they were. And this wasn’t something my dad — the person I called for help with virtually anything in the world — could help me with.

After putting RSUs into BING, I turned to a mentor with a lot of questions: “Is this a lot? When do I get this money? How long do I have to wait to get it? What’s a vesting schedule? Having someone I could turn to with these questions — someone I knew and trusted and was knowledgeable about stock options — took me from nervous to confident. FYI, it wasn’t a lot of RSUs for my level. I negotiated for more, and ten years later I used that money for my home down payment. Just saying, information is power and can get you closer to wealth creation.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The only way to get comfortable talking about money is to TALK ABOUT MONEY. Many of us are brilliant in our professional lives, but just don’t have any education or training on personal finance or financial negotiation. There can be a lot of ego and shame tied up in talking about our finances. I was nervous talking to my mentor about the exact numbers in my offer letter. Would he think, is that all you’re making or judge me for wearing a gold watch and not knowing what RSUs are? In the end, I stifled my ego, and he advised me to ask for more RSUs and helped me make the case for the increase and we negotiated a shorter vesting cycle after one year.

Your personal Board of Directors are people who can advise you on very different aspects of your career — and ultimately, want the best for you. YOUR NETWORK IS SIMPLY A COMMUNITY OE PEOPLE WHO ARE ROOTING FOR YOU TO WIN! There are people on my personal Board of Directors who understand my journey as a Black man or a gay man, and there are others who are just amazing communications professionals or executives in corporate America. Different people will serve different roles, but all should be folks you can call or ping for help and who will always answer the call. I can’t stress this point enough; make sure your board of directors is diverse. My grandmother used to say, “God is going to use all kinds of people to bless you.” Because this is on LinkedIn and not Sunday school, I’ll say it like this, many of us need people with different backgrounds we can trust to help us decode culture at work. Check out my previous newsletter on not knowing what to bring to a white coworkers home before a memorial .?

• Pro-Tip: Your board is about five or six people who know your skills (workplace superpowers), know your career and financial ambitions and who understand how you want work and life to harmonize. Connect with friends, people who’ve accomplished what you want to accomplish at work, former colleagues or managers as well as people you know outside of your current field of work. One of my board members is a doctor who is also a father, because my partner and I are family planning. Our work worlds are quite different, but he’s successfully naviating fatherhood, being a present husband and a demanding career. That makes him a great advisor.?

Information is Power, so Research Those “Off the Offer Letter Benefits”

Take a look at the companies where you want to work and see what their pay equity is like. If they have an annual diversity report, are they sharing what their pay parity numbers are for men and women or people of color? If you’re in a minority group, this matters A LOT.?

Know someone that worked at the company you’re interested in? Ask for some intel. While negotiating for a job, someone in my network sent me their offer letter from two years prior from the same company. It gave me a great frame of reference for my negotiation. Information is power — make sure you have as much of it as you can get. Technology and your network are your information superpowers.?

• Pro-Tip: You can learn a ton from the knowledge shared within our AI-powered collaborative articles on LinkedIn, which, in just one year, have surpassed more than 10 million contributions. With thought leaders like Morgan Young and Jade Walters , sharing their expertise and tips for navigating the workforce, there’s no shortage of knowledge to absorb. There’s a whole section of topics around Compensation & Benefits that you can begin reading from here .

Finally, dig deep into the “off the offer letter benefits” while you’re job hunting and negotiating, and stay current on everything your current company has to offer–because a company's offerings can change and so might your priorities. Keep in mind that as you advance in the company more things become negotiable. Ask your recruiter or HR partner about fertility benefits, adoption or surrogacy assistance, paid parental leave, access to discounted professional services like attorneys (wills, prenups, power of attorney), transportation stipends, cell phone stipends, company discounts on product they sell, sponsored or discounted life insurance, even survivor support for your family if the unthinkable happens (ie if you die, will your company accelerate your equity or stock vests and give that money to your beneficiaries?).?

It’s these benefits — that won't be in the number on your offer letter — that help contribute to your wealth creation and your financial security.