Sign-on Bonuses

Sign-on Bonuses.

You've worked hard to get where you are, no one gave you a hand-out, where others failed, you've succeeded, and it's clear your next company will benefit from your production and what you bring to the table. You've earned it, time to pay-up!

Totally agree - but after dozens of conversations over this past year with people at other companies across the country stuck in the same situation, I have to send out a friendly but important warning:

Please think deeply about the the long-term consequences of taking a sign-on bonus that you have to pay back if you leave in the first year or two.

My first thought is always, why would a company have to force you to stay via financial consequences if what they're doing is so game changing, ahead of the curve, and unique?

Real Loyalty is NOT bought, it's earned.

I get it, people hop in this business, and companies want to limit their exposure the best they can. But honeymoons end at some point, markets change, companies respond, often with staff cuts and rate changes, and if the response affects your business, you may be forced to align with a new company. If you've cashed that check, you're going to have to pay that back in order to make a move that may be in the best interest of your borrowers, referral partners, and you!

My advice: If you do feel comfortable getting into a clawback/golden handcuffs situation, do not think of that money as yours until that pay-back timeline has passed. Put it in a separate account and pay yourself that money if and when that time comes.

One more tip: If this style of bonus is all that's available to you and you're talking with a company that's open minded/flexible/and all that they claim to be in their pitch, see if they would be open to an amortized structure. In other words, if the bonus is 24k, you get 2k a month for a year. If you leave, you keep what's been paid and they keep what they haven't paid.