Comments on: No Raise this year

By: Your job or your salary?

Your job or your salary? — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:01:23 +0000

[...] month I wrote a post about my DH not getting a raise this year, but intead getting a large bonus so the company wouldn’t be locked into higher salaries for [...]

By: LAL

LAL — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:52:42 +0000

I am guessing that we have to do that with the bonus this year because it’s like a raise but it’s a lump sum so we don’t want too much withheld.

I know the lump sum is better but it just doesn’t feel the same.

By: Barb1954

Barb1954 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:33:40 +0000

It’s just like a regular paycheck, just a much larger gross. So Federal and state incomes taxes are withhold, along with FICA and 401(k) deductions. So we usually only up with half of the gross.

By: LAL

LAL — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:18:18 +0000

Sounds like a good plan. How do you pay taxes on the commission? Do you have extra withheld?

By: Barb1954

Barb1954 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:20:22 +0000

Not really. One never knows what customers will do, whether the plant will screw up an order, how soon a deal will close, etc. etc. So many things can go wrong with timing and the economy that all DH has any control over is how hard he works, and even then others can screw things up.

The last two years we used his net commission to fund our Roth IRAs and put the rest into savings (paid for the new roof on our house this fall). Considering that we lost so much in our retirement accounts this year, we’re now thinking of taking a huge chunk of his commission (at least $10,000) and prepaying the principal on our mortgage. We only have 5-1/2 years to go until it’s paid off, but we’d like to speed that up. We also expect an inheritance from DH’s dad in the next year and we’re considering using that to pay off our house entirely.

By: LivingAlmostLarge

LivingAlmostLarge — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:10:23 +0000

That’s great at least you can plan for it!

By: Barb1954

Barb1954 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:17:32 +0000

p.s. Let’s up it this way, for the last two years, his sales commission was $10,000 more than I earned when I was working.

By: Barb1954

Barb1954 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:16:58 +0000

Only up through September. After the fourth quarter sales are finalized they’ll send him a print out with the number.

By: LivingAlmostLarge

LivingAlmostLarge — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:22:54 +0000

Barb do you have any idea of his sales commission? Or is it a surprise?

By: Barb1954

Barb1954 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:54:24 +0000

Be happy to have a job is the sentiment that most people should have this year. My “raise” is the notice in the mail I received today that my unemployed has been extended. My husband has a contract at a set amount (no raises in 3-1/2 years), but his sales commmission is determined by how much he sells each year and a percentage of sales. I’m not sure if it will be as high as last year (about half as much as his base pay), but the year’s not over yet.