[ This is an excerpt from “Penguins Can’t Fly +39 Other Rules That Don’t Exist.” Order it now and read about 39 more rules that might be holding you back from living the story you deserve. ]
Many well-intentioned parents, grandparents, and teachers urge kids to get a job with good benefits.
I couldn’t agree more. Except.
Except that when most people talk about “benefits,” they usually mean really, really good health insurance (with full dental!) and some sort of retirement plan that will take care of you when you’re put out to pasture.
When I was going through high school, trying to decide what I wanted to do in life, I got the impression that these specific benefits were very important. Even more important than liking the actual job I was doing to obtain said benefits.
That seemed backward to me. The idea of doing a job I hated (or only kinda liked) just for the so-called benefits made shooting myself out of a cannon into a brick wall more appealing.
Fortunately, my parents did support me as I gravitated toward a career in art that pretty much assured there would be no such benefits.
It blows my mind how many people make major life decisions based almost exclusively on this narrow view of “benefits.” They are willing to stay stuck in dead-end jobs that eat their soul just because they have a good vision plan. I think that a Cadillac health insurance program or generous vacation packages are fine factors to consider when hashing out the pros and cons of any potential job. But they should never be the only ones. And maybe not even the main ones.
The truth is that my job offers NONE of the benefits in the traditional sense. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. In fact, my job as an artist, author, and speaker, comes with TONS of benefits:
- The work I do makes a difference.
- I spend every day doing things I love. I set my own hours.
- I am rewarded for the results my hard work generates.
- I don’t have to answer to clueless middle managers, corporate suits, or short-sighted shareholders.
- I get paid to travel to cool places.
- I have no dress code. (I literally wear jeans or sweatpants every day.)
- I can take time off whenever I want. (Kim and I were BOTH able to take a maternity leave when our kids were born.)
- On most days, I get to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my family.
- My daily commute is seven seconds long.
Now these benefits don’t come without a price. (In fact, ALL benefits come with a price of some sort.) Most of mine have required many years of hard work and persistence. Then there’s the pressure of being responsible for generating income (no sales = no groceries). Also, I don’t have a pension or company-matching 401k program, but I love what I do so much that I don’t envision ever really retiring. Oh yeah, and I have to pay a few hundred bucks a month for health insurance.
Totally worth it.
So yes, you should definitely have a job with benefits.
just make sure they’re the ones you really want.
[ This is an excerpt from “Penguins Can’t Fly +39 Other Rules That Don’t Exist.” Order it now and read all about 39 other rules that might be holding you back from living the story you deserve. ]
Yeah, basing your whole career around ‘benefits’ is a stupid idea :)
I love working from home and not having stupid middle management. Finding a place to work where you are treated like an adult is worth a whole lot!
(Also, you should move to a country where no-one gets their health insurance paid for by a company — it’s much easier to change jobs if you don’t like it here too!)
Yeah, the health care in this country is top notch, but how we pay for it is really screwed up. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I wonder what it would look like if EVERYBODY had to pay for insurance out of their pocket…like groceries. I bet things would get a whole lot more competitive and rates and prices would go way down.
In any case, not having to answer to “middle managers” is one swell benefit indeed!
It all comes down to money. At a regular job they can give you benifits or they can pay you more. Benefits are not something special you can only get by working for someone else. You can earn more working for yourself then buy benefits. Do not make benefits another set of golden handcuffs.
Josh Bulloc
Kansas City, MO
How can I help?
Josh, great job taking the “almightyness” out of the benefits offered by companies!
Jason,
You are truely blessed to do what you do and be able to take care of your family. In principle I agree with you – we should never make a decision about taking a job becuase of any one factor. And actually, the rule really holds for even you – you have a job with benefits.
These days the rule might be better stated – You must get a job with an Affordable Healthcare Plan. Sadly I have family and friends with the dreaded “pre-existing conditions” (such as cancer or HIV). As much as they would often like to scrap their jobs, the literally cannot afford to. Either they cannot find a carrier that will cover them or the cost is beyond anything they could cover with income from an alternative job. So until we have some sort of affordable universal healthcare available to the average Joe, they seem to be stuck. Adultitis seems to be winning in this case :-(
On the positive side – I did recent change jobs and took a contract hourly position w/o most of the usual benefits. I do get to buy my own insurance though ther company at a group rate, but do not get paid holidays or paid vacation or a 401k plan. So I just budget for the vacation and plan to take the time off when I need it (like Spring Break!) and adjust accordingly. For retirment, I put money into a Roth IRA. It actually gives me a sense of freedom I did not have in my more recent jobs working for “the man”. Reading K&J for the past few years definately contributed to me being willing to try out this alternative path at 50 years old and 30+ years of working (cue the 7 dwarfs singing “Hi Ho,Hi Ho”).
You can teach old dogs new trick (it just might take a while). Thanks.
Yes, as I mentioned, I do have some pretty sweet benefits with my job, even if not in the “traditional” sense. You bring up a great point about people with pre-existing conditions, etc. That is definitely a major problem, and I would say in those cases, healthcare benefits as provided by a company would probably weigh much heavier in the “which job is best for me” debate. My bigger point, and I know you agree with me, deals more with how many relatively healthy people put such a high emphasis on the almighty benefits, settling for a job they don’t like primarily because of fear.
Meanwhile, congrats on the new job. Freedom is a wonderful thing. Good to hear that you’ve gotten some helpful insight from our humble little website. We appreciate you hanging around!
Oh, and the “Hi Ho Hi Ho” song is my daughter’s new favorite tune. Her aunt and uncle got her a Snow White DVD for Christmas and she is in love with the dwarfs!
Oh, amen times about 1,000,000 on this post, Jason! I hear this phrase EVERY. SINGLE. DAY as a recruiter and job search consultant. Every day. I just want to reach through the phone and slap some sense into people sometimes.
I absolutely “get” how scary it can be not having company funded benefits. I was a single mom when I decided, “Aw, heck. I really want to strike out on my own.” And it’s terrifying. But MUCH more affordable than most people realize. Not to mention, tax deductible.
Surely, it’s not fun paying $300 for a tooth cleaning. But again.. freedom, job I love, tax deductible.
Also, as a small business owner, you can also easily set up a SEP-IRA, which is akin to a 401(K) for retirement savings. It’s not daunting. Does not take massive brilliance. Just a bit of navigating. And well worth it if you get to get up every day and do your thing.
Is what I say! :) Thanks for this post.
Jenny Foss
JobJenny.com
Jenny, I’m glad you commented, as it’s interesting to hear the perspective of someone in your position of helping people searching for the “perfect” job. What makes you great is that you yourself have chucked the company funded “benefits.” I like to think that the more examples there are of people who have taken a similar “risk” and somehow — gasp — survived! — the more likely it is for other to take the leap. Keep rocking.