4 ms·
Why is "base salary" a metric that you are even paying attention to as opposed to "liquid annual compensation"? The second one is the one that puts money in you
by mquander 10y ago
Why is "base salary" a metric that you are even paying attention to as opposed to "liquid annual compensation"? The second one is the one that puts money in your pocket. I assume that anyone talking about "base salary" is actually trying to sloppily distinguish between liquid compensation and illiquid compensation and interpret accordingly.
Average Google engineers aren't getting $200-300k in "base salary", but they are putting (before taxes) $200-300k in their bank account per year.
- bsvalley 10y agoThe base salary is your true buying power. Financial institutes look at your gross base salary in order to calculate the income/debt ration. Stocks and bonuses are not included unless they ask for you W2 instead of your paychecks. Also, it's your minimum guaranteed income every month that you can use to pay your monthly bills.
- tsunamifury 10y agoActually most banks now take a pretty holistic look at your assets including RSUs
- toephu2 10y agojust fyi- when you apply for a mortgage, you are asked to provide the most recent 2 years of W2s. So total comp does help in securing a loan.
- bsvalley 10y agoYes and No. From my experience they do include W2s in your mortgage application in order to see your total assets in case you go bankrupt. They get as much info as they can, which is why they need your w2s ;) The rule for mortgage applications is still based on your monthly gross income. In the background, the actual decision is made off of your gross monthly income/debt ration. Otherwise if your employer's stock crashes tomorrow or if your annual performance is crap, they're pretty much screwed. Trust me they don't take any risks anymore since 2008. It's just as you said "a security", it doesn't impact the approval of your mortgage application.