Comment by ethbr1

4 hours ago

A US employer also generally provides health insurance and retirement, of which they pay a large piece.

> A US employer also generally provides health insurance and retirement, of which they pay a large piece.

Health insurance yes, retirement… no, not really. They may offer a 401k plan and some might even offer a match, but most companies offer at most a 4% salary match (dollar for dollar, or sometimes 50c per dollar).

So, it’s a vehicle to invest retirement funds with some tax advantages, but it’s not really “providing” it like you would subsidized healthcare.

For a role like that, they'd likely cover a decent chunk of the premium cost. Its not always the full cost though, FWIW. People earning such a wage paying for the rest of their family often still spend hundreds of dollars a month for their premiums, along with also needing to stash a few hundred dollars a month towards healthcare savings whether in an HSA or an FSA.

I do agree though, such a thing should also be considered when thinking about total cost of the compensation. Things definitely start getting a bit fuzzier though. You then also get stuff like HSA matching, 401k matching, etc.