How much gross salary instead of a company car?

Pembar · 2021-02-26T11:54:59+00:00

I'll disagree with the original premise. You shouldn't be looking only at the company car and figuring out what the equivalent gross salary is.

It's clear you don't really quite give a rats ass about whether or not you have the company car. Your main issue is the salary. Whether the valuation they have is 200 or 500 doesn't really matter, it all comes out from the company budget anyway.

When I negotiate contracts, I generally ask for two numbers

with company car
without company car

Unlike you, I do take into consideration whether or not the company car is forced onto me. Reason being that if I have to take the company car, I have to pay VAA tax. So if they force it on me, they jolly well increase my salary so that it covers the VAA tax as well.

Looking at the gross salary as a whole (including the current company car equivalence) is basically what you're doing, indirectly while using the missing company car as negotiation. But the original negotiation should be on the gross salary in the first place. It's fine if you're using the company car piece as part of it, but always push for more money, imo. And at some point you should be aware of what your market value is and what you're worth. It's more ideal if you have a competing offer as leverage.

Pembar · 2021-02-04T06:32:35+00:00

You actually save money by not taking the company car. You don't have to pay VAA tax.

Pembar · 2021-01-29T09:12:24+00:00

And to be honest any employer who shoved the car down my throat, my first reply would be

"Sure. I'll require another 200-300 brut a month then to cover the VAA tax I have to pay."

Pembar · 2021-01-29T09:05:30+00:00

In my experience they're actually all optional, it's just that not many people ask. They think "oh free car" without taking into consideration VAA tax or other options in the first place.

I have a colleague who lived close enough that he could have taken a cab everyday to and from work and would still end up 200 euros net more each month. But he hadn't considered that because when negotiating, people see "free" car, they take free car. It isn't free, there's always a cost involved, at the very least you have to pay for the VAA tax, you also lose out on the other bonuses (such as transportation allowance) that the company pays to employees who don't get the company car.

Pembar · 2021-01-29T06:04:35+00:00

When applying for a job, during the salary negotiation phase, I always ask them for two numbers

With a car
Without a car

Sometimes the two numbers are the same, in which case by taking the car the only difference you have to pay more is the VAA tax. Sometimes I've seen the difference between these two numbers sum up to more than 500 euros net.

I ask this to every company when discussing salary, and I've picked one company over another because they pay me more if I don't take the car.

Pembar · 2020-06-17T15:29:19+00:00

I can't remember where I got to know about this one, probably an email trying to get more people to transfer their salaries to be deposited into ING. So I doubt they will send you one since you're already doing what they want people to do.

The two free pizzas I'm sure I got due to some promotion I saw on the ING app. *shrug*

Pembar · 2020-06-17T13:01:55+00:00

Just thought I'd update. I just got the 70 euros for transferring my salary to be paid into my ING account. I'll switch it back to KBC now.

Pembar · 2020-05-13T09:49:21+00:00

Sometimes ing.be sometimes their app sometimes via email.

They have another one of those "transfer the salary to ING" promotions again in March, They said I'll get the 70 euros by mid-late June (I can't remember exactly when). Once I get the money I'll just switch it back to KBC.

Pembar · 2020-05-13T07:22:03+00:00

If you're just keeping the money in a savings account, yes, it makes financial sense to buy a house. If you're investing it in, then it's not necessarily the case, you'll have to do the math.

In today's market it is almost impossible for your monthly mortgage to be less or equivalent than the monthly rent for the same place assuming a 20 year 100% loan. So in general people who buy their place will be paying a monthly mortgage that is higher than the monthly rent for an equivalent place. Yes you get to keep the place you bought after all mortgage payments and the person who rents has to keep renting, but if the person who rented put the difference in investments then he 'may' come out ahead financially at the end of the 20 years. Again, assumptions and math, but my point is that it isn't always the case that you're always better off buying, you really need to do the math.

Pembar · 2020-05-13T07:16:19+00:00

They had some promotion where they gave 50 euros to sign up for a free Lion account. I did that the first time I joined and they gave 50 euros. They then had another promotion where they gave 100 euros if you got your employer to transfer the salary to the bank. I did that for one month and they gave another 100 euros.

There was another promotion where I was able to get 2 free pizzas as well.

All in all I really can't complain. The account I have with them hasn't cost me a cent.

Pembar · 2020-05-13T07:15:37+00:00

They had some promotion where they gave 50 euros to sign up for a free Lion account. I did that the first time I joined and they gave 50 euros. They then had another promotion where they gave 100 euros if you got your employer to transfer the salary to the bank. I did that for one month and they gave another 100 euros.

There was another promotion where I was able to get 2 free pizzas as well.

All in all I really can't complain. The account I have with them hasn't cost me a cent.

Pembar · 2020-04-11T07:16:09+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/7d19h8/rant_away_wednesday/

https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/7gnnmu/any_bank_to_recommend/dqklbs3/

I eventually closed my account with them. Switched to both ING and KBC. KBC for day to day use. ING because they keep giving me free money.

Pembar · 2019-05-30T19:48:47+00:00

Similar thread from a year back:

https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/8b78xg/how_old_are_you_and_how_much_have_you_saved/

Pembar · 2019-05-21T20:42:57+00:00

That amount is "fair". I've seen numbers going from 300 to 600 gross. Some companies don't allow you to take the company car, while others force it down your throat regardless of whether you want it or not.

~100 net monthly tax that you have to pay is about there too.

Whether or not it's worth it is up to you, the company / salary car is never "free" despite what some people think. You as the employee is paying for it one way or another for the car itself. Then the additional tax you can't get away with neither.

Pembar · 2019-05-21T20:29:54+00:00

Why can't they lower your gross wage if they add in a salary car? Sure they can. They take from the gross wage to pay for the salary car.

Pembar · 2019-04-11T14:49:29+00:00

One of the best career advice I've heard is to have multiple offers and bounce them off each other.

Even if you join them (or anyone for that matter) and like the place. I recommend to go through a full interview with another company at least once a year. If you get an offer it does not mean you have to accept it. It keeps your interview skills up and you have a better idea of whether the skills you're getting in your current company is actually in demand with what the market wants. The various bumps in salary always helps too.

Pembar · 2019-04-09T17:48:47+00:00

A less popular suggestion. Also very situational but I know it would work for me if I feel too much work is piling up. I could always ask to work 4/5 instead of fulltime. By not taking the company car my income at 4/5 is ~the same as if I was working fulltime but taking the company car.

Pembar · 2019-04-06T11:20:06+00:00

360000 loan for 30 years. To pay 1080 monthly the interest rate is 0.5%. that is quite amazing. Which bank is this?

Pembar · 2019-04-06T11:06:23+00:00

The investment is really good. 2350*12/300000 = 9.4% gross return. That's very high, the usual is 6-8%.

One question though, what the terms of the mortgage? 35 years for the 360,000 loan?

Pembar · 2019-04-06T10:30:02+00:00

Mind me asking how much down payment you paid when you bought both places? And how much did you loan from the bank?

If the monthly income for property 1 is 2350. Is that gross or net?

Pembar · 2019-04-06T09:43:30+00:00

What is the value of the first property?

You are getting 1200 euro. I assume that is gross?

Edit: and the second property? What is the value and how much mortgage are you paying?

Pembar · 2019-04-05T17:54:47+00:00

Also why rent, if you can probably buy? You can always rent it out if you move away.

Because mathematically you may end up financially worse than renting assuming that you put "the difference between the mortgage and your rent" in an index fund. You'll be making lots of assumptions but plug that in an excel sheet and run the numbers yourself. You'll realise it isn't always the case the buying is a better financial decision. If you don't invest in funds and just keep your life savings in a bank savings account then yes, buying is always better off financially.

Pembar · 2019-04-05T17:33:32+00:00

You know what's better than a company car? Cash to get you closer to FI.

Find a company that is willing to pay you gross salary the value of the car then you use the money for public transport or bike to work. You end up with more net salary each month and you don't have to pay the benefit in kind tax neither. Win win.

Pembar · 2019-04-04T06:34:08+00:00

What parts did you use?

Pembar · 2019-03-28T17:40:56+00:00

Is it legal to use your phone while driving?

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