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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Baylor3217 on July 08, 2013, 07:13:22 PM

Title: Health Insurance and new job opportunity
Post by: Baylor3217 on July 08, 2013, 07:13:22 PM

I'm currently working at a job as a full time employee with health insurance benefits.

I'm just north of 30 with 3 kids and have a new job opportunity as a IT contractor that would pay me about $60,000 more per year in nominal dollars as a W2 contractor.

The only catch is the position doesn't offer health insurance.

I'm hesitant to take this position given the wife and kids and the fact that contractors are the first to get cut.  The position is a contract to hire position and conversion typically happens in the first 3 - 6 months.

Any thoughts on risk assessment hear and more importantly, what would it cost to get comparable (assume generic fortune 500 level health insurance for a family) health insurance until i was at some point in the future converted to a full time employee?

Title: Re: Health Insurance and new job opportunity
Post by: onehappypanda on July 08, 2013, 08:38:23 PM

A few questions I'd consider: What is your current financial safety net? How long could you last based on your current savings if you were to lose this job or someone had major medical needs? Do any of you have ongoing health issues, and/or do you plan on having more kids?

I'm not an expert, but a $60K jump in pay sounds like a pretty hefty benefit in a cost/benefit analysis. If you were to go the route of using fairly minimalist health insurance and paying out of pocket for basic healthcare, then subtract that cost of that. Then compare it to the risk of any major health issues or job loss, do you have the resources to weather that kind of storm if need be?  Particularly in the first few months, which sound like they'd be the riskiest in terms of potentially having to fall back on your safety net.