Optimizing Your Employment Benefits

Our discussion on how to protect your wealth concludes with this chapter on how best to take advantage of benefits offered by your employer. Unlike the humorous television commercial, benefits offered by your employer do not come from France (“French benefits”) but rather are commonly referred to as fringe benefits. The nature and amount of fringe benefits you receive from your workplace depends on your employer, its current and future cash flow, and its attitude toward providing (usually) tax-free benefits to its employees. Typically, employers offer fringe benefits not only for competitive reasons, but also because they receive an income-tax deduction for doing so, which thereby assists them with the management of their future cash flow.