Getting Your Employer to Pay YOU Extra!

15. January 2008, 2:12 am ESTFiled in CT News

Holiday bonuses, overtime, performance incentives… these are NOT what I am going to talk about in this article. So how do you make extra money from your employer?

First off compared to other ways of making extra money from your employer, this concept can be done year round or whenever. Along with that, it usually doesn’t require having to make much effort.

Holiday bonuses only come once (or twice) a year. Overtime is easy to get, but many employers (Wal-Mart for example) don’t approve of them. Performance incentives usually means harder working and more stressful labor. So what is this new recommendation… employer stock programs.

These programs are usually offered by big name companies mainly. Wal-Mart, Lowes, Sears, Home Depot, etc. Being an employee for these companies allows you to usually have the ability to enlist in their stock purchasing programs. A select few also will match a percentage of your investment.

How do stock purchasing programs work in simple terms?

When you purchase stock in your employer, your opening the window of opportunity to earning money if the stock goes up. But just like investing in the stock market in general, your risking losing your money. So its not guaranteed you’ll get a return. BUT, if you keep an eye on the news for your employer and some of the sale’s data that some present you with in the form of a Stockholder’s File, you’ll be sure to make some money.

These stock purchasing programs are usually managed by a stock broker of some sort. You can deposit funds via checking account or from small amounts withdrawn from your paycheck automatically. This option is totally up to you. For instance: While I was employed with Wal-Mart, I used to have $20USD taken out of my paycheck. With the 15% company match, that was $23.00USD for every check.

After a few checks withdrawals, I took the money out of the stock purchasing program and received $140 (after the $20 brokerage fee.)

So if this seems like something of interest, I suggest you contact your human resources manager for more information on your employers stock purchasing program. Keep in mind that some may have this additional benefit and some don’t.