Most of the carrier companies offer:

• 401K
• Choice of medical plans
• Health Savings Account option
• Dental, vision and prescription coverage
• Health care reimbursement account
• Dependent care reimbursement account
• Voluntary Driver Disability
• Sign up bonuses

and so on...
and then they offer 45-50ct per mile / 1100-1500$ per week

All of these things costs around 600$ per week.

Would you rather have all of those benefits, or would you rather earn 2000/2500$ per week and choose which benefits to order out of your pocket.

even when i was younger than i am now, i always wanted benefits, as they add up over time.

as if a person is very young, and no family, maybe THAT person would rather have the money, but herein lies a problem, NO ONE even considers...

"Pre-existing health conditions"

so suppose a nice healthy young person now needs to be on meds for something like high blood pressure, ok, maybe diet, exercise will lower that BP, but it will be documented when it was first diagnosed.

suppose nothing but meds work to lower the high BP, bam.."pre-existing conditions".

now suppose that same person needs an operation say maybe a bad valve in the heart? what to do when one needs in excess of $200,000 for open heart surgery?

suppose one gets hurt AT HOME, not on the job, say hurts his back, BAM.."pre-existing conditions" again.

so in my opinion, get all the bene's one can at even a young age, then if a problem arises, he/she is covered for the cost of health care, otherwise, MANY health benefits companies DO HAVE a waiting period to get on them, but if i recall, one MUST STILL pay for them!

kinda sucks when you pay for your benefits but still have to wait the probation period.

If I was young and single I'd take the money and if I wanted health ins. I buy a a major medical policy, but can't do that now because of obozocare.
Pre existing conditions? I've never had a an employer or insurance company ask about them when being hired, that only becomes a problem for self insured people.
You could have a nice fat Roth IRA and big saving account with $600 a week x 10 or 20 years!

Poll would be nice add on to this topic.
I do agree with both of you that insurance is definitely needed, but with the money you are getting paid without benefits you could choose insurance that suits your interest best, and save your earnings on benefits that you may not need.

Question remains, take lower wage and benefits offered, or take higher wage and sign up for benefits you want out of your pocket.

i tried the self insure plan, it was MORE costlier in the end, then a company paid plan. do not forget, as in individual, you are not going to get any real discounts, and the coverages go by a "menu" of what is available to you. go for the dirt cheap plan, and you'll wish you never did., as it just does not pay well.

employers get discounts as they have many employees. however, the employee working MUST be at a certain level (that is to say a minimum amount of employees working there) to gain a discount, otherwise, the employer can say they "offer benefits", but not necessarily pay for them.

Very good point!

I would rather earn 2000/2500 per week and choose which benefits to order out of my pocket.