Dues Payments Calculator
Start here by inputting your hourly pay rate to see how much you would pay in dues, both by month and by year.
Dues vs. Investment Calculator
Put your selections into the input fields and select the interest rate and years to retirement most similar to your situation. Then click the “calculate” button to see the results displayed. You can hit the “reset” button to calculate using different rates of return or other differences.
| 401(K) Plan Calculator | |
|---|---|
| Enter your monthly dues amount | |
| What is your estimated Rate of Return on your 401(k)? | |
| How many years until you retire? | |
| Total dues spent | |
| Total Amount You Could Save In Your 401k Plan (including 100% Company Match) | |
| This is an estimate. Actual results may vary. | |
Strike Loss Calculator
This form is auto-calculating. As you fill in the blanks, the Total Out of Pocket field will calculate. You can change any of the input fields to see what difference it makes on the Total Out of Pocket figure.
What will dues cost you?
- When you agree to pay dues to a union, you are deciding NOT to do other things with that money.
- For instance, what if you took that same 1½ – 2% of pay and placed it into a 401(k) plan or savings account?
- How much money would you save towards retirement?
- Remember, the company matches non-union 401(k) contributions at 100% for up to 6% of your pay. That’s a great return on your investment!
- For instance, what if you took that same 1½ – 2% of pay and placed it into a 401(k) plan or savings account?
- Use the calculator above to get a quick idea.
- Put in an anticipated monthly dues amount.
- Select the next 2 variables (expected return, and years until retirement), and then hit the calculate button.
- You will see how much you would pay in dues, and how much that same payment into your retirement account (matched 100% by the company) would have earned you. THAT is the real value lost!
Going on strike can be costly.
- When a union chooses to go out on strike, you assume the risk and pay the price….
- In addition to losing your paycheck, you become responsible for paying your own health benefits directly through COBRA, so your expenses actually increase during the strike
- COBRA insurance premiums are substantially higher than normal employee premiums (which are heavily subsidized by the company). Check with your HR manager to obtain the actual COBRA premium for your specific coverage
- If you want to estimate, a conservative estimate would be to multiply your current monthly insurance premiums by 5 and put that number in the Monthly Benefit Expense box. Your actual monthly benefit expense could be much higher
- Keep in mind that strike pay, if the union decides to pay at all, usually doesn’t start until the 3rd week of a strike, and it will rarely cover even your lost pay, not to mention the extra health benefit out-of-pocket expenses.
Bottom line: it could take years to recover the amount of money you would lose in a strike, even if you received a pay raise or other benefit as a result of the strike.