Originally Posted by
Roverruckus
I would always take the money upfront, otherwise you are giving the company an interest free loan.
Yes but the 25% that’s withheld also needs to be paid back when you leave. You could have to wait a year or more to file your taxes to get this back. So say you take 49k in bonus and 12ish is withheld, either you better have that much of your own money in savings or you are going to need a personal loan at a much higher interest rate than 30k sitting in a CD for 2 years would pay.
And honestly most of us will use the bonus - paid in full or deferred - as normal spending money or paying down debt. Not many 1-2 year regional FOs are planning on investing it to make a few grand. It’s being factor as income for the first 2 years.
If there is ANY chance you think you will leave before 2 years, defer.