Employer pay schedules

[iced]

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@Horseshoez wrote:

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@iced wrote:

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@Zoostation1 wrote:

Wow...I was not expecting to see people prefer biweekly to semi monthly.  Given that most bills are monthly and biweekly checks don't line up with that I would have expected people to prefer semi monthly given a choice.

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In my case at least, I don't rely on paychecks to cover bills so the timing between the two isn't meaningful.

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I'm sort of in between; I regularly sweep my checking account (where my direct deposits go) for spare cash and move it into savings and investments.  I suppose technically that means I rely on my pay checks to pay my bills.

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If you have the funds to cover your expenses sitting in checking/savings already, you're in the same camp; that is, it doesn't matter if the paycheck lands on the 15th or the 22nd for a bill due on the 20th because there's already funds there to cover it.

The people I see the dates mattering the most for are those who can't do this and need that paycheck to land in their account before the bill can be paid.

[Zoostation1]

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@iced wrote:

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@Horseshoez wrote:

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@iced wrote:

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@Zoostation1 wrote:

Wow...I was not expecting to see people prefer biweekly to semi monthly.  Given that most bills are monthly and biweekly checks don't line up with that I would have expected people to prefer semi monthly given a choice.

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In my case at least, I don't rely on paychecks to cover bills so the timing between the two isn't meaningful.

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I'm sort of in between; I regularly sweep my checking account (where my direct deposits go) for spare cash and move it into savings and investments.  I suppose technically that means I rely on my pay checks to pay my bills.

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If you have the funds to cover your expenses sitting in checking/savings already, you're in the same camp; that is, it doesn't matter if the paycheck lands on the 15th or the 22nd for a bill due on the 20th because there's already funds there to cover it.

The people I see the dates mattering the most for are those who can't do this and need that paycheck to land in their account before the bill can be paid.

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In my case under the current semi-monthly system the checck I received on 8/31 covers any bills/expenses/savings I have till 9/15, half of my monthly rent/utilities due on 10/1 (utilities are in my landlord's name and get paid with rent).  My  9/15 check covers any bills/expensies/savings through 9/30 and the rest of my rent/utilities due 10/1.  I find this to be super easy because I can always separate my expenses into first half and second half of the month, and in a way leaves me one paycheck ahead of sorts on rent/utilities.  With the new changes upcoming I've mapped out when my checks will be and how to stay ahead.  I think it would be confusing if I didn't put it all in writing with it not being on fairly consistent days of the month.   Take May for instance...my paycheck on 4/19 will be what is used for 5/1-5/16 and my check on 5/3 wil be for 5/16-5/31.  The check on 5/17 goes into savings and the process starts over again with the 5/31 check covering everything from 6/1-6/15 etc. Maybe I'd have a different view if I was hourly but since I'm on a straight salary semi monthy is the only pay schedule that makes sense to me (besides monthly which would be kinda tough at times).

[Anonymous]

My daughter (in the UK) gets paid monthly.   Sounds like that would be ideal for the OP, everything lining up nicely with monthly bills!

I was on biweekly schedule and like the majority here, that didn't cause any issues.    I am interested as to why the employer is switching though, moving to a new payroll system that doesn't support semi-monthly, or some other reason?    (I would suggest popular demand but I can't think of a workforce where that change would be top of mind!)

[Junejer]

I have had just about every pay cycle imaginable throughout my working life--weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly and whenever I sold something. As an employee, I preferred biweekly by far. The best biweekly time for us was a six year period where DW and I were on the exact same pay cycle every other Thursday.

As a self-employed person, my clients pay me monthly or quarterly. I used to think that I would hate getting paid monthly, but it's fine. I also like seeing "chunks" of money show up in my account. I also don't rely on my paycheck date to lineup with my bills.

[Horseshoez]

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@Junejer wrote:

I have had just about every pay cycle imaginable throughout my working life--weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly and whenever I sold something. As an employee, I preferred biweekly by far. The best biweekly time for us was a six year period where DW and I were on the exact same pay cycle every other Thursday.

As a self-employed person, my clients pay me monthly or quarterly. I used to think that I would hate getting paid monthly, but it's fine. I also like seeing "chunks" of money show up in my account. I also don't rely on my paycheck date to lineup with my bills.

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Agreed, I was self employed between 1982 and 2013 and my income ranged from monthly to well, whenever; both corporations I've worked for since 2013 have been on a bi-weekly pay schedule and I love it. 

[Zoostation1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My daughter (in the UK) gets paid monthly.   Sounds like that would be ideal for the OP, everything lining up nicely with monthly bills!

I was on biweekly schedule and like the majority here, that didn't cause any issues.    I am interested as to why the employer is switching though, moving to a new payroll system that doesn't support semi-monthly, or some other reason?    (I would suggest popular demand but I can't think of a workforce where that change would be top of mind!)

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There is a new payroll company being used however I've been told they can work with any schedule.  They're switching so that we're on the same schedule as the hourly people and also so that they can pay a week in arrears.  Also since a large chunk of our competition is biweekly that played a bit of a factor as well (though I see switching as losing a competitive edge lol).    While most at my employer don't have as strong of an opinion as I do, the prevailing reaction is definitely negative.  As for monthly pay, it's the only one I haven't had yet.   I could probably be fine with it but see where it would be more difficult at the start of employment if you don't want to burn through some savings while waiting for that first direct deposit.  Nonetheless I'm 100% in the semi-monthly camp.

[Yankee2]

I keep 2 months of expenses (or you can say part of my emergency fund) in my checking account. So over the years when employers change (and pay periods) it doesn't matter since I always am covered. I make sure each month that I'm not falling behind, and any extra goes into savings/investments.  

My wife and I worked for 12 years together at the same place and were paid monthly. She changed jobs and now is every 2 weeks.  Really hadn't noticed a difference in how we pay/save.

[Aeon]

I'm at a point now where the income I make this month is used to budget next month so pay schedules don't matter. In the OP's case it would matter insofar that two biweekly checks total less than two semi-monthly checks and I'd have to adjust my budget a bit, but the difference is made up the two months when there are three biweekly checks. 

All of my past employers paid biweekly and I have worked salary, hourly, and commission jobs. When I was self-employed, I paid myself monthly. Now I'm paid semi-monthly with my current employer. The only thing that has given me peace of mind with variable income and pay dates most of my working life has been to live on last month's income -- though it took a lot of sacrifice to actually save 100% of those two "extra" paychecks I received the year when I first got a month ahead. This helped smooth out pay date/day changes and made it easier when I accepted my job earlier this year and was only paid for 4 days on the first paycheck I received. 

[DSTforlife]

This is an interesting way of looking at savings.  I do not keep any of my emergency funds in a checking account. It's all in savings so as to get as much interest as possible. 

We pay all of our bills with incoming checks and put the rest in savings. We try to run everything through our credit cards and do keep a couple hundred in our checking account to cover things that can't be paid with a credit card.  And we don't use savings unless there's a specific need.

with that said, I prefer semi monthly as everything is set to pay on 1st or 15th.  

[Horseshoez]

@DSTforlife, funny thing about savings, all of the banks and credit unions which are local and convenient to us have virtually non-existent savings rates, and given my wife and I are about to go into full-on house hunting mode (in a different state no less), I'm keeping my money in a non-local account where the closest branch is about as far away in the Continental 48 as is physically possible.  That said, my local savings accounts serve as a short-term buffer for unexpected expenses and as a general rule are only touched on an irregular basis.