Private compensation brief

Your offer is not the number on the letter.

Tax, rent, and equity risk turn a handsome package into something smaller. Keep is the number you can actually live on — and the script to ask for more.

Decode an offer See a brief · $29

The decoder

Put the letter on the table.

Filing status

Compare a second offer

Harbor

CompanyLocation

Base salaryTarget bonus %

Signing bonusSpread signing over (years)

Equity typeGrant value (4-year mark)

Company stageVest years

401(k) matchEmployer health / yrHours / week

Northline

CompanyLocation

Base salaryTarget bonus %

Signing bonusSpread signing over (years)

Equity typeGrant value (4-year mark)

Company stageVest years

401(k) matchEmployer health / yrHours / week

What you keep

Harbor · San Francisco Bay Area

True Keep / year

$167k

After-tax cash: $202,872
Benefits: $17,000
Equity you can count: $56,571
Effective tax: 37%
4-year Keep: $666,277
Hourly Keep: $79

Northline · Austin

True Keep / year

$190k

After-tax cash: $153,714
Benefits: $12,150
Equity you can count: $35,910
Effective tax: 26%
4-year Keep: $761,412
Hourly Keep: $84

Northline keeps $23,784 more per year after tax and local prices.

Harbor$166,569

Northline$190,353

The brief · $29

How to ask. What to ask for.

Tax stack

Where the letter goes before it reaches you.

Federal income$76,097
State income$26,558
Social Security$11,439
Medicare$5,785
Effective rate37%

Northline effective rate 26% · marginal federal 24%.

Four-year vest

Year one is not the job. The next three are.

Year	Cash keep	Equity	Keep
1	$202,872	$56,571	$166,569
2	$202,872	$56,571	$166,569
3	$192,202	$57,137	$158,486
4	$192,202	$57,137	$158,486

The ask

To match Northline, Harbor needs one of these — not all three.

Base lift$50,000
Extra grant (vest)$126,000
Or bonus pts+17.0 pts

Talking points

Do not negotiate headline TC. Negotiate Keep. You are $23,784 / year behind after tax and rent.
A base lift of $50,000 or $126,000 more equity closes the gap. Ask for the mix, not a single lever.
San Francisco Bay Area prices are 132 vs. Austin at 106. Same salary is not the same life.
Get the number in the written offer, not a verbal 'we can look at refresh in year two.'

Send this

Short. No apology. The number is the argument.

Hi — thank you again for the Harbor. I’m genuinely interested and want to make this work.

I have a competing package that keeps about $23,784 more per year after tax and local prices. I’m not asking you to match a headline number — I’m asking to close the Keep gap.

Any of these would get me there:
• Base of $235,000, or
• Additional equity of $126,000 over the vest, or
• A mix of signing + refresh that lands the same annual Keep.

I can sign this week if we close that gap.

Public RSUs are treated as wages in the year they vest (income tax + FICA).
True Keep is adjusted for local prices (San Francisco Bay Area = 132 vs. 100 US average).
Signing bonus is spread across 2 years so a one-time check does not inflate year-one Keep.