Your job offer looks great. Your bank balance after rent? Less so.

Your job offer looks great. Your bank balance after rent? Less so. Let's imagine: you join a major tech company. Base salary, bonus, RSUs vesting over several years. The total compensation looks generous, especially when you divide the whole package by 12. Then comes the monthly arithmetic: 3,000 hits your account after tax. Rent takes 2,000. You have 1,000 left for everything else. The numbers are illustrative. The currency doesn’t change the point. The shares could eventually be worth a lot. Unfortunately, your landlord doesn’t accept unvested RSUs. If your plan has a one-year cliff, you’ll wait a year for the first portion to vest. Leave before then, and you could walk away without it. The value quoted in your offer isn’t fixed either. Once your RSU count is set, a 40% fall in the share price means that portion of your compensation is worth roughly 40% less. You could be doing excellent work. The market has its own agenda. Then an interesting role comes up elsewhere. You calculate how much unvested equity you’d leave behind. Shares you’ve already received remain yours; the unvested portion is usually forfeited, depending on the plan. Your next employer might cover that loss. That’s a separate negotiation. And suddenly you’re thinking: “Maybe one more quarter. The next vest is so close.” Your compensation starts deciding when you can afford to change jobs. Meanwhile, your salary and expected equity income depend on the same company. If it struggles, both could be at risk. I understand the appeal of equity. But when evaluating an offer, I’d calculate monthly spending money separately from future share proceeds, accounting for taxes and vesting terms. Because you can discuss your impressive annual compensation once a year. Rent is due every month.