Many of you have been asking how much I pay in benefits per year per person to my team. I did some back-of-the-napkin math, and here’s what it looks like.

Your OFS can pay more to their SSS (since they are paying as voluntary members, not under a company). The bigger the premiums they pay, the more their benefits increase. Things like loans, maternity leave, and eventually, their pension.

Some of my OFS pay their Pag-IBIG fund contributions. At Php 200 a month (less than USD 4), they can take a home loan from this government fund and withdraw their contributions with dividends after 20 years.

A good rule of thumb is, if you want to contribute more, you can contribute a maximum of 13% of the salary to the SSS and a maximum of 4% for Pag-IBIG.

The amount we pay for our OFS’ health insurance would depend on the provider. Most of my OFS got ValueCare, and they gave us a $400 yearly quote. This was the one we ended with initially because it gave our team the most coverage for their locations. But depending on your team’s needs or budget, you can get less or more. The cheapest plan we saw was around $150/year, but they don’t have a lot of coverage. You can compare plans using this site: https://mariahealth.ph/individual/

We pay their health insurance twice a year. We pay quarterly or monthly for the other benefits, depending on how often they send in their receipts.

Our new-hire OFS do not get these right off the bat. We usually wait around 2-3 months after they’ve started. When we’re sure the person is a good fit, we start paying for benefits.

If you want more details on these benefits: https://blog.onlinejobs.ph/how-to-compute-for-filipino-va-benefits

PS. My oldest son started his missionary training recently.  He’s on zoom classes all day long for 2 weeks at home.  Then he’ll move to the Missionary Training Center in Provo. Then on to the Philippines. We won’t see him for nearly 2 years. Not looking forward to that move!