# $1,000 per year or $300 every six months? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 18, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869 "2013-07-18T18:22:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nolaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@nolaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nolaman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/1 "2013-07-18T18:22:46Z")
Marilyn is completely wrong. Try making her the same offer and see which one she accepts. You get a $300 pay raise at the end of six months. Then you get a $300 pay raise at the end of the year. Net increase: $600 OR You get a $1,000 pay raise at the end of the year. Net increase: $1,000. At the end of the first year you are $400 behind with the six-month scheme. You stay behind and fall further behind as long as you keep the scheme going. Cecil says, “A semiannual raise of $300 is an annual increase of $600, and if you have two such increases per year your annualized salary hike is $1,200.” Also wrong. Your annualized pay increase is $600. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/2 "2013-07-18T18:43:56Z")
It says “a semiannual pay raise”, not “a semiannual annual pay raise”. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/3 "2013-07-18T18:45:05Z")
Yes, yes, you’re very smart. Now answer this: does “a $300 pay raise” refer to $300 annually, or $300 per six months (which is the period in question)? And why? Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/4 "2013-07-18T18:52:34Z")
Questions like this are semantic hide-and-seek, the kind stat professors love to trip you up with if you don’t interpret every word exactly right. If you make it a straight mathematical proposition, there are no loose ends to figure out. Define the question exactly and it’s kitchen math. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/5 "2013-07-18T19:32:35Z")
> [@nolaman](#): > > You get a $300 pay raise at the end of six months. Then you get a $300 pay raise at the end of the year. Net increase: $600 > > OR > > You get a $1,000 pay raise at the end of the year. Net increase: $1,000. > > At the end of the first year you are $400 behind with the six-month scheme. You stay behind and fall further behind as long as you keep the scheme going. No, you are not $400 behind at the end the first year. You got $300 over base salary mid-year. So, that’s +300 more. Then at the end of the year, you get a $600 raise which is $600 added to the $300 you already got mid-year. That’s $900 raise at the end of the first year. That’s only $100 behind. Now, if you keep remembering to keep a running total of what they received previously, the one with the six-month $300 winds up with more. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/6 "2013-07-18T21:02:30Z")
Can I get my yearly $1000 raise added to my monthly wage? Why not? It never said I couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/7 "2013-07-18T21:55:18Z")
If it is a semiannual $300 raise it is: Year 1: 5300+5600=10900 vs. 10000+1000=11000 Year 2: 5900+6200=12300 vs. 11000+1000=12000 Year 3: 6500+6800=13300 vs. 12000+1000=13000 Year 4: 7100+7400=14500 vs. 13000+1000=14000 You lose in the first year, but are better off thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/8 "2013-07-18T22:45:05Z")
I’ll be helpful and provide a link so we all can play along. [What’s better, a $1,000 raise each year, or a $300 raise every six months?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/918/whats-better-a-1-000-raise-each-year-or-a-300-raise-every-six-months) ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/9 "2013-07-18T23:16:52Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > If it is a semiannual $300 raise it is: > > Year 1: 5300+5600=10900 vs. 10000+1000=11000 > Year 2: 5900+6200=12300 vs. 11000+1000=12000 > Year 3: 6500+6800=13300 vs. 12000+1000=13000 > Year 4: 7100+7400=14500 vs. 13000+1000=14000 > > You lose in the first year, but are better off thereafter. Note that the conditions specified that the pay raise was at the END of the 6-month or 1-year period and that it was not paid as a bonus. So if the starting salary was $10,000 annually ($5000 semi-annually) and they took the semi-annual raise, that meant they worked the first six months at the original $5000 rate and for the second six months at the $5300 rate. If they took the $1000 raise at the END of the first year (and it was not paid out retroactively or as a lump sum), that meant they worked for $10,000 for the whole first year, but earned $11,000 for the second year. Year 1: 5000+5300=10300 vs. 10000+0000=10000 Year 2: 5600+5900=11500 vs. 10000+1000=11000 Year 3: 6200+6500=12700 vs. 11000+1000=12000 Year 4: 6800+7100=13900 vs. 12000+1000=13000 The question is, do you interpret the $300 raise as being $300 per year or $300 per half-year? The above calculation assumes it is $300 per half-year. But given that the original salary was stated as an annual amount ($10,000 per year), it seems inconsistent to assume that the raise would be stated as a semi-annual amount. The original question does not clarify this. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/10 "2013-07-19T00:32:02Z")
Why isn’t the 1000 raise 1000 per half year? There are no specific words in the question to indicate that the raises are treated differently: look at each phrase and try to find a point of differentiation: > [@](#): > > You can have a $1,000 raise (not a bonus) at the end of each year, or you can have a $300 raise at the end of each six months The only points of differentiation in the words as written is when the raises occur, there is no difference in word choice describing the raise and therefore no justification for treating the phrases differently. For all we know, it could be hourly raise. But what we do know is that the manner of raise is no different between scenarios, not on the basis of any actual words present. ---
**Author:** ![Demiurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Demiurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demiurge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/11 "2013-07-19T01:58:45Z")
An important piece of information that is needed to answer the question is how long you will be working there. If you work there only one year then the $300 raise every 6 months is better. Even with the interpretation that your 6 month salary goes up $150 every 6 months. You get $10,150 with the $300 raise and only $10,000 with the $10,000 raise But suppose your 6 month salary goes up by $300 every 6 months as Marilyn interpreted it. You will make more money with the the $300 raise as long as you work there less than 8 years. But if you work there longer than 8 years the $1000 raise is better I calculated it all in Excel below The 2nd and 4th columns show the money made in each 6 month period with both types of raises. The 3rd and 5th columns show the cumulative salary made for each type of raise. At 8 years you break even. After that, the $1000 raise gives you more total money. Time yrs $300 cumul. $1,000 cumulative 0.5 5000 5000 5000 5000 1.0 5300 10300 5000 10000 1.5 5600 15900 5500 15500 2.0 5900 21800 5500 21000 2.5 6200 28000 6000 27000 3.0 6500 34500 6000 33000 3.5 6800 41300 6500 39500 4.0 7100 48400 6500 46000 4.5 7400 55800 7000 53000 5.0 7700 63500 7500 60500 5.5 8000 71500 8000 68500 6.0 8300 79800 8500 77000 6.5 8600 88400 9000 86000 7.0 8900 97300 9500 95500 7.5 9200 106500 10000 105500 8.0 9500 116000 10500 116000 8.5 9800 125800 11000 127000 9.0 10100 135900 11500 138500 9.5 10400 146300 12000 150500 10 10700 157000 12500 163000 ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/12 "2013-07-19T02:12:28Z")
> [@Demiurge](#): > > An important piece of information that is needed to answer the question is how long you will be working there. > > If you work there only one year then the $300 raise every 6 months is better. > Even with the interpretation that your 6 month salary goes up $150 every 6 months. > > You get $10,150 with the $300 raise and only $10,000 with the $10,000 raise > > But suppose your 6 month salary goes up by $300 every 6 months as Marilyn interpreted it. > > You will make more money with the the $300 raise as long as you work there less than 8 years. But if you work there longer than 8 years the $1000 raise is better > > I calculated it all in Excel below > > The 2nd and 4th columns show the money made in each 6 month period with both types of raises. > > The 3rd and 5th columns show the cumulative salary made for each type of raise. > > At 8 years you break even. After that, the $1000 raise gives you more total money. > > Time > yrs $300 cumul. $1,000 cumulative > 0.5 5000 5000 5000 5000 > 1.0 5300 10300 5000 10000 > 1.5 5600 15900 5500 15500 > 2.0 5900 21800 5500 21000 > 2.5 6200 28000 6000 27000 > 3.0 6500 34500 6000 33000 > 3.5 6800 41300 6500 39500 > 4.0 7100 48400 6500 46000 > 4.5 7400 55800 7000 53000 > 5.0 7700 63500 7500 60500 > 5.5 8000 71500 8000 68500 > 6.0 8300 79800 8500 77000 > 6.5 8600 88400 9000 86000 > 7.0 8900 97300 9500 95500 > 7.5 9200 106500 10000 105500 > 8.0 9500 116000 10500 116000 > 8.5 9800 125800 11000 127000 > 9.0 10100 135900 11500 138500 > 9.5 10400 146300 12000 150500 > 10 10700 157000 12500 163000 You messed up the fourth column. Beginning at year 4.5, you started giving him $500 semi-annual raises instead of $1000 annual raises. If you don’t know what I’m saying, read down the fourth column and notice the pattern: The number goes up by $500 every second entry, then it suddenly starts going up by $500 for every entry. ---
**Author:** ![Demiurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Demiurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demiurge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/13 "2013-07-19T02:24:35Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > You messed up the fourth column. > Beginning at year 4.5, you started giving him $500 semi-annual raises instead of $1000 annual raises. > > If you don’t know what I’m saying, read down the fourth column and notice the pattern: The number goes up by $500 every second entry, then it suddenly starts going up by $500 for every entry. Darn. You’re absolutely right. It was hard to copy the formulas properly as every other line was a different formula I fixed it then redid it all the way up to 64 years and the $300 raise was still better. I got tired of copying cells by then. Thanks for finding the error! ---
**Author:** ![nolaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@nolaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nolaman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/14 "2013-07-19T12:55:00Z")
The patterns listed above are not correct. Let’s call the $1,000 annual raise “Plan A” and the $300 every six months raise “Plan B”. End of first six months Plan B ahead $300 End of second six months Plan A ahead $400 End of third six months Plan A ahead $100 End of fourth six months Plan A ahead $800 End of fifth six months Plan A ahead $500 So the six-month pattern for Plan A is -$300, +$400, +$100, +$800, +$500, +$1,200, etc. Basically, -$300, +$700 repeating. And semantics play a part in many word problems, but in Marilyn’s explanation she claimed that _Plan B put you ahead by a specific number of dollars_. That shows that her intent was to answer which plan was better financially. So her answer is wrong by her own criterium. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/15 "2013-07-19T13:18:52Z")
> [@nolaman](#): > > The patterns listed above are not correct. Let’s call the $1,000 annual raise “Plan A” and the $300 every six months raise “Plan B”. > End of first six months Plan B ahead $300 > End of second six months Plan A ahead $400 I’ve already told you above that is incorrect. At the end of the second six months plan A is only ahead $100. Plan B got $300 over base salary at the end of the first six months and then _in addition to the $300 already received_ another $600 at the end of the second six months. So, what is $300 plus $600? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/16 "2013-07-19T14:55:34Z")
Folks, here’s pro-tip for presenting tables in vBulletin: use the “code” feature. It will preserve formatting spaces and you can use a fixed width font. Example from Demiurge: ```auto Time yrs $300 cumul. $1,000 cumulative 0.5 5000 5000 5000 5000 1.0 5300 10300 5000 10000 1.5 5600 15900 5500 15500 2.0 5900 21800 5500 21000 2.5 6200 28000 6000 27000 3.0 6500 34500 6000 33000 3.5 6800 41300 6500 39500 4.0 7100 48400 6500 46000 4.5 7400 55800 7000 53000 5.0 7700 63500 7500 60500 5.5 8000 71500 8000 68500 6.0 8300 79800 8500 77000 6.5 8600 88400 9000 86000 7.0 8900 97300 9500 95500 7.5 9200 106500 10000 105500 8.0 9500 116000 10500 116000 8.5 9800 125800 11000 127000 9.0 10100 135900 11500 138500 9.5 10400 146300 12000 150500 10 10700 157000 12500 163000 ``` And just to fix his numbers: ```auto Time yrs $300 cumul. $1,000 cumulative 0.5 5000 5000 5000 5000 1.0 5300 10300 5000 10000 1.5 5600 15900 5500 15500 2.0 5900 21800 5500 21000 2.5 6200 28000 6000 27000 3.0 6500 34500 6000 33000 3.5 6800 41300 6500 39500 4.0 7100 48400 6500 46000 4.5 7400 55800 7000 53000 5.0 7700 63500 7000 60000 5.5 8000 71500 7500 67500 6.0 8300 79800 7500 75000 6.5 8600 88400 8000 83000 7.0 8900 97300 8000 91000 7.5 9200 106500 8500 99500 8.0 9500 116000 8500 108000 8.5 9800 125800 9000 117000 9.0 10100 135900 9000 126000 9.5 10400 146300 9500 135500 10 10700 157000 9500 145000 ``` And as the corrected numbers show, you stay ahead with an increase of $300 every six months. > [@Darth Panda](#): > > Why isn’t the 1000 raise 1000 per half year? > > There are no specific words in the question to indicate that the raises are treated differently: look at each phrase and try to find a point of differentiation: “$1000 raise at the end of one year” is pretty straightforward, because your salary is stated as an annual salary. It’s correlating annual numbers to annual numbers, and so “you get $1000 more the next year”. The ambiguity comes from “$300 raise at the end of each six months”. To many people, that reads “you get $300 more every six months”. That’s the interpetation that Marilyn uses and how that method comes out ahead. But you point out that the original salary was stated as an annual salary, so the raise amount should be stated in the same base. Nonsense, where does it say the $300 is an annual increase? It says you get $300 raise each six months. That’s because people are not machines, and change their points of reference on a whim, in the middle of a sentence, without a clear declaration that’s what they’re doing. It takes contextual interpretation to understand the intent. And that’s also part of why we often have miscommunications, and both parties adamantly believe they are right and the other person is wrong on a conversation both participated in. If I were to receive an offer like that, I would clarify what “$300 raise each six months” means. Because I could totally see an unscrupulous boss make that offer, with his intention being “I will increase your annual salary $300 each six months”, which makes it only $150 more for the six month period, but hoping I’ll take it as the $300 for the six month period and take that deal. Doing the numbers for the $150 more each six months interpretation: ```auto Time yrs $150 cumul. $1,000 cumulative 0.5 5000 5000 5000 5000 1.0 5150 10150 5000 10000 1.5 5300 15450 5500 15500 2.0 5450 20900 5500 21000 2.5 5600 26500 6000 27000 3.0 5750 32250 6000 33000 3.5 5900 38150 6500 39500 4.0 6050 44200 6500 46000 4.5 6200 50400 7000 53000 5.0 6350 56750 7000 60000 5.5 6500 63250 7500 67500 6.0 6650 69900 7500 75000 6.5 6800 76700 8000 83000 7.0 6950 83650 8000 91000 7.5 7100 90750 8500 99500 8.0 7250 98000 8500 108000 8.5 7400 105400 9000 117000 9.0 7550 112950 9000 126000 9.5 7700 120650 9500 135500 10 7850 128500 9500 145000 ``` ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/17 "2013-07-19T15:15:45Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Questions like this are semantic hide-and-seek, the kind stat professors love to trip you up with if you don’t interpret every word exactly right. > > If you make it a straight mathematical proposition, there are no loose ends to figure out. Define the question exactly and it’s kitchen math. Exactly. And Marilyn, in that ancient column, defines things in a way that almost nobody else ever does to come up with her absurd answer. If you’re making a salary of $10,000 a year, you can think of it if you want as earning a salary of $5000 per demiyear, but no one ever does. And on whatever official piece of paper, Word document, or whatever sitting in HR’s paper or computer files that defines your salary, it says “$10,000 per year.” When they give you a raise, they’re going to cross out that ‘10,000’ and replace it with the new amount, but they’re not going to cross out the ‘year’ and replace it with a new time period, regardless of the frequency of the raises. Marilyn’s answer comes from an alternate universe where the frequency of the raises also determines the time period over which your salary is defined. And it’s accurate in that universe! Just not in this one. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/18 "2013-07-19T15:51:31Z")
For grins, to put it all in one table for easy reference: ```auto year $150/ tot for cummul. $300/ tot for cummul. $1000/ tot for cummul. 6 mo year 6 mo year yr year ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.5 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 1.0 5150 10150 10150 5300 10300 10300 5000 10000 10000 1.5 5300 15450 5600 15900 5500 15500 2.0 5450 10750 20900 5900 11500 21800 5500 11000 21000 2.5 5600 26500 6200 28000 6000 27000 3.0 5750 11350 32250 6500 12700 34500 6000 12000 33000 3.5 5900 38150 6800 41300 6500 39500 4.0 6050 11950 44200 7100 13900 48400 6500 13000 46000 ``` Etc. The manual entry and formatting is too tedious. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/19 "2013-07-19T15:56:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Exactly. And Marilyn, in that ancient column, defines things in a way that almost nobody else ever does to come up with her absurd answer. That’s bullshit. I gave a clear description of how the wording is ambiguous, and how it could easily be interpreted to mean you get an additional $300 every six months. > [@](#): > > And on whatever official piece of paper, Word document, or whatever sitting in HR’s paper or computer files that defines your salary, it says “$10,000 per year.” When they give you a raise, they’re going to cross out that ‘10,000’ and replace it with the new amount, but they’re not going to cross out the ‘year’ and replace it with a new time period, regardless of the frequency of the raises. Yes, but what number are they going to write in? English doesn’t work like computer code. When someone says “I’ll give you a $300 raise every six months”, that sounds an awful like “I’ll give you an additional $300 every 6 months”, not “I’ll give you an additional $150 every 6 months”. > [@](#): > > Marilyn’s answer comes from an alternate universe where the frequency of the raises also determines the time period over which your salary is defined. And it’s accurate in that universe! Just not in this one. No, Marilyn’s answer comes from a universe where English can be ambiguous and people are not computers. ---
**Author:** ![nolaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@nolaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nolaman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869/20 "2013-07-19T18:54:40Z")
Life among the befuddled. There is no ambiguity to the question. It’s a $300 raise every six months or a year-end raise of $1,000 each year. No matter how you slice it the $1,000 every year is a better deal. And I stand by my pattern for Plan A compared to Plan B. In six month increments the pattern is -$300, +$700 repeating. What is a mystery is how Marilyn can say that Plan B puts you “ahead” by a certain number of dollars. The only time Plan B is ahead is between the end of month six and the end of month twelve. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-000-per-year-or-300-every-six-months/663869.md?page=2)