Offer Evaluation Model

Why should I buy this?

You have a federal job offer in hand. The salary line says one number. The actual value of what you are being offered is a different, larger number — and the gap between what you accept and what you could have negotiated is a number you will live with for years.

The federal compensation system has five levers that most applicants never touch. Locality pay adds 15 to 33 percent on top of base salary. Starting step is negotiable in ways most applicants do not know exist — a superior qualifications appointment can move you from Step 1 to Step 5 or higher before your first day. Career ladder designation determines whether you promote automatically or compete for every grade above where you start. And FERS pension accrual means the grade you accept today is the grade your retirement is calculated against, compounded across every year of service.

The Offer Evaluation Model calculates all of it.

What the model actually does

You enter your offer details. The model returns the complete financial picture across five sections:

• Section 1 — Offer Details. Position, grade, step, full performance level, locality pay area, FERS designation, years of service, age, planned retirement, career ladder status. Foundation for all calculations.
• Section 2 — Locality Pay. Your actual salary with locality applied. The model calculates it from your inputs so you can confirm the offer letter is correct.
• Section 3 — Step Negotiation. The annual and five-year cumulative value of your current starting step versus Step 5 and Step 10. Shows exactly what not asking costs over five years.
• Section 4 — Career Ladder. Cumulative salary gain at Year 3 and Year 5 versus a non-ladder position at the same starting grade. A GS-11 with a GS-13 ladder and a GS-12 with no ladder are not equivalent offers even if the starting salary is similar.
• Section 5 — FERS Pension. Estimated annual and monthly FERS pension at retirement. Total pension value over a 20-year retirement horizon.

The Results Summary at the bottom pulls every output into plain-language rows. Each one is a number or a flag. Any flag is a conversation to have before you sign.

Ships as two files: the Excel workbook (branded, locked, sheet-protected) and a PDF user guide that explains every section, every input, and how to interpret your results before you open the spreadsheet.

What you are actually buying

Not a salary calculator. A decision-support tool that gives you the documented financial picture behind a federal offer so your accept or decline decision is made on numbers, not instinct. The step negotiation calculation alone has covered the cost of this model for applicants who asked the question and got a better starting position.

The replacement cost comparison

A financial planner with federal benefits expertise charges $200 to $400 per hour. A full offer evaluation with a planner takes two to four hours. That is $400 to $1,600 for equivalent analysis — for one offer. The Offer Evaluation Model is $97 and takes 20 to 30 minutes to complete.

The financial stakes

A single step negotiation at the point of offer can be worth $25,000 to $50,000 over five years in a competitive locality. A missed career ladder position compounds as a structural disadvantage for the length of your federal career. A FERS pension calculated against a grade one level below where your experience qualifies you produces a lower retirement income for every year of your retirement.