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[quote=Anonymous]I am a U.S. diplomat. Here are some benefits that some of us enjoy.

1. Post differential or hardship pay. This is 5-35% more than your base pay. 
2. Danger pay. This can be 5-40% of base pay as well. So those working in places like Afghanistan get nearly double their base salary.
3. Travel benefits. Free plane ticket each year to the U.S. or a nearby vacation spot of your choice. Worth about $1,500+ per traveler.
4. Home leave. This is an extra 15 days of vacation time for each year you live overseas.
5. Per diem. Some of us travel 5-50% of the time. This means we get about $100/day for food and misc expenses. And our hotel is reimbursed. Some of us become gold/platinum members which means free drinks and snacks. And we keep the hotel and airline points. For a 5 night trip, the hotel and airline points alone can be worth $50-$250.
6. I estimate our foreign service pension to be worth about $25,000 per year of work.
7. I estimate the 401K matching to be worth $4,000-$6,000 per year.
8. Health benefits are good, comparable to most large companies. We have access to an embassy medical unit. Assuming about 5 free visits per year, and this is worth about $500 per year. Sometimes, we get basic medicines for free. If you are pregnant overseas, you get lots of money to deliver in the U.S.
9. Education benefits. If your kids are learning disabled or advanced, you can receive extra money to help them. You have an allowance to attend a top private school in your country. Some people send their kids to boarding schools in Europe. Benefit is worth up to $50,000 per child, but usually it is less.
10. Housing allowance: Worth up to $30,000/year. We rent our U.S. home when we live overseas.
11. Security: We get free security services since many of these places are dangerous.
12. Holidays. We enjoy about 10 federal and 10 local holidays each year.
13. Moving allowance: We can ship our household goods and 1 car. At the end of our tour, some people sell their things at cost. So you can drive a car for 1-4 years without paying for depreciation. In the U.S. the same car would be worth $5,000 less.

Have I forgotten any other benefits? There are LOTS of sacrifices too and maybe I'll write about that next.
Is this too generous or not generous enough given the hardships? Some people envy us, but many know that they can't make the sacrifices needed to enjoy the above benefits.
As you can imagine, some of us save and become millionaires. Some of us can easily spend it all and then some.[/quote]

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