Company PTO/Sabbatical Cash Out Program

[Jimmyhee Quach]

Hello!

My company offers a PTO/Sabbatical Hours Cash Out Program. I have considered taking advantage of this, however I'm having a little bit of an internal battle with myself based on the following:

1) If I cash out hours now, I will be able to deploy it to investments/emergency fund. 

2) Bear with this next one here... If I use the PTO/Sabbatical Cash Out Program now, I will be paid at my current hourly rate. During July each year, we have our yearly raises "given" out at my company. On average, over the last 6 years I have received about an 8% increase year-after-year. My thought is if I wait (4) more months - the Cash Out will be paid out at my "new" potential hourly rate, which would in turn be an 8% increase on the Cash Out. That appears to be a potential 8% ROI in (4) months. I can't think of investments that'll reliably provide that same return. Am I missing something here or thinking about this correctly?

3) Is there a third option I'm not considering or having lack of foresight on?

FYI - Typically, I've never been able to use the FULL amount of vacation per year as I accrue it faster than I spend it and I'm close to the limit of hours I can bank - 6 weeks. I take PTO whenever I need to without issue. (i.e. I don't feel as if I need to be taking more PTO than I already am. This is not due to manager pressure or anything - just my personal feeling). 

To provide concrete examples in 2022 - I was able to take (2) 1-week trips to Hawaii, a 1-week trip to Mexico, and a 1-week trip to Texas. I'm not saying this to brag/gloat, but I want to alleviate some concerns from people that I'm not utilizing enough PTO for self-care/comfort. 

Any feedback is appreciated! 

Thanks,

Jimmy