Finance

Research consistently shows that the majority of people who receive a job offer accept it without negotiating. Not because they think the number is fair, not because they have looked at the market and concluded it reflects their value, but because the negotiation conversation feels so uncomfortable that avoiding it seems worth whatever money is left on the table. This is an … [Read more...] about How to Negotiate Your Salary (Without Feeling Like a Jerk About It)

The first thirty days of a new job are unlike any other period in your professional life. You have more license to ask questions than you ever will again. You have less accountability than you ever will again. You are being watched closely by people who have not yet formed a fixed opinion of you, which means those opinions are still being written and you have more influence … [Read more...] about What to Do in the First 30 Days of a New Job

Most consumer advice lives in a comfortable middle ground where everything is nuanced and every answer depends on your personal situation and your mileage may vary. That is often true and also often a way of not saying anything at all. This article says things. Some of them you will disagree with. That is fine. The goal is not consensus but usefulness, and a list of genuine … [Read more...] about Things Worth Paying More For

Your 30s are a strange financial decade. You almost certainly earn more than you did in your 20s. You probably have more expenses too, a mortgage or rent that keeps climbing, possibly a kid or the beginning of one, a car, the general cost of a life that has accumulated more moving parts. The gap between income and intention tends to be narrower than you expected, and the money … [Read more...] about What to Do With Your Money in Your 30s

At some point in the last few years, "no-spend challenge" became a fixture of personal finance content online. Usually it shows up in January, when people are still staring at their holiday credit card statements. Usually it's framed as a correction, a way to get back on track after doing too much damage. That framing misses something. A no-spend weekend is worth doing even … [Read more...] about Why You’re Probably Due for a No-Spend Weekend