For all the get rich quick schemes and talk of Finance Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), most individuals will make the most consistent income from simply working their same old boring J-O-B. It is your responsibility to know how much salary you should ask for and expect from your employer.
Related: Following These 7 Steps Increased My Salary 400%
However, the mixed advice on the topic of fair wages is as intimidating as the conversation itself. Business Insider says the problems with Millennials is we job hop too much. Forbes says we don’t job hop enough, because employees who stay in companies longer than two years get paid 50 percent less. As if that wasn’t confusing enough, when accounting for inflation, your effective take-home pay can plateau as early as age 45 all while Millennials face the greatest financial uncertainty since the Great Depression. Meanwhile, the failure to negotiate your salary at all may cost you as much as $630,000 in lost career wages.
WTF is a Millennial to do?!!?
Well, before you can even ask for an increase in pay, you have to know how much you’re worth. With this in mind, these are our seven favorite tools for salary negotiation or to prepare for a successful career change.
7. PaycheckCity.com
Visit PaycheckCity.com for their helpful paycheck calculators, withholding calculators, tax calculators, and payroll information.
6. ADP.com
ADP.com offers Payroll calculators, 401k calculators, tax calculators, and other essential business tools to help calculate personal and business investments.
5. GlassDoor.com
Search millions of jobs at GlassDoor.com to get the inside scoop on companies of interest. This includes employee reviews, personalized salary tools, and much more. Glass Door is great for finding out the low low on companies of interest directly from current employees themselves.
4. Comparably.com
At Comparably.com you can find your ideal company and compensation by making work transparent and rewarding. They also have several great tools for industry specific infographics and case studies.
3. SmartAsset.com
Use SmartAsset.com paycheck calculator to calculate your take-home pay per paycheck for both salary and hourly jobs. As an added bonus, their tool can even take into account federal, state, and local taxes.
Related: If your next job will include relocation, don’t forget to read our post on How Much Debt You Can Afford on a $30, $50, and $100,000 Salary in your new city.
2. Salary.com
Salary.com’s salary wizards and cost of living calculator is great for city to city comparisons or use their personal salary report to determine your value in different markets across the country.
1. BankRate.com
Bankrate has several great personal finance tools and their cost of living comparison calculator is just another added bonus. It is one of the most comprehensive tools we’ve used to compare the cost of living in two or more cities. All you need is your current income (or income goal) and then select your cities of interest.
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