Penny for your Thoughts: More Young People Share Salary Information

I have been busier than a busy thing lately. I’ve been finishing school, including the final push to print and distribute the magazine I published; working an editorial and marketing internship at an educational publisher, applying for a real start-of-my-career-type job (and getting hired!); trying to read all the books I’ve been thinking about longingly since September, and developing a serious twitter habit.

I have not blogged in over a month. These are my excuses.

Part of my internship, though, was market research (read: spending hours on the web, poking around educational and web2.0-type sites and following the links I found). This convoluted path led me to an article in the NY Times that was so blog-worthy, I knew I wanted to make the effort to start up again.

The gist of the observation is pretty straightforward — while a cultural taboo may still be in place in some circles, younger people are sharing their salaries with one another, and aren’t embarrassed to ask or tell.

One of the interview subjects, Arielle Green, is paraphrased as suggesting that for her friends, “It helps them strategize — when to push for a raise, when to start looking around.”

Having just come out of the interview/job offer process myself, I can completely agree. While the general range of salaries my instructors had advised me I could expect after graduation was helpful in establishing my overall expectations, it wasn’t specific enough. I had to submit an expectation of salary to HR at one potential employer along with my resume – no range provided, just tell us what you think you’ll make. And I was nervous – I think understandably. Too low, and you’ve undervalued your skills and contributions, too high and you’ve priced yourself out of the market with “unrealistic expectations.”

Thankfully, some of my friends in the industry and co-workers at my internship were able to give me some more guidance. If they’d been too reserved or uncomfortable to give me an idea of what they made, and how they negotiated, I’d have been at a loss.

Bill Coleman, chief compensation officer at Salary.com points out, “This is a generation that is much more attuned to teamwork, collaboration and sharing information. Everything they do is a kind of group event. How do you know, when you get your first job offer, if $45,000 is a good offer, a bad offer or an O.K. offer? You go to your friends.”

Now, I’m not suggesting everyone has to start shouting their salaries from the rooftops. There’s definitely an appropriate time and place, and appropriate company, for those kinds of personal conversations. Salary conversations can lead to some very uncomfortable pauses, especially if one person makes significantly more or less than the other, as the article also points out. It’s definitely a balancing act.

Still, I’d argue that as long as you’re discreet and discerning, sharing your income with close friends and colleagues is a valuable way to gain otherwise unattainable perspective.

That said, I’m new to all this, and I’ve never been burned. What do you guys think? Have you ever had a conversation about income, only to have it come back to haunt you? Are the benefits of discussing salaries worth the possible discomfort? How else can you get the information you need to know whether you’re low-balling yourself, or shooting too high?

my (imaginary) lottery millions

I try to keep up with a couple of PF blogs now in order to motivate myself and to learn more about this community I’ve joined. It always gets me thinking and today was no exception.

An English Major’s Money asks, “What would you do if you won $2 million?” It’s funny, because I’ve actually been thinking a lot lately about what I would do if I won a modest lottery (OK, $2 million and modest don’t really go together, but some of the jackpots these days are enormous!) So, here it goes (not really in order beyond the first point).

$1,000,000 to my sister. Ever since we were little and my mom would (occasionally) buy us each a scratch and win ticket, we’ve had an agreement that whatever we won over $10 (an unimaginable sum at the time) we would split 50/50. This first million is rightfully hers.

$400,000 gets invested. I’m retiring way richer than I was the day I won.

$250,000 goes to a place of my own.

$50,000 gets socked away for emergencies. I will never worry about money again!

$75,000 is travel. My family goes back to Europe (Paris again, and with shopping and 4star restaurants this time!), my sister and I finally go on our African safari (she’ll pay her half – she’s got a million too!), and I take vacations and long-weekends with my boyfriend and best friends (London, The Virgin Islands, Memphis, Georgia, Vegas, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax… ) for as long as the rest of the money holds out.

$25,000 is invested to help cover the education of my future kids.

$100,000 goes to family.

$50,000 goes into my regular bank accounts for living that good life.

And last, but not least,

$50,000 goes to charity.

What about you?

p.s. My happy dance would look something like this (and I’d do it everywhere too).

famous finances?

Looking for an interesting take on personal finance? The NY Times has a brief on a website where celebrity gossip and financial advice stretch to meet. Mainstreet.com starts its stories with a tidbit of Tinsel town news and then steps back to give a more generalized comment on the business and/or financial idea it evokes. Some of the connections they draw seem a bit loose to me, but it’s a novel approach, and a nice two-for-one if you’re like me and can’t quite turn off those cravings for the latest Hollywood tidbits, even when you know there’s more productive reading out there.

viva la revolucion

I’ve been waiting to hear back about the Snowflake Revolution and whether they approved my blog, and when I popped over to check it out they already had! I’m new to the whole blog scene, so I’m just starting to get an idea of how online communities form. Needless to say I’m super-excited to have been added to their blogroll. Here’s hoping it brings some new visitors my way – it’s already given me tons of new blogs to follow.

ING and me

I have a confession to make… I looove ING Direct.

I’ve been using one of their savings accounts for my less-touchable money for a couple of years now and the return is still way better than what my bank has offered. Their website is super-secure and easy to navigate and they offer explanations for how all the different savings tools work (and the tools are flexible! – their short term GICs were my first foray into non-traditional saving and it was a great way to get my feet wet.)

Finally, even though I should know better than to be swayed by slick PR, their advertising just gets me every time. I’m in the process of researching the “Streetwise Fund” now (watch for a future post) because the guy with the accent has me intrigued. I guess I’m not the only one to find their marketing effective either, because their campaign to have people create their own Super Saver commercials has prompted a ton of YouTube submissions. I’ve been watching them off and on the last few days and some are really funny (some are really bad too, but that’s the nature of the Internet I guess.) This is one of my favourites though – decent production values and a theme I can identify with. (Look familiar? He’s snowflaking.)

I know dating can be expensive, but I have to agree – there are better ways to save money than eliminating your date. I’m partial to picnics myself, or to people-watching in new neighbourhoods as ways to spend time together on a budget, but those aren’t exactly cold-weather activities.

What do you think? With more snow on the way this weekend (side question: will it ever end!?!) what’s your favourite way to winter date without breaking the bank?

grow green and save – a DIY project

The sun was shining this morning and I realized that, believe it or not, spring is coming. Ok, maybe not soon-soon, but soon. Before I know it I’ll be heading back outside and looking for something to do.

The only problem? Gardening can be an expensive hobby, and we all know money doesn’t grow on those trees we buy (and replace, after the first dies $$) and plant (in premium top soil: $) and fertilize (with expensive chemicals: $$$) and prune (wearing our new gardening gloves: $$ and using our brand new pruning shears: $$.) Besides, I know I don’t have time for anything that labour-intensive.

A DIY potted herb garden though is easy and inexpensive. It’s a great project for kids too, and the only costs are a couple of plain terracotta pots, some basic acrylic paints, and a couple of stickers. You can probably scavenge most of the other materials from past crafts or around the house.

Believe it or not, this project can actually save you money in the long-term too. The herbs you grow in your hand-painted/stickered/buttoned pot can take items off of your grocery list all summer long (snowflaking, anyone?) and the maintenance is all but free. Once you’ve got the plants started, they’ll provide you with flavours for your cooking all season long (and into the fall, if you dry them.)

Looking for some yummy dishes to spice up? Check out these websites.

Epicurious has great seasonal recipes that incorporate the herbs you’ll grow in spring, summer and fall.

Kalyn’s Kitchen has recipe posts from blogging chefs all over the world sorted according to their favourite herb.

And Care2’s green living section even has some herbal bath recipes to help you soak away the last of your winter blah’s.

the snowflake revolution – a (cool) saving strategy

I spent some time tonight starting to familiarize myself with the other blogs out there like mine (there’s lots of company, which is great) and on Beachgirl’s Budget Blog I came across an idea I just had to share: snowflaking. (Incidentally, she first heard about it at I Paid For This Twice Already.)

It’s a simple concept really: just make small changes that save you small amounts of money here and there (snowflakes) and apply that money to your financial goal. It’s a savings/debt-reduction technique whose popularity is apparently snowballing fast (I can’t resist a pun…sorry!) as it makes the internet rounds. You may even be doing it already and not know it. Gail Vaz-Oxlade of the show Til Debt Do Us Part posted a blog about this same strategy yesterday, she just didn’t give it a name.

And it makes sense! I already drink a plain coffee most days (cost for a medium: $1.80) because it hurts me to spend double for the almost $4.00 latte, but somehow I never really see that extra cash. That’s $2.00 per coffee that, with snowflaking, is going to build my savings and help me get out of my parents’ place and into an apartment and eventually (dare I say it?) a house of my own.

So, even though I’m new to this blog scene, I’m joining the Snowflake Revolution.

Spread the word.

talking about my generation (and their RRSPs)

The Toronto Star yesterday ran a special section on investing. It had an interesting article by Talbot Boggs about the relationship between banks and the members of the “echo boom” generation (those born between 1977 and 1994) and how it’s impacting our savings habits.

Apparently a recent study found that there’s little being done by the investment industry (and that includes the big banks) to attract young people to products and services like RRSPs that will help them reach their long-term financial goals. (And long-term doesn’t mean buying that new car or house either; they’re talking about flying around the world at 65 and paying the condo fees in that retirement community.)

The article goes on to say that our generation may have an interest in saving, but we don’t generally take an active hand in the management.

Result: we aren’t offered the tools we need to reach our goals, because we’re not around to set any. And that’s a problem, because the earlier you start saving, the faster your money accumulates. Compound interest is a magical thing.

So what’s the solution?

Well, make an appointment and visit your local bank branch. Visit several different ones and see if there’s something out there you like better. Evidently they aren’t going to come to us. Do some research, get informed and be prepared to set priorities.

The Star article quotes StatsCan as saying our parents’ generation has only contributed 7 per cent of their RRSP allowable max. Tax time is coming up and the contribution deadline for the 2007 filing is February 29th, 2008. Let’s give them a run for their money.

making web 2.0 features work

Online magazines are, slowly but surely, getting onboard with Web2.0 features. After all, that’s where the money is.

Show advertisers that your users are more engaged than the next guy’s (hey, they must be, you’ve got the comments and feedback to prove it) and the sale is yours. Advertisers want a guarantee their ads aren’t falling on deaf ears (or glazed eyes) and effective community-building features show them that people are paying attention.

Here are my thoughts on how a couple of my favourite online mags stack up.

Young Money Magazine has a number of particularly strong Web 2.0 features that make the reader/user experience more intuitive and convenient. The site features articles, podcasts, a blog and an updated event schedule. Each of these, with the exception of the articles themselves, has a dedicated RSS feed that is accessible from the main page’s sidebar, as well as from category headers and the individual features’ main pages.

Each of these sections also has a unique Web 2.0 component. The blog features dedicated buttons for seven different ways to incorporate RSS feeds at the top of the most recent entry; the podcasts have a “listen now” function for the most recent episode as well as an archive of material and a link to a subscription page for Young Money Radio online; and the calendar links to a Flickr group with photos from various events.

The reader/user is also invited to participate in Young Money in a one-time way, through a “Quickpoll” in the sidebar, the question of which changes depending on the page you view. This allows for a degree of interaction without the commitment of an RSS feed, involving even a casual user in the content, at least for the moment. The numerous financial calculators provided by the site offer another effective way to bring users into the site and encourage them to look around.

NOW Magazine recently relaunched its website, and having visited it a number of times in the past, it is obvious to me that the redesign was intended to put an emphasis on Web 2.0 functionality. In addition to a “more online features” heading on the main menu that directs you to audio and video content, blogs and podcasts are now prominently featured on both the main page and have their own heading on the sidebar. Additionally, each department has their most recent blogs prominently featured on their department page as well.

One of my favourite features is how the podcasts play, which is accomplished by clicking a button beside the title – playback is instantaneous and does not redirect you to another screen. No more watching the loading/tracking bar move across an otherwise blank screen as you listen!

NOW’s podcasts and blogs are updated between print issues of the magazine, as is an “event of the day” listing, meaning there is always fresh content for users. The podcast page also has archived material, offered in mp3 and iTunes formats, and its feed is offered via RSS or iTunes. RSS feeds for the blogs are available by category or author and all the variations are made easily available in a sidebar on the main blog page.

Even content not 2.0 by necessity (like the blogs and podcasts) has been updated. Each article has an “interact with this story” bubble at the start that when clicked on takes you down the screen to the end of the piece where you can rate the story on a scale of 1-5; print, save, and email it; and leave comments. All of this ties back to the idea of NOW as a publication that values contributions from its community and shows that they want to make this contribution process as easy as possible in order to create a viable dialogue with the user/readers they serve.

The Ryerson Review of Journalism makes it clear that its creators appreciate the value of Web 2.0 interaction. The main page features both a blog and article RSS feed near the top of the page, as well as a customized Google search that makes their archives more accessible. The blog page has archives going back four years and another link to its RSS feed, along with an explanation of what RSS is for those new to the term. Each article earns Web2.0 classification with email, print and bookmark options at the start of the copy. A variety of bookmarking choices are offered, making the act truly convenient.

In spite of all this however, the Ryerson magazine is still the weakest of the three sites I examined, due to its limited content. As the magazine is published only twice per year, the number of in-depth articles is limited. Conversely, while the blog is updated daily during the week, the content isn’t particularly strong, and there is little in terms of a community to encourage readers to get involved (not a single blog entry this month has even one comment.)

Given the clean layout of the site and the obvious care that was taken in making it Web 2.0-friendly, this site is a perfect example of why these tools should be used in the service of community and of strong content, and not to mask the lack of either or both.