Money transparency
There’s a push for laws requiring employers to post salaries in their job listings. This makes good sense. Amongst other reasons, candidates should know what a job pays, before going far down a road knowing it won’t be a good fit (at least money-wise). So far, eight states (as well as some localities) require employers to post about compensation in a job advertisement. If you’ve looked at job postings recently, you may find that pay transparency is a wide spectrum. Some employers don’t even hint at what the job might pay, while others note the pay with specificity.
I was recently helping a friend with a job search. While some of the jobs listed the expected salary range, others did not. I wondered, regardless of pay transparency: Do you know if you can afford to take a particular job? Can you take a job that pays less but offers more flexibility, or do you need to earn more? What number would you need?
I see for many that understanding the number needed every month to live can be tough to determine. Even more, knowing which levers to pull to make that number flexible can be hard to navigate.
Knowing your number for the sake of taking a job is important, but it matters just as much if you’re self-employed or looking to retire. If you’re self-employed, the question is: how much do you need to earn each month to pay yourself a salary and what can that salary be? If you’re looking towards retirement or living on investments, what will your investments provide and are you able to live on that alone?
This is exactly what I aim to teach with Bottom Line. My goal is to help you gain clarity around this number so that you can craft the life that you want and make choices that make sense for you. Perhaps you decide to earn less because certain work inspires you, and you can clearly determine what lifestyle choices to make to accommodate that. Or, perhaps certain lifestyle components are important to you and therefore you want work that pays more. Knowing this number, your Bottom Line, is important.
For many of us, this number is not clear, and the number often increases as our pay evolves. In our first jobs, we made our expenses fit to what we earned. As we earned more, our expenses grew. Knowing your Bottom Line allows you to negotiate life changes with more ease, mobility, and control. The clarity around your number is critical and knowing you can make choices matters.
Pay transparency is a smart move, for both employers and employees alike. But, transparency into our own finances is the smartest move we can make for ourselves. Start getting clear on your number.