💰You're probably underpaid

read time 2 minutes

Hi there,

For years, I thought working harder was how you made more money.

Do good work. Stay late. Become valuable.

Eventually, someone will notice and pay you more.

Unfortunately, that's not always how it works.

Sometimes you have to ask. And learning to negotiate your income might be one of the highest-return financial skills you ever develop.

Think about it. Cutting a $6 coffee saves you around $120 a month if you bought one every workday.

Negotiating an extra $10,000 onto your salary gives you $10,000 more earning power every year before taxes.

And it gets even more powerful because future raises are often calculated from that higher starting point.

So if I were trying to increase my income today, here's what I'd do:

• Research my market value. Find out what people with similar experience and responsibilities are being paid.
• Document my results. Don't just say you work hard. Bring numbers: revenue generated, projects completed, costs reduced, customers acquired.
• Ask based on value. Your employer isn't paying for how badly you want a raise. They're paying for what you contribute.
• Negotiate the entire package. Salary matters, but so can bonuses, equity, PTO, remote work and other benefits.
• Keep building valuable skills. If your current market value isn't high enough yet, increase it. Learn sales, AI, marketing, communication, leadership or another skill your industry rewards.

And here's the part people miss. Don't immediately spend the raise.

If your income goes up $800 a month and your lifestyle goes up $800 with it, you're no wealthier.

Keep your expenses relatively stable. Build your emergency fund.

Increase your automatic investments. Pay down expensive debt.

Let your wealth rise with your income instead of your lifestyle.

Saving $100 matters. But there's a limit to how much you can cut.

There's no fixed ceiling on how much you can learn, earn and invest.

Sometimes the fastest way to improve your finances isn't figuring out how to spend $50 less. It's figuring out how to become worth $10,000 more.

Using my affiliate link helps support my team and I to create new content for you every week. Thank you! 

- Milan and Team

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