Because I do executive recruiting now, primarily for roles with comp packages in the $100-300k+ range, I end up middle manning a lot of salary negotiations. It’s the most delicate part of the process, because it’s when both parties start to doubt your sincerity and assume that you’re just wanting to close the deal. I counter that by operating with complete transparency early in the process and building up a lot of rapport.
I tell the candidates that I’m working with that the benefit to having me be the point man on the negotiations is that 1) the client is paying me based on a % of their salary, so I make more if they make more; 2) every negotiation can fall apart if either party gets upset(for valid reasons or not), so if the employer does react negatively during the negotiation, better for them to get upset with me.
Exactly the same as London. I sold a place in 2008 convinced that the financial crisis would force prices down but they soared over the next ten years.
When I did my last job search, I basically told recruiters that I didn’t expect to get what I was making at the previous job ($180k with all their matches and bonus and stuff) as it was from that company that paid super high and I’d been out of work for over half a year. The recruiters were all like - no problem, we should be able to get you that.
Then I get in the interview of some startup. They ask what I made at the previous job. I tell them. Oops, all the other people I was supposed to talk to are busy now. Interview over. We’ll call you lol.
Nah, just not worth it. Too much hassle and I have too much other stuff I’m working on right now. I’ll take my chances. I don’t think LA real estate is going to drop 25% between now and then. 5-10% would suck but I can live with it.
I really really like my place too. If I’m going to be stuck inside for a year I need a big airy open place where I’m not going to get depressed. Rent might be $2500/month for something like that whereas my house payment + HOA is $2000.
Everyone at this startup, selling flowers online, was like 25. I’d be grandpa to them. The office was literally in the middle of 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica - an utter traffic nightmare. Add 10 minutes to your commute each way just to go the last 1/4 of a mile.
There was no way the job made sense anyway. But it’s a bummer because it was my favorite interview and I think I nailed it other than the salary thing, age thing and telling the guy his location sucked.
I’m in SD, and I tell people all the time, we have a higher floor of value, because new land(and therefore housing) within a few miles of the beach is not being created out of thin air, unless Camp Pendelton gets sold to the Irvine company or some other crazy hypothetical. So, you’re relatively safe. Now if your condo was in the Inland Empire…
Yeah IE always crashes hardest. Then the Valley, crappier parts of OC. Even the sketchy parts of LA on the fringe of gentrification didn’t seem to drop much.
Well Palmdale/Lancaster really crashes the hardest.
@anon38180840, I’m astounded that your rent is that high, I assume you’re in fishtown? Have you considered any other solid areas or are you set on fishtown? I had a brand new two bedroom apartment in a converted wearhouse in South Philly and was paying $1600 a month. We didn’t have stuff like a pool or whatever and the location obviously isn’t as in the middle of everything like fishtown, but we were two blocks away from passyunk so not exactly in the middle of nowhere.
Plenty of other solid areas, could also take a look at old city or Washington square, only a bit South of you.
Agree the enforcement of it is mostly non existent.
Did they ask specifically how much your past comp was? Because IANAL, but I can ask “what are your compensation expectations going forward?” with zero repurcussions.
Background: I grew up really poor and stayed very poor until my mid/late 20’s. I got a very large windfall, I won’t say how much, and it isnt life changing money, but it is a large enough chunk of change that I have a very good headstart on my retirement.
It has been sitting inside of a low interest CD for the last year until I decided what to do with it. I didnt want to go on a spending spree.
What should I do with it? I don’t want to buy a house, unless someone could give me an amazing argument as to why i should dump all of my money into one. I am wary of anything where you dump all your eggs into one basket.
I know absolutely nothing about managing money or wealth. This is how clueless i am, to me the most attractive thing right now looks like gold (stocks or bullion, I dont even know the difference investing wise) with the dollar seemingly on the precipice.
I looked at opening a vanguard account in the last year but decided the market was too jumpy for me to go into something like that right now. I know i’m young and all that, but these are extraordinary times, and if i lost 20% of my worth in a short period i’d be like, not on suicide watch but it’d definitely affect me a lot.
If it is truly for retirement, I would put it all in Vanguard’s Life Strategy Growth Fund and forget about it for at least 20 years. Make sure you have an emergency fund of at least a year of expenses in cash.
Given your age and years from retirement, I would invest the majority (80%) in SPY or another ETF that tracks to broad equity markets. The remaining 20% I would leave in cash or a fixed income ETF like TLT which tracks to 20 year treasuries.
While I personally have a small part of my portfolio in gold, it carries additional volatility and transaction costs.
Harry Browne wrote a book called “The Permanent Portfolio”. The premise is that you can construct a portfolio that protects you against any market conditions. In summary, it is made up of:
25% equities
25% 20 year treasuries
25% gold
25% short term money markets, cash
Historically, it returns 6% a year which beats inflation but does NOT beat historical equities returns. In crash of 2008, the portfolio lost 2% versus the ~50% equity market drop.
It is mega awkward, but job seekers should never disclose their previous salary. There are diplomatic ways to deflect. I wouldn’t even tell a recruiter because 9/10 of those clowns will instantly tell the company.