Top 5 Daily Questions About Money

Help with salary negotiations? The standard wisdom -- which I've been trying to follow -- is that you aren’t supposed to talk about salary until after you get a job offer. But the organization began talking about it when they called to schedule the first interview. Suggestions? I applied for a job. They required a salary history. I sent mine, stating that I make, let’s say, $60k (the details are changed here; it’s less than that). An assistant called, saying they wanted to schedule an interview with me, “but [boss] wanted to flag the fact that the salary for this position is in the mid-40s. Would you still be interested?” I paused (a bit surprised, really) and said something noncommittal, like “it would certainly be worth us having more discussion about the position.” Next, I had a phone interview with the supervisor. The discussion had very few questions about my qualifications (one question). The call’s purpose seemed to be to explain the position and allow me to ask questions. She brought up the salary, and said that they have “authorization” to offer up to $48k, what did I think? I said something like “I would want to consider the salary in light of the full package, including benefits and the opportunities for professional growth.” She explained the benefits package (including a matching donation to a retirement account, which I admitted would close some of the gap). The job offers a lot of opportunity for professional growth; I'd be really passionate about the work; they’re a great organization; and I could still live on the lower salary (though my ability to save would go way down). If offered the job, I would like to take it. But a 20% salary cut is still hard to take. It’s a much tougher decision than it would be if they could close that gap a bit more. How should I handle this? Should I start to openly admit that it would be a tough decision for me at their current budget? Should I continue trying to wait until they actually offer me the job (or not)? I’d rather discuss salary once we've decided if I'd be a good fit for the job. But if so, how do I field the question? I think they may have the impression I would consider taking the job at the current salary, because I’ve typically changed the subject to how I’d be very excited to contribute to the organization. I don’t want them to think I’m agreeing to it and then seem to change my mind later. Since they keep trying to get me to say that salary is okay, they may not have much flexibility, but they must have some, right? How would you handle this? - 3 days ago

Help me find a way to earn some money through blogging. I'm trying to support my self and my family now that they are not able to do so themselves. My dad has been retired from work for the past 15 years and in the interim has been running a stationery for the past decade or so. Now, he has reached the stage where he will soon be selling the shop for my younger sister's marriage and keep whatever money that's left for his and my mom's future. What I would like to do is contribute as much as I can for their financial survival. In this regard I've wanted to start a blog (which I have before, on a couple of occasions) and stick to it (the longest that I have lasted is a couple of months--three or four perhaps) and would like to add advertisements to it. I had tried to do this before, but ran into a couple of difficulties with Google Adsense, telling me that I had to fulfil some conditions. If anyone could help me out with this I will be extremely appreciative. Thanks in advance. - 3 days ago

Is there anyone (especially online) who's collected reasonably well-informed stock picks from, say, 2, 5, or 15 years ago and explained why the recommendations did or did not work out? Is there a better way to track that stuff down than hunting around for old articles on financial websites? It seems like making the effort to learn from mistakes in the past would help guard against over-optimistic, irrationally exuberant picks today. - 4 days ago

I'm getting a law degree but I hate being adversarial. Any ideas for something fun to do with this degree? I know there are books about this question, but I thought some of you lovely people might have personal experiences you could share, or at least some outside-the-box ideas. I came to law school because I wanted to be a public interest lawyer -- I like helping people. I have one year left before I graduate and sit for the bar. I have spent the last two years learning about indigent defense and working at the public defender's office. Even though I think the work public defenders do is very important, I think it makes me miserable. I admire public interest lawyers who fight for good, but the truth is that I just hate fighting! That is hard to admit, and it took me a long time to own up to it, but it's just true. Fighting just depresses me. If I could turn back time, I would never have gone to law school. I would have opened up an organic coffee cart near the beach, or become a dog walker or something. But now I owe $120K in student loans (and by the end of this year, I'll owe around $180K). So I sort of feel like there is no turning back...I'm going to need to get a decent-paying job just to pay off the loans, which means something in the legal field. ...Right? (For anyone wondering how my debt could be so huge: tuition is $35K per year, and I get about $25K per year for living expenses. Cost of living in my city is pretty much as high as it gets within the US.) - 7 days ago

A family member loaned me money a few years ago. I would like to pay it back with interest. How much interest should I pay it back with? A few years ago, I had some financial troubles and I was too proud to ask for money. A family member recognized the difficulty I was in and wrote me a large cheque for a few thousand dollars. She told me to take it with no strings attached and just to pay it back whenever I could. She has been gracious about this and has never mentioned it since. It has taken me a few years to get back on my feet and I have been slowly saving up over the years to try and pay this amount back. However, I would like to pay this back at its "real" value as the loan has been for a few years now and I feel it is only fair to add some interest to it. At the very least, I figure I should add some to it due to inflation and the fact that if the money had otherwise been invested, it could have grown a little bit. Assuming the loan was for $2500, what would be a reasonable rate / amount to repay? - 7 days ago