Money WondersPlay

Work & the Rat RaceNegotiation

Negotiating Your Pay

The first number on the table shapes the result

A spinning wheel landed on a random number, and people's answers followed it. What does the first number in a salary talk do?

You'll find out

  • How a random number moves a guess
  • Who wins more: the one who opens?
  • How many people never ask

Why it matters

Pay talks happen a few times in a working life, and each one sets a number you live on for years.

About 3 min6 interactive slides · 5 questionsLesson 159 · Zone 18

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More in this zone

  1. 154CompensationYour Total CompensationYour salary is only part of what a job pays
  2. 155Retirement PlansThe Employer MatchMoney your employer adds when you save
  3. 156CareersA Dozen Jobs in a LifetimeThe average American career has many chapters
  4. 157TaxesW-2 or 1099Employee or contractor changes your taxes
  5. 158Labor LawEvery Hour Over 40 Pays ExtraMany salaried workers get no overtime at all
  6. 160EarningsWhat a Raise Is WorthA small raise compounds across a career
  7. 161Decision MakingThe Sunk Cost TrapYears already spent shouldn't decide the next ones
  8. 162AmbitionThe Bobbin BoyAndrew Carnegie started at $1.20 a week in a cotton mill, built a steel empire, and gave most of it away