Last week, I noticed the main article on MSN.com was about somebody (probably a mom) calculating the salary of a stay-at-home mom to be a ridiculous $138,095 per year. I didn’t bother reading the article because it was early in the morning and I don’t like getting annoyed before I’ve had my Cheerios. I completely forgot about the whole thing until today when I saw a link to reader feedback about the article. Not surprisingly, the feedback was overwhelmingly negative, and probably was written mostly by men.

Some of my favorite reader responses:

“What a load of baloney! If these stay-at-home moms are doing all they say they’re doing, they wouldn’t have time to answer your bogus survey. Do you pay them per hour for watching soap operas and Oprah?”

“The majority of stay-at-home moms spend most of their waking hours on their cell phone or computer, and running to garage sales or thrift stores. Their houses are a disaster, they probably haven’t cooked a decent sit-down meal for their family for months, and the laundry is piled knee-deep in the basement. I was a working mom — 40 plus hours per week — and I don’t know of one stay-at-home mom worth that kind of money.”

“Many of these mothers are unqualified for the positions you described, given the fact that American kids are fat, poorly educated and arrogant at best. Moms are worth no more than the product they are producing.”

Geez, stereotype much? People seemed to be legitimately angry about this article, so I decided to check it out. Admittedly, the $138,095 figure was based on some absurd assumptions, e.g., equating part of a mom’s job to that of CEO, thereby calculating part of her “salary” by using an average CEO’s salary. Add to that the fact that the whole thing was based upon a survey that asked moms to report how much time they spend on each of their daily activities (perhaps some exaggerating going on?), and you can see why a lot of people were bothered by the article’s claim.

Personally, I just think it was a fun article with a intentionally inflated dollar amount that was designed to get a reaction out of people, and the author certainly succeeded. Unfortunately, now my mom is claiming I owe her a lot of money. Geez, I already pay for the nursing home, what more does she want?

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Take all you can get from your employer if they offer matching contributions on your 401(k). Contribute to your 401(k) up to the full company match. It’s not often someone gives you free money. Don’t turn it down.

Matching contributions work like this: You put a dollar into your 401(k) retirement account. Your company puts a dollar into your 401(k) account. That’s it. Keep in mind that there is usually an upper limit to the company match.

[Photo Credit]

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Bob Ross - extremely nice man. You’ve heard the expression “to kill someone with kindness”? Well, Bob Ross actually did one time. He felt terrible afterwards.

Want to be more successful? Start by eliminating your negative behavior, says psychotherapist Flip Flippen (actual name). In his aptly titled book, The Flip Side, Flippen advises people to evaluate their negative behaviors and make a concerted effort to change. For example, if you tend to be aggressive and dominant at meeting, Flippen has this advice to offer:

“When people disagree with you, don’t argue with them. Rather, ask for clarification. You could say, ‘My tendency is to want to disagree, but help me better understand what you mean.’”

Yeah, that might work…or maybe you’ll just end up wasting your time listening to people with bad ideas expound upon those ideas before you ultimately shoot them down again. Just my thoughts, but what do I know? I’m just a guy typing on his computer. I haven’t even written a book featuring a pun of my own name in the title. Wait, I guess I forgot about my 2002 publication Financial MATTers. Eh, it was crap anyways.

Article [via Yahoo! Finance]

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My mama always told me never to talk to anyone about my salary. It comes down to a few assumptions.

One assumption is that a lot of people equate their salary to the value of life. Example: If Andy makes more money than me, it means he’s more valuable to the company than I am.

Another assumption is that people equate salary to expected work effort. Example: If Andy makes twice as much as me, it means that he should be doing double the work that I do.

Here lies the problem: If my perception of Andy’s efforts doesn’t match my assumptions, there’s going to be issues. For example, if Andy makes 2x more than me and I don’t *perceive* that he produces 2x more than me, then I’m going to become resentful.

Here’s why you should never tell your friends how much money you make.

They’ll get envious. If you make more than your friends, they’ll becomes jealous and eventually, resentful.

They’ll feel superior. This goes back to one of the assumptions. If they make more than you, they’ll figure that your worth less than they are. Then you might have to deal with a superiority complex.

They’ll pity you. This goes with the “superiority” reason. If your friends think you make too little, they’ll treat you like a charity case. This can be good or bad depending on your character.

They’ll use your salary as leverage. This one becomes a problem when your friend works at the same company. If they know your salary, they can drop the salary bomb when asking for a raise: “I’m underpaid. I heard Henry makes $5,000 more than me.”

You’ll need extra justification for frugal spending habits. You’ll have to give another reason in addition to “I don’t really have the money.” If your friends know your salary, they’ll start saying things like “C’mon. I know you got the money.”

[Photo Credit: Billy Palooza]

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You company’s holiday party is coming up. Normal parties call for normal party behavior. The company party is very different. You can’t cut loose like you do with your buddies.

If you make too many wrong moves at the company party, you’re going to be remembered as “that guy.” You’ll be called “that guy who passed out on the dance floor” or “that girl who made a move on the boss.” Trust me. You don’t want to be that guy or girl.

There are a couple of guidelines that will keep you out of trouble.

1. Don’t be the drunk.

No one will think you’re awesome. They’ll think you’re a moron.

2. Don’t bring the drunk.

You’ll be guilty by association if you bring the drunk. Also, you don’t want to play babysitter all night.

3. Don’t dress like an idiot.

Keep the clubbing clothes at home. Dress tastefully.

4. Don’t stuff your face.

Show some restraint. It’s not an eating contest.

5. Don’t talk business all night.

You don’t want to show everyone how boring you are outside of work.

6. Don’t tip badly.

If there’s a bar, don’t be stingy with the tip. Your coworkers are watching you.

7. Don’t tell inappropriate jokes.

You don’t want to offend anyone. It might lead to a lawsuit.

8. Don’t hit on your co-workers or bosses.

A failed attempt will bring you a world of hurt.

9. Don’t drink and drive.

This is good advice no matter where you are.

10. Leave extra clothes in your car.

You’ll have something to wear when you end up spilling wine on your clothes.

If you follow these simple rules, you won’t look like an idiot in front of your boss. Oh yeah, and try to have fun.

[Photo Credit: Splat Worldwide]

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It’s the end of the year. It’s time for you to sit down with your manager and do the dreaded PERFORMANCE REVIEW. This event, if handled correctly, should give you a big fat raise in January.

Big Fat Raise = Super Sexy.

You worked all year. You know it. Your coworkers know it. Your manager might not. This is where you’re going to remind ‘em of your value to the company.

Make a list of specific things you’ve done. Tell them of specific projects you were involved in. Tell them the steps you took to solve it. The keyword here is “specific.” More details are better than less details. I suggest writing these down since you’ve probably done a lot during the year.

Use numbers. Tell them you fixed 30 defects. Say that you saved the company approximately $30,000 dollars. Using numbers will give them the impression that you pay attention to detail. Plus, it will make it easier for your manager to double-check your facts. Managers like it when you make things easier for them.

Don’t forget about weaknesses. They’re probably going to ask you about your “weakness” or “things you need to improve upon”. Prepare this ahead of time so that you don’t say something stupid. Say something like, “One time, I was working so hard that I missed dinner. I need to look up at the clock once in a while or I’ll go hungry!”

Have at least one “above and beyond” story. Managers like when their employees go beyond what they’re expected. Tell them about the time you stayed until 12 am trying to meet some deadline. Give your manager the “above and beyond” story near the end of your performance review to ensure you end on a high note.

Don’t forget the things your manager doesn’t know about. Your manager should know most of the things you’ve done. Don’t forget to tell them the little things that he might not know about. Like the time you helped Jim find a nasty software bug that he was chasing all day.

Increase your effort 2 months before you review. Managers have short term memory. They’re hardly going to remember last January when you saved the company from a forest fire. During this time period, take on an extra project to show your company some love. Give your manager extra status reports. They love constant communication.

These tips should help you have a happy holiday.

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