Why We Want More Money

When I first started my job I was making the same as my colleague who just got promoted, which was y I was there in the first place. I moved a little further away and now know that I make more than she does and had been working there way less. It kind of bothered me for a time b/c I felt that she deserved more as well but it wasn't the place of my boss to to do it since she has her own boss and is part of a different side of the business. I will admit that there have been times where I would be on a temp assignment and be peeved at an imbecile who clearly did not care about the job and was making more than me. But then its not just the tasks that get the better salary. Maybe the other people have more experience, their performance on an important task won them the higher salary or they simply asked for more when they got hired. The last one is simple but happens all the time.

It doesn't make sense to worry about other people's salaries. Focus on making yourself better and if it really bothers you then look at the full picture of that other person and get down to the nitty gritty of y they make more.

Nice post!

With my first job I compared myself to colleagues in the same job that were getting paid more, but were doing less. I was not happy because they made twice what I made. What I didn't take into account was that they had been there for a while and had been getting yearly COLA updates to their salary. Over 10-15 years those add up!

In recent years I don't compare myself to the person next door in terms of pay but in terms of responsibility. I just look at pay as a way to pay off my debt and as a means to subsidize a vacation (which I haven't had for 4 years) :-) More pay would be nice, but I know that getting paid more than the sack-o-potatoes that doesn't do much won't satisfy me because it will still bug me that there is a person like that in the organization LOL

Very good post, totally agree, and it reminded me of last Friday's Visible Advice dated 4/17/09 -

"Some hotels give you four pillows with four different feather types and weights so you have a pillow you like. Because the amount of sleep you get matters a lot. So focus on what you can control, like your feathers, instead of what you can't -- whether you need to stay up late working on an emergency project. In the end, controlling what you can matters more than bitching about what you can't."

Focus on what you can control.

It is a well-known psychological concept (i.e. you can find it in introductory psychology textbooks) that people's happiness and satisfaction with life is closely associated with how they are doing relatively to the people around them. Money is no exception. Therefore, you are likely to feel unhappy living in the smallest mansion on your block, even though children in Africa are starving.

However, psych studies have also found that you are more likely to be perceived attractive if you are around attractive people.

So it is possible that the concept of relativity mostly applies to your perception of yourself.

I realize I did not cite anything, but I remember these things from Psych AP. But you should Google anyway. Trust, but verify.

I don't care if I have more money - now. But when I was getting started, I wanted more money. Because I wasn't making much. I think once you get to a level that YOU'RE comfortable with (and that's different for different people), it doesn't matter as much.

In terms of who you hang out with, I am more comfortable when my friends have more than me. I feel guilty around my friends whose houses are smaller - or don't get to travel like I do. It doesn't overwhelm me or anything, but I'm not jealous of my friends with more money, so it's more comfortable to be around them.

Knowing how much your company pays (aka values) you is fundamentally different than caring about how much you make. Bloomberg accepts only $1 a year for being the mayor of NYC. However, one assumes he would have a problem if the city refused to offer him more than a dollar and felt that his services were worth less than a footlong hot dog.

Knowing your value to a company and being able to compare that to that of your coworkers does matter. No, you can't demand a raise because someone makes more than you on no merits other than a brown nose and a child to feed but you will know that in your workplace, family and favorites matter. And if you're a recluse with their tubes tied than maybe it's time to start looking for opportunities elsewhere.

Schoolhouse Rock doesn't lie...knowledge is always power. What you do with that is up to you.

Also, so many great points from this post: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2008/07/11/how-to-figure-out-how-much-you-...

As for the amount of income we make I think Mark Cuban says it best with "The Most Patriotic Thing You Can Do" http://blogmaverick.com/2009/08/13/the-most-patriotic-thing-you-can-do/

I don't know who said it but I've heard that you are the average of your five closest friends. Included in this is income levels. If you want to improve then you just become friends and hang out with richer people. You will then begin to learn and take in the attitudes and character traits that have made them more wealthy. It just might work for you too.