Your Skills Are Worth $150 an Hour. You’re Paid for 40 of Them.
I want to start with a number that most employed tech workers haven’t looked up: the market rate for their skills sold directly, outside an employer’s payroll. A mid-level software…
The Government Pays You 5%. Most People Still Don’t Know How to Collect It.
I’ve been watching the HYSA rate decline for about eighteen months now and I keep noticing the same gap: families with meaningful cash reserves sitting in savings accounts earning 3.5…
The Market Dropped. Did You Collect Your Tax Refund?
I want to reframe how most people think about investment losses, because the standard mental model is backwards. When a position in your taxable brokerage account goes down, most investors…
The 529 Isn’t Just a College Bet. It’s a Tax Break You’re Taking This Year.
The mental model most parents have about 529 plans goes something like this: put money away for eighteen years, hope the markets cooperate, hope your kid goes to college, get…
Salary Negotiation Isn’t About Persuasion. It’s About Position.
I want to start with the thing that salary negotiation advice almost never says clearly: the outcome of most compensation conversations is largely determined before anyone sits down to talk.…
The Retirement Account Most Freelancers Don’t Know They’re Ignoring
The IRA contribution limit in 2026 is $7,000. The Solo 401(k) contribution limit is $69,000. Both are available to self-employed people. Most freelancers, consultants, and side business owners are using…
The Resume Myth That’s Costing You Interviews
I’ve reviewed somewhere in the range of several thousand resumes across my years in recruiting operations, and the most persistent misunderstanding I see is this: candidates think someone is going…
The 5% HYSA Window Is Closing. Here’s Where the Money Still Works.
The peak was October 2023. The Fed funds rate hit 5.5% and online banks were competing aggressively for deposits — Marcus, Ally, CIT, Discover all pushing rates above 5% to…
The Roth vs. Traditional Debate Is Already Settled for Most High Earners
The standard framing of this question — “Roth if you expect higher taxes in retirement, Traditional if you expect lower” — sounds like advice. It’s actually a placeholder for advice,…
LinkedIn Is a Search Engine. Most People Are Using It as a Resume.
I spent some time a few years ago watching a recruiter work through LinkedIn Recruiter — not the consumer version most people use, but the paid platform with Boolean search,…
