4 Steps to Make More Money Than Your Coworkers

Got the cubicle blues and don’t know why? Your coworker’s paycheck might be to blame.

A new study out of Madrid found that the key to happiness at work isn’t in how much you are paid, but how much you are paid relative to your peers. So basically: Make less than your coworkers, “have a sad” in the office restroom on a regular basis.

To make matters worse, when workers discover income disparities, studies show they tend to work harder. “[This is] due to the idea that if those around me earn more than I do, it might indicate that if I work hard I will end up earning as much as they do,” says Eduardo Pérez Asenjo, study author and professor of economics at UC3M in Madrid. Ultimately, this strategy will likely just result in even greater feelings of resentment that you’re underpaid… and also overworked.

The good news is that there are strategies you can take if your goal is to earn more money.

Here’s how to ask for a raise and hear ‘yes’ in four simple steps.

1. Pick a number—but not just any number
Asking too high makes you look insane, asking too low means you’re missing out on potential income. The key is figuring out what the sweet spot is. “Too many people ask for raises based on what they’d like to earn or a general gut feeling that they should be making more,” says Alison Green, author of the popular Ask a Manager blog. “Do some research on industry norms for your particular work in your geographic area and see where your salary falls relative to those markers.”

Tip: Don’t use salary websites as a reference. Green says that the most reliable method is to ask other people in your field for their opinion. That said, most people tend to squirm when asked about their salary directly. “But you can bounce figures off them and see how they respond,” she says. “Do they think the number you mention is about right, or does it seem too high or too low to them?” Base your ask off your intel.

2. Wait for the ideal time
Make sure you’ve put in a significant amount of time (at least a year) and have a sustained track record of accomplishment before you try to climb the monetary ladder. And don’t become a repeat raise demander! If you just earned a raise 3 months ago, don’t come knocking too soon. “In most companies, you won’t get your first raise until you’ve been there for at least a year, and you usually won’t get a raise more than once a year after that,” Green says.

Also, Green adds, it’s important to think big picture. “It helps if the company is in decent financial straits; when employers are going through a rough financial time, they’re looking for places to cut costs, not add them, so you want to be sensitive to that,” she says.

3. Sell yourself
Don’t just tell your boss why you deserve a raise—show her. “A raise is an acknowledgement that you’re now contributing at a significantly higher level than when your salary was last set,” Green says. “So think about what achievements you had in the last year and why your work truly is worth more to your employer now than it was when your salary was last set.” Hard facts trump emotions every time. Possible accomplishments to mention: compliments from customers, increased revenue by X dollars, or evidence that you handle twice the caseload of your original responsibilities.

4. Never give up
Don’t take your boss’s “no” as a devastating rejection and plan to burn down the building Office Space style. “If your boss turns down your request, ask what you would need to accomplish to earn a raise in the future” Green says. “A good manager will be able to show you what a path to a salary increase would look like.”

photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

More from WH:
Stop Wasting Money
How to Negotiate a Raise or a Discount
Problem With Your Coworker? This Will Help

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Is His Biological Clock Ticking Faster Than Yours?

Dating an older guy? You may want to have the baby-making convo earlier than you’d planned. The reason: older men are more likely to pass on genetic mutations that increase their kids’ risk of autism and schizophrenia, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.

In the study, researchers analyzed the genes of 78 trios of mother-father-child in which the parents had no mental disorders, but the child had autism or schizophrenia. Researchers found that the average child born to a father when he’s 20 years old had 25 random mutations whereas a 40-year-old dad passed on 65 mutations, on average. (Mothers passed on an average of 15 mutations no matter their age.) According to the findings, about 20 to 30 percent of cases of autism in recent decades may be due to dads having kids later in life.

So should you dump your guy for someone younger or convince him to freeze his swimmers? Not so fast, says licensed family counselor M. Gary Neuman, author of Connect to Love: The Keys to Transforming Your Relationship. What you should do: If you know you want to have children find out his thoughts on kids ASAP. Here are three keys to keep in mind when bringing up the B-word.

Discuss a specific time frame. If he says he wants to have kids, ask him when he’d like to have one by. “Saying ‘soon’ doesn’t cut it because it may mean very different things to both of you,” Neuman says. “Instead of asking for a deadline, ask for a ballpark so you can be sure you’re on the same page and use the information he gives you to make a decision about the relationship.”

Emphasize your age more than his. The research showing that men’s age plays a role in the risk of mental disorders in kids is still relatively new, but it’s well researched that the risk of Down syndrome increases with a woman’s age. (The risk of having a child with Down syndrome is 1 in 1,300 for a 25-year-old woman and 1 in 30 by age 45, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.) “You can tell him that just like you wouldn’t smoke or drink when pregnant in order to have the healthiest possible outcome, having a child by a certain age is a factor in doing as much as you can to create a healthy baby.” (Are you already late to the game? Here’s how to protect your fertility so you can get pregnant over 40.)

Focus on the relationship. Discussing children when you’re still dating can be a difficult conversation to have, but it can ultimately bring you closer together and deepen your relationship, Neuman says. “Ask him what he thinks about children, whether he thinks his parents had children too young or too old, and what he pictures for his future family.” These sorts of questions and the discussion they evoke create a much more meaningful conversation than demanding a timeline. “They may also help you communicate that you want to have kids with him rather than you want kids by a certain time and he’s your best shot,” Neuman adds. (Tip: don’t clue him into the fact that you’ve already picked out names for your three nonexistent children.)

photo: Hemera/Thinkstock

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Foods That Fight Aging
The Maybe-Baby Mindset on Getting Pregnant
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Veggies Far Better Than Supplements at Delivering Health Benefits

Broccoli
Photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

If you want to reap the health benefits of broccoli and other cruciferous veggies, supplements just won’t do, according to new research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

“Adequate levels of nutrients like vitamin D are often difficult to obtain in most diets. But the particular compounds that we believe give broccoli and related vegetables their health value need to come from the complete food,” says Emily Ho, the principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

The study shows that glucosinolates, a class of phytochemicals found in cruciferous vegetables that may reduce the risk of breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer, is poorly absorbed and of far less value if taken as a supplement.

Intensive cooking depletes the vegetables’ health benefits as well, Ho says. However, they can be lightly cooked for two or three minutes, or steamed but left crunchy, and still retain sufficient health benefits.

Get more tips for boosting the health benefits of your veggies:
The Best Produce for Women

Get More Antioxidants
Vegetables You Should Eat Together

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