While related, inflation and the cost of living are not the same. Inflation is the overall increase in the price of items. The cost of living is how much money is needed to pay for those items. Duringperiods of high inflationexpenses may rise faster than usual, pushing up the cost of l...
In the U.S., most cost-of-living raises are based on theConsumer Price Index(CPI). The CPI is an approximation of how much someone must spend to attain a certain level of well-being. It measures the price of a "market basket" of goods and services that a typical household buys. Bec...
With a healthy amount of emergency savings, you’ll have a safety net if your income stops growing or you lose your job. “Deflation usually results in households having less income, or at least that people stop getting raises. That could be exactly the time you want to have a little ...
It’s useful to know how your company generally handles raises so that you know what’s possible. Speaking of your employer’s salary structure: If, in the course of doing this research, you find out that men in your office are earning more than women for the same work, you have a ...
Using the basic calculations above, let's look at how base salary and base pay can be calculated, along with basic calculations for bonuses and overtime: Example 1: Base Salary [Regular pay amount per payment period] x [# of payment periods in a year] = Base salary [$4,000 bi-weekly...
That means bonuses, raises, profit sharing, holiday gifts—yep, all of it. It’s more than okay to treat yourself from time to time (I still want you to enjoy your money for other things), but don’t let the temptation of lifestyle creep take over. One of my favorite Bible verses...
company has it clearly defined in the handbook that raises are only permitted during annual reviews, you know that you're in a bad spot. You can still go for it, but you'll have to address that issue directly and present a reason why your case is outside the scope of those guidelines...
But keep in mind that interest rates for these savings accounts are linked loosely to therates set by the Federal Reserve. So, if the Fed raises interest rates, banks and credit unions will tend to pay more interest on savings accounts to stay competitive while attracting more deposits (online...
People often use the phrases inflation and cost of living as if they were synonymous. However, they are not, although they're closely related. Inflationis the big picture. As the cost of goods and services rises, the buying power of the dollar falls. The inflation rate is often measured ...
CPI is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them based on their relative weight in the whole basket. The prices in consideration are the retail prices of each item, as available for purchase by the individual citizens. Changes in t...