I have a good friend who recently graduated from MIT with a PhD in something I can't even pronounce, let alone do. Even in this rocky economy, he has competing job offers. That's a great position to be in, and I'm happy for him.

But when he told me about his options, I was surprised to hear him say he didn't plan to negotiate his salary. One company offered him $10,000 less than another for a comparable position. "It's okay," he said. "That seems like Enough. Besides, it's not a conversation I want to get into."

I encouraged him to rethink his position.

Nearly every morning, I get up early to go exercise at the local Crossfit gym. While I wait for it to open at 6:30, I do laps around the cold, dark parking garage with my friend Dan. Sometimes we talk about money and how to make money.

This morning, for example, Dan asked, "Do you ever feel like you're not going to make it financially?"

"I used to," I said, "I worried about it all the time, but not anymore. I have things under control now. A lot of that is because I learned how to make more money."

It's hard to believe, but Kris and I graduated from Willamette University nearly twenty years ago. We enjoyed our time in college, and remain close to many of our classmates. It's always fun when we get a chance to drive to Salem to re-visit the campus. We did just that tonight.

The university hosted a "You're Doing What With Your Major?" alumni career panel to connect current students with former Bearcats who are now working professionals. Kris — who is a chemist — took part in the science panel, and I sat in on the marketing and communications group.

For most people, their career is their most valuable financial asset. Nothing else they own is likely worth as much (several million dollars over a lifetime). And even if they do have something more valuable (like an investment portfolio), it was probably earned as a result of their career.

As with anything valuable, you need to take steps to protect your career. That's why financial websites recommend life, health, and disability insurance — to protect/replace the value of your career in case you die, get sick, or are physically unable to work. Having some of these insurances is wise for almost every worker. But there's another form of insurance that's equally essential.

This insurance is free — but it takes some work and planning. Its benefits go far beyond the time it takes to implement the steps involved. And in addition to increased income, this insurance may even give you more job satisfaction, less stress, and a longer life. Interested?

For a long time, GRS readers have been requesting a list of resources for low-income families struggling to get by. I haven't put anything together because I don't know much about the subject. Fortunately, I know somebody who does. In this article, Donna Freedman lays out the nuts and bolts of finding help when you're in financial distress.

Plenty of people who once made a good living are joining the ranks of the poor and the working poor. They need help, but they're not getting it. Some are too proud to ask. Some don't know what kind of help is available because — you guessed it — they've never needed it before. Some are simply overwhelmed or paralyzed with anxiety or shame.

We all want to think that we can take care of ourselves. Pride is a terrific thing to have — until you're looking at a sick spouse or a utility shutoff notice.

I write a lot at Get Rich Slowly about Financial Independence, by which I essentially mean early retirement (or semi-retirement). That is, accumulating enough money that I no longer have to work. To me, escape from work has always seemed like the ultimate goal.

This is probably because my father held out retirement as a sort of Promised Land. He worked hard — if not always effectively — and he always made retirement and the end of work seem like the goal of life. And the sooner one reached retirement, the better.

But whenever I write about early retirement or Financial Independence, I get e-mail and comments from readers who never want to stop working. They love their jobs. Others write to say that we're not supposed like the work that we do, but we're supposed to do it anyhow. It builds character, and helps us pay the bills.

This article written by Mike is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or failure. These stories feature folks from all levels of financial maturity and with all sorts of incomes.

Traveling to exotic new places is a passion of mine. My wife reminisces fondly over a dinner conversation we had about nine years ago while we were still dating. I emphatically told her, “I am going to show you the world.” Sure, she probably took it as a pick-up line, but little did we know that those words would become prophetic for us.

At the time, I was a federal employee living in San Diego, California, working within the Department of Defense as a civil servant (non-military) employee. Over the next four years, we wed and my wife gave birth to our first child. Prior to marriage, we made the decision that having my wife stay at home with the kids was important to us. Anyone who has spent some time and money in San Diego knows that the city's cost of living makes choosing to be a single-income family difficult. As our family grew and our costs increased, we decided to consider looking for a more affordable place to live.

Unless your last name is Rockefeller, Hilton, or Walton (as in Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart — four of the seven richest Americans are Sam's heirs) chances are you had to work for the money you have. If you're not yet retired, you still have years of that work ahead of you. And you retirees aren't completely off the hook, either: Houses and cars need to be repaired, meals need to be cooked, and taxes need to be filed. If you don't do these things yourself, you'll have to pay someone else to do them.

Your ability to turn your labor into a paycheck — or to do things yourself, so you don't have to fund someone else's paycheck — is your "human capital." This combination of knowledge, experience, talents, work habits, and social skills is perhaps your most important income-producing asset (as I wrote in January).

I've been thinking a lot about “enhancing human capital” over the past couple of years, especially as we've entered the toughest employment environment since the early 1980s. Few people can take their jobs for granted. Too much can change: the economy, technology, competition, even health (affecting one's ability to do a job — approximately one-quarter of retirees stopped working due to health problems).

Then

Isaac wrote recently with a question about how to make the transition from college to the Real World. He has a good degree, but it'll take him time to find a job, especially since the economy is still sluggish. He's worried about how he should handle is finances in the meantime. Here's his question:

I recently graduated from college with a degree in electrical engineering. I'm currently living at home with my family while I search for a job. I'm concerned about my first month or two once I find one, though.

I have no savings, and I'm not sure how I will be able to buy a car (and insurance) to get to and from work, rent an apartment, or even buy necessities for my first few weeks while I wait for a paycheck. I know that some jobs will give a signing bonus or relocation package but I don't want to count on that. My parents are in deep credit-card debt and live paycheck to paycheck, so I can't borrow money from them.

This article written by Bon is part of the "reader stories" feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success — or failure. These stories feature folks from all levels of financial maturity and with all sorts of incomes.

I've always been a bit of a capitalist so to speak, so when I decided to join the Peace Corps several years ago, not only was it a shock to my family and friends, it was a little bit of a shock to me. At the time I loved my job but knew that I would regret staying too close to the corporate path I had been following.

Calculating Opportunity Cost

When considering a major lifestyle change, ask yourself if you're really losing your entire salary when you take a break from work. When I was weighing the financial impact Peace Corps would have, I knew the program would cover my travel, living expenses, and health care, so I wouldn't really be giving up my entire salary for two years. I'd only be giving up what I might potentially have saved at the end of each year. Instead of my opportunity cost being something like $100,000 for two years, it was actually closer to $14,000 total. This seemed like a reasonable price to pay for the experience. Continue reading...