Member-only story
Can We Talk About Money?
Our careers, and aspirations, depend on it
Last week, my local grocery store was going through a strike, so I decided to try ALDI. Yes, I had to put a quarter in the cart to unlock it, but my grocery bill was 1/3 of what I normally pay. I was so thrilled, I told just about everyone.
We love to talk about when we save money. But when it comes to how much we make at our jobs, or how to save for retirement, suddenly it’s a big secret. Then you’re not supposed to talk about money. It’s rude. It’s pushy. It just isn’t done.
Even couples have trouble talking about money. Can you imagine if two partners in a business never got on the same page? Yet we all know (or have been in) relationships where one person has to make all the financial decisions, or hides spending from the other person.
Probably the biggest secret is supposed to be our income. I was once chided at a job for trying to negotiate a raise. My boss asked if I had (gasp) talked to other people about salary numbers, and ended the conversation with an ominous statement: “Be very careful about talking about money again.”
That’s the kind of job people leave, because money is important. Money says you value my time and my work. Paying me less than market rate says that you think I’m less valuable. Negotiating for a raise…
