RAISES

raise, what raise ?
for the third year in a row the german government has announced that there will be no increase in pension paid !!! the letter we received addresses us as "dear pensioner" - i'd say "cut out the niceties and send more money" ! hbg

ps. i'd even permit them to address me as "crappy old pensioner".

I think that in knowitall's case, 2.5% to 4% is not a good long term target. According to the US Census, in 2003 the median household income in the US was $43,300. This presumably includes dual income households, unemployed households, etc., but let's assume for a moment that that's about an average American's income.

If knowitall currently makes $12,480, and gets an annual raise of - let's take the average of 2.5% and 4% and use 3.25% - then it would take 39 years of raises to get to $43,300. But there's also inflation, so knowitall could work until age 100 or so and still not make an average income. That's not good.

So my suggestion is that income level, don't think in terms of percentage raises, because that will just lock you into poverty for the rest of your life, as the math shows.

Raises, a nice idea if you work for some entity.

"Raises, a nice idea if you work for some entity"

modified : "raises, a nice idea if you work for eternity". heh,heh, heh ....

cjh, NO raise since 2001? What are you still doing there?

c.i. : you want to bump him off because he didn't get a raise ?

(oops, misread, i thought you said "what are you still doing HERE " ... heh, heh )

ps. he probably works because of some "fringe" benefits ?

hbg, The US government will provide us with a 4.1% increase in our social security in 2006. I'm not complaining, because we're a few of the lucky ones. Between my wife and I, we get about $30K in social security payments. We are not rich, but since we do not depend totally on social security for our retirement, we're in relative good shape compared to US averages.

c.i. : our "canada pansion plan" and old age security payments are adjusted on a regualr basis. our (small) german pension has not been increased for the last two years - and will likely not rise for 2006 - since the german pension fund is actually running a deficit and has to borrow from the general revenue fund, i believe, to be able to meet its current obligations. since the canadian dollar has risen by about 20% against the euro, our actual payments have fallen by about 20% this year. since we never counted on receiving any money from the german pension fund, we are not very concerned about this drop ... we are happy we are getting any pension from germany at all.
the rise in the canadian dollar should also be quite helpful on our next european vacation .
...you win some, you lose some... hbg

Every time I plan a trip to the UK, my body goes through a shiver of sorts, then I'm okay. LOL

The amount of money made for a given position may also vary greatly depending on where you live.

I lived in Pocatello, Idaho for a small stretch in the mid 1980's. There was no work to be found. In fact, the only job I was able to find after our business went belly up was delivering pizza. Minimum wage baby. I took the last $150 I had and bought a plane ticket back to the east coast. I had a better paying job within a week.

First you've got to ask yourself a few questions.....


Do you show up for work on time? Every day?
Do you show initiative and ask for additional responsibilities?
Do you get along with your co-workers?
Is your speed at data entry faster, slower or the same as the other data entry clerks?
Do you follow all the policies of your company re: appropriate dress, breaks etc?
Do you work part time or full time?

You're 21...how long have you been out in the work world?

Excuse me, but you're asking how much a 4% raise of $6.00 would be floored me.
Did you not do well in math in school?

If you were my employee, and I saw you go the extra mile, take responsibilty and ownership of your job, I'd give you a buck, or maybe even 2. That would get you up to a better standard of pay, and then we could do it by %'s in the years to follow.

If however, you are often tardy, have issues getting to work at all, take a day off whenever you get a chance, are a clockwatcher, etc. you probably wouldn't be there at all after a year. If by some chance you sneak by, I'd give you a quarter to let you know I expect a lot more.

Really, you just can't ask...What kind of raise should I get? You have to ask yourself how much you deserve, and how good are you at your job.

Maybe because it was a good company where I'd been for 10 years, who paid me quite well, until they laid me and 80 other people off in September. I've taken a severe paycut since then, at a new job, to keep my ass in the workforce and not sit around collecting unemployment. IT jobs are hard to come by these days.

If you are saying "it was a sign from God", then I understand. The fact is, nobody was getting raises during that time, and almost nobody left.

I've left the state. My family is leaving tomorrow. You should have stopped by for the party last night. At least 100 people showed up to wish my wife and kids good bye.

You see, I/they are not as universally hated as you might think.

cj

I haven't had a raise or a bonus in years, and I don't get benefits.