SoFi Blog

When it comes time to talk money at the negotiation table, there’s a new law that could affect your next job interview. Namely, starting in New York City, Philadelphia, and the state of Massachusetts, employers can no longer ask what income you made at your previous job. (And luckily, more cities and states are following suit.) For job seekers, this is great news, and should ease some of the anxiety of figuring out how to negotiate your compensation package. Withholding current salary information can be a good way to make sure you’re not pigeonholed into a particular range when asking for a higher number.

Is there a dream that you tabled years ago and having been meaning to revisit? Maybe you aspired to write the Great American Novel, but became accustomed to the office lifestyle. Or perhaps you’ve toyed with the idea of taking a mid-career break at 40 to lay on a beach in Ibiza or hike the Appalachian Trail. More people are taking a sabbatical or mid-career break in their 30s and 40s, whether to pursue personal passions, travel, volunteer, or consider a career shift.

Having a child is one of the biggest decisions a couple can make. The second largest decision? Choosing which child care is right for their family. With all the options out there, settling on just one can be a challenge, as every family’s situation and needs are different.

On top of that, in my 10 years of helping new parents financially plan their families, child care also tends to be the second largest monthly expense, after housing. And contrary to what you might think, it’s not an expense that some parents can choose not to budget for. Even if you have one stay-at-home parent, you’ll still need to pay for some babysitting and child care, as it’s wan important part of maintaining a healthy relationship with a partner—not to mention provides a necessary mental break for both.

Starting a family, or even starting to think about it, is an incredible stage in life. But it can also be overwhelming. You might be thinking about the hard questions: What will your life be like with a newborn? What will you and your partner be like as parents? Should you move closer to family?

A wealthy real estate mogul recently told millennials to stop buying avocado toast if they ever want to buy a house, and the internet went berserk. The advice was poorly received, because many felt that it was out of touch with the current financial environment. For one, the millennial generation has only ever known income stagnation, wages that haven’t kept up with inflation, and skyrocketing college and real estate prices. Two, the assertion that we can’t stop shelling out for fancy breakfast foods buys into the shallow narrative that millennials don’t know the meaning of hard work or the value of a dollar.

While I largely side with the outraged denizens of the interwebs, I’ll play devil’s advocate here: Clearly, Avocado Man was hoping to make a point about frivolous spending, but he veers off track when making the assumption that this is a trademark of the millennial generation. Current times have seen people of all ages spend more on “stuff” than ever before.