Earning
The second income that is not worth the hours
Side income is priced in money and paid for in time, tax and admin. Some of it does not clear the bar.
Earning
Salary progression, changing jobs and what a raise is actually worth.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Earning
A pay rise is worth less than the number suggests
Between tax bands, benefit withdrawal and lifestyle drift, the useful part of an increase is smaller than the headline.
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The years your earnings move fastest, and what follows them
Most careers do the bulk of their real growth in a compressed window. Knowing roughly where you are in it changes what you plan for.
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Changing career at thirty-five and what the pay cut really costs
The visible cost is a lower salary for a few years. The larger one is what those years were contributing to in the background.
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The promotion that costs more than it pays
A step up usually adds hours, responsibility and a different job. Occasionally the net effect on a household is negative.
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Going part-time changes progression more than pay
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Earning
Two careers, one household, and whose job moves
Most couples decide this once, implicitly, and then live with the compounding consequences for twenty years.
Earning
The counter-offer rarely fixes what made you look
A matched salary addresses the number on the payslip and usually not the reason the search started.
Earning
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Percentage increases stack on each other, which is why a two-point difference in annual growth separates two identical careers by a…
Earning
Retraining in your forties and how long the payback runs
The question is not whether it is possible. It is how many earning years remain to recover the cost.