Big decisions · Module 2 of 4
The number you can move
Negotiating your salary and big purchases, leasing versus buying, and the questions to ask first.
Key terms in The number you can move
- Total compensation
Total compensation is the full value of what an employer pays for an employee's work, combining wages and salaries with the cost of benefits. The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups benefits into paid leave, supplemental pay such as bonuses and overtime, insurance, retirement and savings contributions, and legally required benefits such as Social Security and workers' compensation.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation: Concepts
- Anchoring
Anchoring is a cognitive bias in which an initial number or piece of information, the anchor, pulls later estimates toward it. People typically start from the anchor and adjust, and the adjustment is often too small. The idea was described by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman and is used to study how first prices and first offers shape judgments.
- Vehicle lease
A vehicle lease is an agreement to use a car, new or used, for a set number of months and miles, in exchange for regular payments. The payments cover the vehicle's loss in value during the term plus a rent charge and fees, and they do not build ownership. At the end the vehicle goes back to the leasing company unless the contract includes a purchase option.
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What should I know about leasing versus buying a car?
Every term on Lever is in the money glossary.
About this module
The number you can move is part of Big decisions, one of 15 subjects in Lever. It’s a short run of 7 lessons, about 18 minutes in all, so you can finish it in one sitting.
Every lesson takes one idea at a time. You read it with the math worked out step by step, answer a question that puts it to use, then see why the right answer is right and why the others aren’t.
It’s for anyone who was never taught this, and you don’t need to know anything first. Every lesson is free. Lever works out what you already know, so you can start here or let your path bring you to it.
More in Big decisions
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1
Renting your first place
How much rent you can afford, deposits, leases, splitting rent fairly, and renter’s insurance.
7 lessons -
3
Buying a home
Mortgages, pre-approval, home equity, and fixed versus adjustable rates.
7 lessons -
4
What a home really costs
Closing costs, mortgage insurance and all the costs of owning that never show up on the listing.
5 lessons
Try this module
It’s part of Big decisions. Lever will bring it to you when you’re ready, or you can go straight there.