Michael Lopp:

One such predictable moment is the first glimpse of the offer letter for your new gig. This is the culmination of hours of resume tweakage, a series of phone screen gymnastics, and two grueling days of in-person interviews. This is the moment where you can answer the question, “How much do they think I’m worth?”

Fact is, you should already know. You’re the business.

If someone asked you about your current level of compensation, would you be able to properly answer the question? Are you an expensive $20 an hour? Or are you a cheap $20 an hour?

On the accounting side of things, there’s no doubting the inflated cost of $20 an hour. Generally speaking here in Canada, each hourly dollar of wages actually costs the employer about $1.15 to $1.30 on the cheap end. At the more expensive end, each hourly dollar may cost $1.50. There’s a reason payroll expenses are one of the biggest expenses for the majority of businesses.

Determining how much you contribute to that payroll expense line is not only your business, it’s your responsibility. From there, I’ll let Michael explain the rest. His business and money articles flat out rock.