Apparently the key to making long term money at your job begins when you are negotiating that starting salary.  Since your raises are based on a percentage of your salary, where you you start can determine everything.  For example if you negotiate  a starting salary of $55,000 instead of $50,000 its worth more than $600,000 to you over the course of a 40 year run.

These days it seems unlikely that anyone stays at a job for 40 years, but I’m coming up on 20 years here at the radio station and yes- I think I negotiated poorly in those early years, especially the first one.  So, if the theory is true and I cut in half, I think they owe me $300,000.  I wonder how that will fly at our next sit-down.