When you're negotiating a new job, a good salary is relative to the portion of the country in which you live. For instance, making $50,000 a year in the rural midwest will get you much more than downtown Manhattan. Use our tools to find out how much people make in different parts of the country and read the latest articles related to cost of living.

Cost of Living Advice

• Can my employer pay me less in a region with a higher cost of living?

  I relocated by choice. When I relocated, I couldn't keep the same position with my company. Now the company has offered me a position comparable to the one I left behind, but at the pay rate I was at before my position changed. What … Read more...

• Should I get a raise for working in a new region?

  I work for a food and beverage management company that has had a few closures over that past year in my region due to cutbacks by our clients. To stay employed with my company, I agreed to consult in a different region (with a much higher … Read more...

• Money Markets and CDs

  Personal savings is the base of your financial pyramid. It is the foundation of your family's well-being and it's your starting point to building wealth. Starting a sound savings program isn't difficult, but it takes some thinking, … Read more...

• First-Time Home Buyer Tips - Making the Offer

  Good real estate agents are invaluable when it comes time to make an offer on a house. Invariably the agent will provide you with a preprinted form of a purchase contract, which together you rework to fit your needs. The contract begins by … Read more...

• First-Time Home Buyer Tips - Closing Time

  Closing is the last step in buying a home. Unless you are paying cash for the house, you cannot buy without backing from a lender, which comes in the form of a commitment letter. The lender will require that you have a homeowner's insurance … Read more...

• Talking Taxes - How to Select an Accountant

  When my wife and I began to gather receipts and other scraps of paper for our taxes this year, I called our long-time accountant with a routine request for an organizer to help us make sense of all the numbers. Read more...

• Talking Taxes - How to Avoid an Audit

  A few years ago, the Internal Revenue Service challenged the tax deductions a college professor took for losses he reported in his business as a book author. "They came in and said, 'OK, prove to us it's a business,'" recalled Joseph … Read more...

• Personal Finance - Tips for Living within Your Means

  "It's not like I'm disorganized," said Michelle E., a 28-year-old paralegal from Aurora, Colorado. "My friends even joke about my CD collection being alphabetized. Yet my savings account is always empty and I never manage to pay down my … Read more...

• Personal Finance - Personal Budget Planning Builds Household Wealth

  To some people, "budget" is a dirty word. In reality a budget is just a schedule of income and expenses, a way of documenting how much money comes in and how it should sensibly be spent. There's everything to gain from sticking to a budget, … Read more...

• Personal Finance - 12 Ways to Get out of Credit Card Debt

  Everybody with a credit card knows it's smart to pay what you owe at the end of every month - right? According to CardWeb.com, an international credit card tracker, credit card debt is approximately $9000 per household for those carrying at … Read more...

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