Negotiation calculator
Push for the bigger number. Here's what it's actually worth.
Most people leave money on the table because the upside feels abstract. It isn't. The math compounds. A small raise today can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars after compounding across your entire career.
What you're actually asking for
$7,500 a year after tax
$10,000 gross · taxed at 25%
5-year impact
$43,131
10-year impact
$103,623
30-year impact
$708,456
How we got the after-tax number
Gross delta: $95,000 − $85,000 = $10,000
Tax bite at 25%: $10,000 × 25% = $2,500
After-tax in your pocket: $7,500 per year
Assumptions
- Invested numbers assume the after-tax delta is contributed each year and grows at 7% a year — the long-run average for a broad US stock index.
- Returns aren't guaranteed. Historical performance doesn't always indicate future performance.
- Tax rate stays constant. In real life, brackets shift; this is a directionally honest estimate, not a tax filing.
- Doesn't account for raises stacking on top of this one — which is why the real-life number is usually higher, not lower.
- Not tax or investment advice — that's CFP/CPA territory. The compounding math is real either way.
Now let's actually draft it