‘Salaries Are for Suckers’

You’re Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. Congratulations. Thank you. What kind of taxes do you pay? What don’t you pay? How do you end up not paying income taxes when you’re Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk? What are you talking about? So first of all, let’s focus on Jeff Bezos because he’s much more of a classic case. He started his own business. He owns a dominant amount of the stock. And over the course of the years, he has taken a salary that is no higher than $82,000. It’s been over 20 years now. And that’s his salary, it’s always capped at $82,000. And you might say, well, why would it be? He started the company. He’s the man. Why isn’t he taking a huge salary to reflect all that he put into the company? And the reason is because salaries are for suckers. When people take a salary, they are subject to high income taxes and payroll taxes. And Jeff Bezos and a lot of our other multi-, centibillionaires have no interest in paying those taxes. So instead, they take their benefits through the growing value of their stock. And their stock has grown enormously. And that massive growth of stock happens entirely tax-free, with no time frame under our current system in which that stock will ever be subject to tax. And that is because we only impose a tax if the stock is sold. And Bezos never has to sell the stock because he can simply borrow against the stock and use that money to support his lifestyle and to pay any interest that’s due on the loan. READ MORE

Executives Are Deferring Unlimited Compensation Tax-Free, but HR Won’t Explain the Bankruptcy Risk

Most executives who get access to a nonqualified deferred compensation plan treat it like a bonus perk. They sign the enrollment form, pick a deferral percentage, and move on. That is a mistake that can cost tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary taxes — or, in the worst case, everything.

An NQDC plan is one of the only legal mechanisms that lets a high-earning executive defer an essentially unlimited amount of compensation, compound it tax-deferred, and potentially distribute it in a lower tax bracket. The upside is real, and so is the risk hiding in the fine print. READ MORE

Fixing the 'mess' that is college sports compensation

Now that the college basketball season has ended with its March Madness extending into early April this year, for both men and women, the largest revenue-raising college sports are over for the year and the less lucrative and watched spring sports are in progress, including baseball, which has a strong foothold here in Florida. 

As the major seasons come to an end, college teams are throwing open transfer portals for basketball and football to welcome new players and watch as the flow of money goes to college athletes (and their agents) under the rubric of Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) and other related forms of compensation. READ MORE

Beyond the paycheck

In 2025, personal income in the United States totaled around $26 trillion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Strikingly, only about 60 percent of that income came from wages, salaries, and benefits workers receive from employers. The other 40 percent came from the myriad sources that make up nonwage income.

At $11 trillion, nonwage income likely contributes importantly to household finances and the overall economy. But wage and salary income tends to be the star of the show when it comes to assessing Americans’ economic well-being. Nonwage income, a more eclectic category, receives less discussion. READ MORE

For a more representative NC legislature, raise lawmakers’ $14K salary

As North Carolina gets ready to enter short session on April 21, it is time to confront a longstanding flaw in the North Carolina General Assembly. The legislators in 2026 make the exact same $13,951 as the legislators did in 1995.

North Carolina’s General Assembly is considered a hybrid state legislature by the National Conference of State Legislatures. This means that members spend about two thirds of a full-time job being legislators and usually need another source of income to live on. Among fellow hybrid states, North Carolina pays its legislators one of the lowest base salaries. This time commitment paired with a low salary limits the ideas and perspectives that are shared in the North Carolina General Assembly, since only the retired or wealthy can afford to make ends meet considering what’s provided. READ MORE

Iowa Launches Comprehensive State Worker Salary Database

The state of Iowa has unveiled a comprehensive online database detailing the salaries of all state government employees, providing the public with unprecedented transparency into public sector compensation. The database, which covers over 400,000 members of the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS), allows users to search by job title, agency, and other criteria to see how much individual state workers earn. READ MORE

2025–2026 Lawyer Salary Report You Need to See

Attorney salaries are rising again, but the story is more complex than headline numbers suggest. The Attorney Compensation Report 2025–2026 offers one of the most detailed looks at what lawyers earn across the United States.

Learn more from this report: The Complete Attorney Compensation Report 2025-2026 – Definitive U.S. Legal Salary Guide

For legal professionals, this report isn’t just about numbers. Instead, it reveals how law firms compete, how talent moves, and where opportunities are growing. Law students, recruiters, and practicing attorneys can all use this data to make smarter career decisions.

  So, what’s really happening in the legal salary market right now? READ MORE

‘How much money do you make?’: Etiquette experts share what to say when someone asks your salary

I talk and write about money all day. So it’s rare that someone comes to me with a money question that makes me uncomfortable or that I find hard to answer.

But a couple of weeks ago, I was at a party with someone who had just gotten into journalism. He asked me about my career trajectory and my current gig. Do I get assignments or pitch my own stuff? How do I balance frequent deadlines with in-depth reporting? Then, suddenly: How much money do I make? READ MORE

2026 CISO Annual Compensation Averages $350K, Tops $1M For Some

According to Glassdoor data, the median annual pay range for a CISO is $321,000, while Salary.com puts the figure at $385,000. Lower tier estimates, provided by Zippia, bottom out at $144,000.

CSO reports that CISO pay at the largest US enterprises is closer to $500,000, with some CISOs receiving seven-figure annual compensation packages, and a few even hauling in $5 million a year. Fortune 100 CISOs often far exceed reported averages.  READ MORE

Companies Are Adjusting Incentive Compensation Faster Than Ever, But Execution Is Lagging

Based on a survey of 200 incentive compensation leaders, the research shows that while organizations are modernizing their approach to incentive compensation, many still lack the ability to execute plans effectively. A large majority (82%) of companies now manage incentive compensation through formal software—up 12% year-over-year—but only 33% have automated their commission process end-to-end.

At the same time, organizations are moving faster. Nearly half (46%) now review and adjust plans quarterly, yet 39% report it still takes one to two months to implement those changes. READ MORE

Apple employees seek overtime wages in class action over stock compensation policy

A federal judge Tuesday tentatively ruled restricted stock units awarded to hourly Apple employees do not fall under federal exclusions that would allow the company to exclude the awards from employees’ regular rate of pay for the purposes of calculating overtime pay.

Restricted stock units (RSUs) are awards that give employees a contingent right to own company stock on a future date, subject to certain conditions. Vesting is the process an employee takes to earn ownership of the stock, such as waiting a certain amount of time or reaching a specific career level. READ MORE

Starbucks adds barista bonuses, weekly pay and expanded tips in frontline compensation push

Starbucks is overhauling how its frontline workers get paid with a package of changes that includes performance-based quarterly bonuses, a shift to weekly paychecks and expanded tipping access through its mobile app. The program is designed to create more opportunities for hourly workers to share in the success of the “Back to Starbucks” transformation. READ MORE

America's upper middle class swells, driven by wage growth

More American families are climbing into higher income brackets, The Wall Street Journal reports. About 31% of Americans qualified as upper middle class in 2024, a jump from just 10% in 1979, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Pew Research found similar trends; "Everybody is doing better, but the upper income households are especially," says one Pew researcher. Wage growth has driven the ascent, per the Journal. However, families in this bracket say costs for housing and higher education still leave them feeling financially squeezed. READ MORE

I advised companies on what to pay people. Here are 4 myths you should ignore when negotiating your salary.

I'm a negotiation advisor, and my husband and I cofounded Yournegotiations.com. We help executives and mid-career professionals negotiate job offers and business deals.

I credit my negotiation expertise to a few things. First, I'm from Albania, which is a developing country. I had to navigate constrained resources my whole life. Second, I have a passion for behavioral science and psychology. READ MORE

What the ‘millionaire tax’ means for retention strategy

Multiple states are revisiting or advancing surcharges on million-dollar incomes. For HR leaders, the after-tax value of executive and high-earner compensation is becoming more volatile and more jurisdiction-sensitive.

“Democratic legislators in Washington state approved a bill that will place a 9.9% tax on those who earn more than $1 million. That bill now heads to the state governor’s desk,” according to Marketplace, a public media outlet. READ MORE