The other night I was chatting up one of my friends, and mentioned that I'd be waiting for my bonus to decide how much I'd spend on a replacement camera. "The problem is," I said, "I have no idea about scale." I was thinking that, really, a bonus could be anything from 5% to 100% of your salary -- or more! The possibilties are endless.She laughed, and started telling me stories. She comes from the nonprofit world, where ... well, let's just say that they aren't as generous as the i-bankers. One year she was making $36,000, and somehow she knew her Christmas bonus would be a percentage of her salary. She was realistic, hoping for maybe 5%! That would be nice. She kept waiting for the check to arrive, and one day casually mentioned it to her husband.
"Oh, I was wondering what that deposit for $36 was!" he said, laughing. 0.1%, to be exact.
But that wasn't the worst of it. A friend of hers was working for the Red Cross, and had set herself a monstrous goal for new donors. No one had ever achieved such a goal, but she thought she could do it, and she did! She and a co-worker were called before the board.
"We're really, really amazed at your achievement," they said. There were envelopes in their hands. She started thinking about what might be in them. Maybe $100! Or, even $200. So cool.
Comfort Zone Investing: The unmighty dollar
Five winners of a weak dollar
For a quick-read on the U.S. economy, check the price of gasoline
