Whether we’re starting a new job or gunning for a promotion at our current one, we all know that we should be negotiating the salary.

Or do we?

A survey by Salary.com revealed that only 37% of people always negotiate their salaries—while an astonishing 18% never do. Even worse, 44% of respondents claim to have never brought up the subject of a raise during their performance reviews.

The biggest reason for not asking for more? Fear.

And we get it: Salary negotiation can be scary. But what’s even scarier is not doing it.

Here’s a good example: A famous study done by Linda Babcock for her book Women Don’t Ask revealed that only about 7% of women attempted to negotiate their first salary, while 57% of men did. Of those people who negotiated, they were able to increase their salary by over 7%.

That may not sound like much, but as Stanford negotiation professor Margaret A. Neale puts it: If you get a $100,000 salary and your co-worker negotiates up to $107,000, assuming you’re treated identically from then on, with the same raises and promotions, you’d have to work eight years longer to be as wealthy as them at retirement.

So, whether you’re male or female, in your first job or your fifth, it’s time to learn how to negotiate.

And we’re here to help, with a roundup of expert tips and further reading to get you totally prepped.

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