Articles

Stipend years, the tenure clock, sabbaticals and the move from academia to industry.

1. Planning the Postdoc-to-Faculty Income Transition The jump from postdoc stipend to a starting faculty salary is large, but startup funds, moving costs, and delayed first paychecks complicate the picture. 4 min read.
2. The Academic Tenure-Track Timeline and Its Financial Planning Implications The six-or-seven-year tenure clock creates a financial planning horizon unlike most careers — income uncertainty concentrated at a single, knowable future date. 4 min read.
3. Sabbatical Financial Planning: Income Gaps, Grants, and Timing A sabbatical is a career benefit with real financial mechanics behind it — partial pay, external funding options, and timing decisions worth planning a year out. 4 min read.
4. Comparing Academic and Industry Compensation for Scientists Industry offers usually look larger at first glance, but comparing them to an academic package requires accounting for benefits, equity, and job security differences. 4 min read.

Grant-funded salary, gaps between awards, and patent and royalty income.

1. Financial Planning on Grant-Funded Salary and Soft-Money Positions When your salary depends on renewing your own grants, standard financial planning assumptions about income stability need to be rebuilt from scratch. 4 min read.
2. Patent and Royalty Income Tax Basics for Inventor-Researchers When your research produces a patent, the royalty income that follows has its own tax treatment questions most researchers have never had to think about. 4 min read.

403(b) and 457 plans, TIAA and other vendors, and moving a balance between universities.

1. 403(b) and TIAA Retirement Basics for University Employees University retirement plans look like corporate 401(k)s on the surface but carry a distinct vendor history and structure worth understanding before you enroll. 4 min read.
2. Comparing University 403(b) vs. 401(k) Vendor Options Public and private universities structure retirement plans differently, and the vendor menu you are handed on day one can materially affect your long-run returns. 4 min read.
3. Retirement Plan Portability Between Universities: How 403(b) Transfers Actually Work Moving between universities mid-career raises real questions about what happens to your 403(b) balance — and the answer depends on plan rules you should check before you move. 4 min read.

What indirect costs are, and how grant budgets touch your own pay.

1. NIH and NSF Indirect Costs: What They Actually Mean for Researcher Compensation Indirect costs are one of the most misunderstood line items in academic research funding. Here is what they are, and are not, and how they touch your paycheck. 4 min read.