“Some people are well versed in the art of the deal. They love to debate, argue and negotiate. For others, any kind of confrontation feels just plain icky.

When it comes to your salary, however, you can’t afford to simply accept what you get. Failing to negotiate your pay means leaving money on the table, plain and simple.

The High Cost Of Not Asking

According to a survey by Payscale, 57 percent of respondents said they’ve never asked for a raise. Twenty-eight of those people said it was because they’re uncomfortable negotiating salary, while an additional 19 percent didn’t want to be perceived as pushy. The survey also found that women are more likely than men to be uncomfortable with negotiating their salary (31 percent versus 23 percent), which is an unfortunate contributor to the gender wage gap.

A 2005 survey of Carnegie Mellon University MBA graduates found that, on average, starting salaries among the male students were 7.6 percent higher than for the women. However, only 7 percent of the women negotiated their starting salaries, versus 57 percent of the men. The group of mostly male grads who negotiated was able to increase their starting salaries by just over $4,000.

That might not seem like a lot of money until you consider the long-term loss. Say Employee A is offered a salary of $50,000 and Employee B gets $54,000. Both employees receive annual cost-of-living raises of 3 percent a year. After 20 years of work, Employee B has earned a whopping $114,706 more than Employee A.

“Find that sweet spot between being an agreeable, contented person that people love to work with and the squeaky wheel,” said Marielle Smith, vice president of people at GoodHire. She said that, although you don’t want to be “that person” in the office who’s always making demands and rubbing people the wrong way, you also don’t want to be the one who gets steamrolled.

“Wherever you are in this process, whether you’re negotiating your salary for the first time with the new employer or whether you’re doing your 30th salary negotiation with your existing employer, you want to find that right balance,” Smith said.”