Afford Anything

There are about 90 million unique job titles in the U.S. labor market.

Ninety million.

If you are trying to negotiate a raise, switch companies or launch a side hustle, that number has consequences.

If titles do not line up, you cannot easily compare pay, scope or seniority. You might be doing the same work as someone with a higher title and higher salary - and never see it.

That problem is the focus of Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Ben Zweig.

Zweig is the CEO of Revelio Labs, a workforce data firm that analyzes millions of job postings and online profiles. He also teaches The Future of Work at NYU Stern School of Business and holds a PhD in economics from the CUNY Graduate Center. His work focuses on how jobs are structured and how they evolve.

We talk about taxonomy - the systems used to categorize work. A title acts as shorthand for a bundle of tasks. Trouble starts when the shorthand breaks down. Two people with the same title may do very different work. Two people with different titles may perform nearly identical tasks.

Zweig explains how large language models can group job descriptions based on actual responsibilities rather than labels. That approach could make it easier for workers to search accurately and for companies to organize teams.

The conversation shifts to management. He argues that managers spend much of their time reconfiguring roles as business needs change. Technology accelerates that reconfiguration rather than replaces it.

We close with stories about bank tellers and typists. Their titles remained familiar. Their tasks transformed over time.

Resource:

⁠Job Architecture: Building a Language for Workforce Intelligence⁠ by Ben Zweig

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#693: AI learns your job in weeks … and you start wondering if you still have one.

That question shapes our conversation with Dr. Ben Zweig, CEO of Revelio Labs, a workforce data company that uses AI to build large employment databases and study labor market shifts. He also teaches a class on The Future of Work at NYU Stern School of Business. He holds a PhD in economics from CUNY Graduate Center.

Dr. Zweig starts with the legend of John Henry, the steel driver who raced a steam drill and lost his life trying to prove that a human could still beat a machine. The story mirrors the Luddites, who smashed looms when automation threatened their work.

The fear of technology replacing workers is a theme throughout history. It keeps repeating. And yet, this time it feels different.

You hear how today’s panic fits into a longer pattern. Sixty percent of current jobs did not exist a century ago.

Even jobs that kept the same name changed completely. Dr. Zweig describes his father tabulating punch cards as a statistician, while he now builds neural networks. Same field. Different tasks.

We break down what a job actually means. A job is a bundle of tasks. You execute tasks, but you also orchestrate them – deciding order, workflow and coordination. AI tends to automate the most granular tasks first. Broader, abstract orchestration proves harder to replace.

Dr. Zweig argues that “augmentation” often just means partial automation that frees you to focus on what remains.

The discussion turns to empathy-driven roles, such as rabbis, psychologists, and teachers. Dr. Zweig cites traits such as empathy, presence, opinion, creativity and hope as distinctly human. He notes AI still struggles with memory and long-term relational trust.

You also hear what this means if you are early in your career. Hiring has slowed. Entry-level roles appear more exposed to automation. Dr. Zweig says younger workers often lack orchestration experience and face a risk-averse market.

He says that to be competitive in today’s job market, you should take ownership of complex projects from start to finish. Show people – through networking and demonstrated work – that you can manage more than just tasks .

Resource:

Job Architecture: Building a Language for Workforce Intelligence by Ben Zweig

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#692: Anonymous (02:01) is excited about early retirement and family time but worried about his brother-in-law, who just returned from a vacation in Mexico with a bold plan: sell everything, move there, and buy an Airbnb to live in one unit and rent out the others. He wants to support him without watching him get in over his head. How can he navigate this tricky mix of family loyalty and financial risk?

Maryanne (33:41) is retired and living on Social Security. Her IRA has doubled in value in the past year and a half, leaving her unsure whether to sell and live off interest or reinvest in ETFs. How do you manage sudden growth in retirement savings responsibly without taking unnecessary risks?

Brandon (48:18) has rolled over two old 401(k)s into IRAs but just learned that 401(k)s are generally better protected from lawsuits than IRAs. Now he’s hesitant to roll over his latest 401(k) from his recent job. Is it ever worth keeping a 401(k) separate, or should all retirement accounts eventually be consolidated?

*Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising segments. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths.

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#691: Your IQ used to be your biggest career asset.

Then AI scored in the 99th percentile on the LSAT, the SAT, and the MCAT — and suddenly the cognitive skills that once set you apart became something anyone can access for free.

Executive coach Liz Tran joins us to talk about what actually drives career success and earning power now.

Her answer: AQ, or agility quotient — your capacity to handle change, learn new skills fast, and keep moving when your industry shifts beneath you.

The personal finance implications are real. The average half-life of a technical skill is five years. In tech, it's closer to two. That means the expertise you spent years building — and the salary that came with it — can become obsolete faster than a mortgage term.

Tran argues the people who protect their earning power long-term aren't necessarily the most credentialed. They're the ones who can unlearn old ways and adapt quickly.

We walk through her four AQ archetypes — the neurosurgeon, the astronaut, the firefighter, and the novelist — each with a different default approach to change.

Knowing your type helps you understand where you might freeze up during a career pivot, a market downturn, or a high-stakes financial decision.

Tran points out that analysis paralysis, something many real estate investors and career changers know well, often comes down to archetype — and there are practical fixes.

We also cover her ABCD framework — anchors, bets, classroom, and discomfort — which maps out how to stay functional and decisive during volatile periods.

And we get into the six thinking hats theory, specifically how pairing black-hat (downside) thinking with green-hat (future-focused) thinking can sharpen any major financial or career decision.

Timestamps:

Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising run times. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths.

(00:00) Intro to AQ — agility quotient defined

(03:19) IQ vs. EQ vs. AQ — how the three differ

(04:09) Origins of IQ — born from industrialization

(04:41) Birth of EQ — rise of the knowledge worker

(05:01) Why AQ matters now — the tech revolution

(06:19) AI and IQ — cognitive skills are now commoditized

(07:51) Technical vs. durable skills — and why both matter

(10:48) Half-life of skills — technical skills expire fast

(13:41) Measuring durable skills — how to spot your gaps

(15:59) The four AQ archetypes — neurosurgeon, astronaut, firefighter, novelist

(25:08) Improving your weak spots — run toward discomfort

(30:59) The ABCD framework — four pillars of high AQ

(43:56) Anchors — people, places, routines that ground you

(54:25) Six thinking hats — six ways to approach any problem

(01:04:28) AQ is changeable — it's never too late to grow

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#690: Blanca (01:28): Blanca, an immigrant mother raising a 14-year-old, wants her son to think critically about college—not just as an experience, but as a financial decision. With the rising cost of higher education, she’s wondering how families can assess whether an undergraduate or graduate program is likely to pay off over time.

Brandon (30:05): Brandon in his forties, recently left full-time work to pursue per diem work and a side project. Planning to draw down his taxable brokerage account for supplemental income over the next 20 years, he’s wondering whether to continue reinvesting dividends or take them as cash for flexibility.

Anon (40:15): Anon has been following Paula’s advice on financial advisors. They’ve heard her recommend fiduciaries and caution against the assets-under-management (AUM) model. They’re eager to understand the reasoning and want guidance on finding trustworthy advisors.

Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, your Phlebotomists: https://affordanything.com/episode690

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