You can use this to your advantage by setting the anchor. I'd never give a dollar figure but I would give an acceptable range. At my current position there's a variable comp component based on personal and company performance; this is a legitimate opportunity to give a forward-looking optimistic range: "Looking towards the next year, if I meet performance metrics similar to what I've demonstrated in the past I will be somewhere in the range of x and y".

>> I never mention who my current employer is either

Why is this? It's typically the most relevant information to a new position, and usually trivial to determine without you volunteering it.

I think next time I will say, “Sure, I’ll tell you my salary once you tell me those of the hiring manager and my new teammates. That way we all have the relevant information.”

> As a general rule, never disclose current or old salary

Don’t worry, Equifax takes care of that for us. Both who you’re currently working for, and your current salary. It’s a service it offers to HR departments across the US.

Equifax does not have accurate information. Do you know something I don't?

One time they thought I worked on staff at the local zoo. Seriously.

It would be a waste of effort for HR. They don't have time for that I don't think. They want to get to a number not do forensics on your background.

Bonuses and RSUs presumably give you wiggle room to handwave your total comp though.

Refusing to answer a fact seeking question in a negotiation isn’t great strategy. it may not even help your case. if you make too little, that’s already your problem. Someone offering you more than what you make is a net positive. Withholding information leading to a whitheld offer does you no good.

I've had people say that they already had other offers well in excess of current pay, making current pay moot. It's not a fact seeking question in a conventional sense. It's just one method of trying to move the process along with least effort. If you give an answer then they can make an effective offer quicker. If you don't there may be more work, that's all.

Suppose you are just finishing a Ph.D. and took a few years off. Suppose you took a year or two to do freelance or work 1099. Suppose you went abroad to work for a year or two to take of your dying parent. These are all things I have run into.

Edit: One more good one. I've known people who won a green lottery or married an American citizen they met abroad. Showed up in USA with lots of skills having made much less in Eastern Europe.

Do you prefer other people put in more effort than necessary?