I’ve spent the past five years BUYING ANNUAL RAISES. Wtf does that mean? It means I used my W-2 income to purchase stocks that now pay me $7,800/yr in dividend income. So instead of making $92,000/yr, I actually make $99,800/yr. And those dividends buy their own micro-raises whenever they reinvest and buy more of the same shares. (This is called “compounding.”)