I am rather well paid.  I push very hard in my job, to try and aim for monetary promotions.  I live in such a high cost of living area, however, that even on my salary it is difficult to afford a house. and start a family, ESPECIALLY competing with double income households.<p>This leaves me with three options.  Rent forever, at increasing rates.  (not a feasible option).  Buy a house now, ride the constant increasing prices like everyone already in the market, be glad I&#x27;m not a buyer any more.  (trying, but very hard to compete when 10% above listing is common.)  Save up and move the hell out.<p>In any of these situations, a 5%, hell, a 1% raise compounded over a decade, makes a _meaningful_ difference in how long you&#x27;d be able to sustain living in a better cost of living area (e.g. if I moved out into the country somewhere), if not also on how much I can put out as a down-payment or as a lifeline to keeping up with increasing rent.<p>Perhaps it&#x27;s a sign of what would have in the past been comfortably middle class being more and more stretched, but every little bit counts; it&#x27;s an oddly similar feeling to when I used to be far less well off a few decades back.