Here's my total pay progression of the last five years as a 31-year-old working a very normal 9-to-5 job.

Here's my total pay progression of the last five years as a 31-year-old working a very normal 9-to-5 job. In 2022, I ran to the workforce to a big bank in New York City and my base pay was $85,000 a year. Now, they also paid me a $4,000 bonus, which means my total compensation for that year was $89,000. In 2023, still being at the same company and team, I got a modest raise taking my base pay to $88,000 a year. They also bumped my bonus a little bit to $4,300, taking my total comp for that year to $92,300. In 2024, I was still on the same team, which was actually a mistake. Now, my base pay was raised to $91,000 a year, but this year my bonus actually fell to $3,900, which is crazy because the team did so well. That means my total comp for 2024 is $94,900 and at this point, it's not growing fast enough and I know I need to find a new job. Now in 2025, after a zillion interviews, I landed a new job and my base pay has now jumped up to $160,000 a year. That was a huge jump and I was super proud of it, but they also paid me a nice bonus of $21,000. That means my total comp for 2025 is $181,000, virtually doubling my comp from 2024, which should be your sign to jump jobs if you're not getting paid enough. Now in 2026, my base pay is now jumped up to $163,000 a year and bonus is TBD, but I expect it to be very good.