How to Give Yourself a Pay Raise

When it comes to paychecks and money, I have always had the philosophy that I want to be ultimately beholden to no one but myself. When it comes to jobs, they offer what they offer, and I can either take it or leave it. They have no obligation to satisfy my wishes any more than I have any obligation to offer them my services.

At our recent annual Christmas party for work I told the boss point blank, "The company is cheap." And it is. Pay raises are almost non-existent, they offer no worthwhile medical benefits, and there is no 401k plan offered for me to better contribute to my retirement.

At the same time, and in the same breath I also told the boss, "But this is still the most money I have ever made in my life from a job." And that is true as well. But it was no thanks to the company I work for. This was all thanks to myself.

How I am paid is two-fold. I earn an hourly base rate and I also earn a commission from my sales. So, the contribution to my paycheck which has afforded the best achievement in terms of growth and earnings has been through my own efforts increasing my sales.

Ultimately my achievements are meaningless to the company I work for. That much is clear based on their lack of appreciation to me for making them more money year over year—they are a bit of a thankless bunch who just take but never give. Yet I continue to plod along, growing my sales by 20%-25% every single year.

Because again, they have no obligation to pay me more even if I strongly feel I have earned it and deserve it. I have chosen to do the work, and go into the office every day, and so the rest is really up to me to make things work for me.

The one way I give myself a pay raise is an obvious one. I simply sell more stuff.

But most jobs are not commission based, and so getting those pay raises can prove a bit more difficult. But, it is entirely possible of course to do exactly that.

Give yourself a pay raise each and every year.

As I have written about in the past, Don't Just Work for a Paycheck (read.cash), work for a future. The reality is that while I don't want to be beholden to anyone for my needs, no one is beholden to me either. So, building my future, and having a future, is entirely up to me.

I am in charge of me. It's no one else's responsibility to give me anything—even if I feel I have earned it. I can call my boss cheap, and they are. But again, I can take or leave what they offer. They don't necessarily need me. They can easily enough find someone else to do the job.

So, what is the best way I have found to give myself a pay raise each and every year? Pay myself first. I realize it is as cliché as clichés come, but it is also true and it works.

But, there is a bit more to consider when you do pay yourself first. The most important of which is what do you do with what you've paid yourself? Because simply socking it away into a basic savings account is not enough. For one, it won't beat inflation and you will actually lose money year over year. But it also won't offer much in terms of growth.

This is where, for me, the stock market comes into play. And I realize this is something more possible for people who live in countries where they have strong stock markets such as the United States, where I live, the UK, Japan, and other places around the world.

In the United States there are several exchange traded funds and real estate investment trusts that offer very high yields, that are relatively stable, and offer a great opportunity to add money to your coffers nicely enough. And these are the main focus for me when it comes to generating income.

When I can take the money I have paid myself first from my paychecks and put it into an ETF like BXMX that pays 5.82%, that is going to make every dollar I invest worth 6 cents more. As well, I can earn 11.41% on an ETF like QYLD, and 8.54% on PSEC. ORCC pays me 8.61%.

Granted, like anything in the stock market, none of these things are without risk. A while back I invested in a REIT under the ticker symbol SVC that paid a monthly dividend of right around 10%. Not only has the share price tanked, but the dividend is now a quarterly and it is only 1 cent per share.

The bottom line is that ultimately, outside of paychecks, it is up to you, the individual, to harness your own future, take control, and call the shots. There are many ways to improve your own financial life—you can get a new job that pays more, you can learn a new skill that improves your prospects for a better job, you can venture off into your own personal enterprise and possibly become successful enough to make more than a previous job may have offered, and you can invest in things that also provide passive income.

I can complain all I want that my boss is cheap. But ultimately my job is to do what they ask me to do, for the amount they are willing to pay me to do it, and the rest is up to me.

Complaining is fruitless. The only way I get ahead is by offering myself something that they cannot or will not.

At the end of the day I can either stand around hoping more is offered to me, or I can size up other opportunities dangling right in front of me and put my effort into that. And this will be the thing that ultimately bears more fruit for me.

Lead image courtesy of Pixabay, user TheDigitalWay. Computer Buy Money - Free photo on Pixabay