A $10k raise sounds great. But after tax, what does it actually put in your pocket per day?
Your raise sits on top of your existing salary — so it gets taxed at your marginal rate, not your average rate. If you earn $75k already in Australia, every extra dollar earns about 32.5 cents less in take-home. That $10k raise becomes roughly $6,750.
The compounding chart shows what happens if you invest the difference. Small daily gains, compounded over a decade, often beat the raw raise number.