Comment by Retric 3 days ago
Inflation. PS5 standard at $499 in 2019 is $632 in 2025 money which is the same as the 1995 PS 1 when adjusted for inflation $299 (1995) to $635(2025). https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
Thus the PS6 should be around 699 at launch.
The main issue with inflation is that my salary is not inflation adjusted. Thus the relative price increase adjusted by inflation might be zero but the relative price increase adjusted by my salary is not.
The phrase “cost of living increase” is used to refer to an annual salary increase designed to keep up with inflation.
Typically, you should be receiving at least an annual cost of living increase each year. This is standard practice for every company I’ve ever worked for and it’s a common practice across the industry. Getting a true raise is the amount above and beyond the annual cost of living increase.
If your company has been keeping your salary fixed during this time of inflation, then you are correct that you are losing earning power. I would strongly recommend you hit the job market if that’s the case because the rest of the world has moved on.
In some of the lower wage brackets (not us tech people) the increase in wages has actually outpaced inflation.
Thank you for your concern but I'm in Germany so the situation is a bit different and only very few companies have been able to keep up with inflation around here. I've seen at least a few adjustments but would not likely find a job that pays as well as mine does 100% remote. Making roughly 60K in Germany as a single in his 30s isn't exactly painful.
> but would not likely find a job that pays as well as mine does 100% remote.
That makes sense. The market for remote jobs has been shrinking while more people are competing for the smaller number of remote jobs. In office comes with a premium now and remote is a high competition space.
Typically "Cost Of Living" increases target roughly inflation. They don't really keep up though, due to taxes.
If you've got a decent tech job in Canada your marginal tax rate will be near 50%. Any new income is taxed at that rate, so that 3% COL raise, is really a 1.5% raise in your purchasing power, which typically makes you worse off.
Until you're at a very comfortable salary, you're better off job hopping to boost your salary. I'm pretty sure all the financial people are well aware they're eroding their employees salaries over time, and are hoping you are not aware.
Tax brackets also shift through time, though less frequently. So if you only get COL increases for 20 years you’re going to be reasonably close to the same after tax income barring significant changes to the tax code.
In the US the bottom tax brackets where 10% under 2020 $19,750 then 12% next bucket, in 2025 it’s 10% under $23,850 then 12% next bracket. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/historical-income...
Those in charge of fiat printing presses have run the largest theft or wealth in world history since 1971 when the dollar decoupled from gold.
When I bought a PS 1 around 1998-99 I paid $150 and I think that included a game or two. It's the later in the lifecycle price that has really changed (didn't the last iteration of it get down to either $99 or $49?)