Your raise hit. Now don't be stupid with it.

Most of you got two checks you weren't expecting six months ago.

3.8% pay raise. 4.2% BAH bump. Plus, the $1,776 Warrior Dividend Trump pushed through.

For an E-5 with dependents, that's an extra $200–$400/month plus a one-time $1,776 sitting in your account right now.

Here's what's gonna happen to 90% of it.

New truck payment. Concert tickets. A weekend in Vegas. Some new plates at the gym you'll use twice. A girl you met at the bar last Saturday.

Gone in 90 days.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 just posted its best month since November 2020. Up 10% in April. Magnificent 7 carrying the index. Fed held rates. Earnings revisions are going up, not down — which almost never happens this time of year.

Translation: while you're deciding what to spend your raise on, the people who already own the index just got paid.

This is the gap nobody on base talks about.

Not a rank gap. Not a clearance gap. An ownership gap.

The guy who put his last raise into VOO is up double digits this year. The guy who put his last raise into a Charger payment is paying $700/month for a depreciating asset that loses value every time he starts it.

Same paycheck. Two completely different lives in 10 years.

So I want to hear it in the comments:

Where's your raise going?

Be honest. New gear, new ride, new account, paying down debt, or "haven't thought about it." No judgment. I just want to see where the room is at.

I'll respond to every comment today.

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