Here's the thing. I'm better off than i was last year. And the year before and the year before that. With that said, 2023-2024 was less of an improvement than any of the last 5 years or so because of cost of living. So am i better off than last year? Sure. An i concerned that's only gonna last another year or so? Very.
There will be people in here who will downvote and explain how my anecdotal experience/sample size of 1 does not invalidate all the "research" and at the same time expect you to invalidate your entire situation because the research says blah blah blah.