Haha thanks everyone! Don't worry, hubs knows I'm very proud of him and he is very happy not to have to ask for raises, they just come like clockwork. I had personally been wondering why it was 4% after last year was 5%, so I posted the question on here to see if anyone had a baseline - sounds like any at all is great, and even better if it's above inflation. That's good to learn! Also, apparently his boss did explain to him that it was because a ton of clients had cancelled this past year, which he blames on the uncertain economic climate (their business is closely tied to new real estate and building).
Definitely makes me realize how important it is to negotiate as high a starting salary as possible ... because it really is setting the foundation for the whole future of work at the company.
Additionally, it's very hard to gauge past company performance vs now, because in the past there were like 20 employees, now there are between 1 and 4, depending on the season. I suppose this means that business is shrinking, or that people left the job and weren't replaced. I think it's both.
Regarding the IRA limits I mentioned earlier - it's my understanding that SEP and SIMPLE IRAs (not sure if he could even open either through work) have higher limits than the traditional 5,500. Haven't looked into it too much yet so I could be way off base.
Thanks so much for your input everyone! I'll make sure to give my husband the good lovin' tonight. Just kidding.
Sort of.