I Earn RM4,000 A Month In M’sia & My Boss Offered Me A RM120 Increment. Here’s How I Asked For More | WeirdKaya

Not financial or legal advice. Figures are estimates based on publicly available 2025 and 2026 data. Your actual deductions and tax depend on your own reliefs, so check with your HR or LHDN for your exact numbers.

My appraisal meeting lasted 12 minutes. My boss said I did “a good job this year”, slid a letter across the table, and told me my salary would go from RM4,000 to RM4,120.

RM120. I said “okay, thank you” on autopilot, walked back to my desk, and opened the calculator app.

That night, I did something I had never done in four years of working. I went back and asked for more.

Here’s the maths that convinced me to do it, and exactly what I said.

Here’s what RM120 actually looks like on my payslip

A RM120 raise sounds decent until you remember that every extra ringgit you earn gets deducted before it reaches you.

As an employee under 60, 11% of your salary goes to EPF. You also pay about 0.5% for SOCSO and 0.2% for EIS, both of which are capped at a RM6,000 monthly wage.

To be fair, the EPF portion is still my money, just locked away until retirement. But in terms of what I can spend on rent, petrol and Grab Food this month? About RM106.

That’s roughly three dinners out in KL.

Is a 3% increment even normal in M’sia?

This was the question that really got me. I assumed 3% was the standard. It isn’t.

According to Aon’s 2026 Salary Increase and Turnover Study, Malaysian companies gave an average salary increase of 4.6% in 2026 and are budgeting 4.8% for 2027. The study covered more than 1,200 businesses across Southeast Asia.

On my RM4,000 salary, here’s what that gap looks like:

Then there’s inflation. Malaysia’s inflation rose to 1.9% in August 2026, and it was higher in Selangor and KL at 2.1%.

So my 3% increment, minus 1.9% inflation, only gives me about 1.1% more spending power. That’s around RM44 a month in “real” money.

For context, I’m also not earning much above the average. DOSM’s latest Salaries and Wages Survey shows the median monthly salary rose 5.3% to RM2,940 in 2025, while the mean rose to RM3,803.

The middle of the market is moving faster than my 3%.

Wait, will my increment push me into a higher tax bracket?

This is the myth that stops a lot of us from pushing for more. Short answer: for most people on RM4,000, no, you won’t lose money.

Under Budget 2027, the automatic individual tax relief goes up from RM9,000 to RM12,000. It’s the first time it has been raised since 2010. The new rates are proposed for year of assessment 2027 onwards, which is when most year-end increments kick in.

There’s also a RM400 tax rebate if your chargeable income (income after reliefs) is RM35,000 or below.

Here’s a rough estimate, assuming I only claim the RM12,000 individual relief and RM4,000 EPF relief:

Notice the jump at RM4,320? That’s because my chargeable income crosses RM35,000 and I lose the RM400 rebate. But even then, I’d still take home roughly RM3,300 more a year compared to the RM120 increment.

And in real life, most of us claim more reliefs: lifestyle, sports, medical insurance, PRS. Under Budget 2027, lifestyle relief even covers AI subscriptions and sports shoes now. Claim them properly and your chargeable income drops back under RM35,000.

Bottom line: a higher increment almost always means more money in your pocket. Don’t let “tax bracket” fear talk you out of asking.

What I did before going back to my boss?

Here’s the thing about negotiating after you’ve been offered a number. You can’t just say “can give more ah?” You need a reason that’s about the job, not about your rent.

So I spent one evening preparing three things:

• A list of what I actually delivered. Not “handled social media”, but numbers. I wrote down five results with figures attached, plus two tasks I took over that were never in my job description.
• A market rate for my role. I checked salary guides and job ads for my title and years of experience. Recruiter guides like the 2026 salary benchmarks by industry are a good starting point.
• One specific number. I decided on 8%, or RM4,320. Not “a bit more”. One number.

It also helped to know the bigger picture. Aon found Malaysia has the highest employee turnover rate in Southeast Asia at 17.4%. Replacing a good staff member costs companies time and money, and managers know it.

If you want the full prep checklist, we broke it down in how to ask for a 15% raise after your first year at work.

Here’s exactly what I said

1. Asking for the follow-up meeting

Hi boss, thanks again for the appraisal. Could I get 15 minutes this week to talk about the increment? I’d like to share some thoughts on it.”

I sent this by message the next morning. Naming the topic upfront gave my boss time to check with HR before we met.

2. Opening without sounding ungrateful

I appreciate the increment and I want to keep growing here. I just wanted to walk you through what I’ve taken on this year, because I think the role has grown quite a bit.”

3. Bringing the receipts

This year I [result with a number], [result with a number] and [result with a number]. I also took over [task] after [colleague] left, which wasn’t part of my original scope.”

4. Making the counter

Based on the market rate for this role and the extra scope, I was hoping for something closer to 8%, which would bring me to RM4,320.”

Then I stopped talking. Those few seconds of silence felt like forever, but filling them with “but it’s okay if cannot” would have undone everything.

5. When my boss said the budget was already fixed

I understand. If the full amount isn’t possible now, could we look at a partial adjustment, or agree on a review in six months with clear targets?”

6. Locking it in

Thanks for hearing me out. Could you confirm what we agreed by email so we’re both on the same page?”

So, did it work?

Not completely. My boss came back two days later after speaking to HR. The increment pool for my department was already set, but they managed to bump my increment to 6%, which is RM240 instead of RM120.

We also agreed in writing to revisit my salary in six months based on two targets.

That’s double what I was originally offered, from one 15-minute conversation I almost didn’t have.

Over a year, that extra RM120 a month adds up to RM1,440. And because future increments are calculated on your base salary, the difference compounds every year after.

What to do if your boss says no?

A “no” isn’t the end of the conversation. Here’s what you can still ask for:

• A written review date, ideally three to six months away, with clear targets.
• Non-cash perks, like extra annual leave, a training budget, a hybrid work arrangement, or a title change that helps your next move.
• Clarity on the path forward. Ask what performance level or role you’d need to reach for a bigger increment next year.

It’s also worth knowing that salary increments are not legally mandatory in Malaysia. Your employer isn’t breaking any law by offering 3% or even nothing. That’s exactly why asking matters.

And if your salary keeps falling behind the market, switching jobs may be the faster fix. Professionals in specialised roles can see jumps of up to 30% to 40% when changing jobs, far more than any annual increment.

Just make sure you look at the whole package, not only the basic salary. We wrote about this in why leaving a RM4,500 job for a RM3,800 job can be the right financial decision.

FAQ: Salary increments in Malaysia

What is the average salary increment in Malaysia for 2027?
Aon projects Malaysian employers will budget an average 4.8% salary increase in 2027, up slightly from 4.6% in 2026.

Is my employer required to give me an increment every year?
No. Increments are not a legal requirement under Malaysian employment law. They depend on your company’s policy, your contract and your performance.

Will a salary increment make me pay more tax than I earn?
No. Malaysia uses a progressive tax system, so only the portion of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate. The one thing to watch is the RM400 rebate, which only applies if your chargeable income is RM35,000 or below.

When is the best time to negotiate an increment?
Ideally before the company finalises its salary budget, usually a few weeks before appraisal season. But as this story shows, it’s still possible to negotiate after you’ve been given a number.

Have you ever pushed back on your increment? Let us know how it went in the comments.

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