My pet theory is that outside of the recent tech salary bubble decade, anyone with a "normal" salary in the US can't really get ahead without at least investing

My pet theory is that outside of the recent tech salary bubble decade, anyone with a "normal" salary in the US can't really get ahead without at least investing in market index funds/ETFs. Otherwise, all an employee gets is time-for-money pay (which is constantly under pressure as a business cost) with little if any upside from high industry profits. Either that or play the startup equity lottery.