There's a reason 99
cent pricing is so ubiquitous. Our decision to buy something is based on a combination of logical and budgetary considerations driven by the fact that most of us are risk-averse, frugal, and bad at math.
Consider 99 cent stores. Their business model relies on our emotional reasoning that 99 cents is just pennies, but as soon as the seller crosses the threshold of the final penny into the domain of the dollar, it triggers a different set of psychological reasoning. Suddenly, we take the purchase more seriously.
This is true whether the price is 99 cents, 99 dollars, or more. In our rational mind, we know that new couch was a one thousand dollar purchase, but it didn't quite feel like one when it was priced at $997.
The same psychology should be taken into consideration when you set your fees. Let's say your hourly rate is $415/hour. You decide to raise your fees by 10% and round up to $455. In the mind of the frugal client, this feels like a significant jump. They will tell themselves she's charging me almost $500 an hour now! On the other hand, if you round down a few dollars so that your new fee is $450/hour, you are less likely to experience pushback. It's a difference of only a few dollars, but in the mind of the client, it's a more comfortable number. It also puts you in a better position for a 10% jump the following year. Once they're comfortable with $450, they will be less likely to balk at $490.
This intuition is based on the concept of psychological breakpoints, as described in The California Guide to Opening and Managing a Law Office. Chapter 5, authored by Gideon Grunfeld and Robert Weinberg, lists the dollar amounts, or breakpoints, that are more likely to trigger a negative reaction from clients. Generally, the breakpoints occur at $50 intervals (e.g. $200, $250, $300), but as the fees increase above $500 the breakpoints are further apart.
Ultimately your pricing will be justified by the value you deliver (and your ability to help your client understand that value), but keep pricing strategies in mind as you set new rates for your services. We human beings often indulge in irrational thinking when it comes to money.

