Hook

Their other posts in the index, biggest breakout first.
This is how a couple that's making $165,000 can save $51,000 in taxes. First, each person is going to max out their 401k. Together that's $49,000 that they can subtract from their taxable income. So now they would only be taxed on $116,000. Then they would each max out their traditional IRA, which together is $15,000 that they can deduct from this $116,000. So now they're only taxed on $101,000. And then lastly, they're going to max out their HSA sages account. That would be $8,700. Now, their total taxable income is $92,000. Here's the way that $92,000 is tax. Basically the first $25,000 is tax at 10%. And then the rest of that money would be taxed at 12%. Grand total of $10,500 in taxes. I'll leave them with about $81,000 to live off. Or you say that nobody can live off $81,000. The median salary is $80,000. They live this way for 13 years. They would end up having 1.6 million invested. This is actually a pretty significant number because this is when they would hit financial independence. This amount they can literally withdraw $81,000 every single year without ever drawing down this balance.