>>11968930
>>11968943
>>11968953
>>11968975
You two are unironically retards or children. In America we have 401ks and HSA accounts, those account contributions are tax free, and they don't count as income, so it makes your income look lower for the tax man.

In an ideal world, you should barely be making money as far as the government is concerned. 10% or 15% of your income should go into a 401k/IRA, perhaps another 5% into an HSA or FSA for any medical expenses, then after you pay your health insurance, utilities/groceries, mortgage(25% of your income) you're left with a fraction of your original income.

My effective tax rate last year was 6%, I make over 100k a year, my actual income on my W2 was around 50k. It often times look like I am living paycheck to paycheck despite having over 200k in assets.(not even counting the equity in my house, that's probably another 100k in value even after accounting for my remaining mortgage) I'm 30 years old btw

Having liquid cash to buy a $500 handheld is stupid, sure having that cash as an emergency fund is a good idea, but just leaving disposable income sitting in an account to rot from inflation is why poor people stay poor.