If you’ve never put 30% in your 401k and looked at the tax implications you should. Everyone thinks “I can’t do that”, but everyone should try it for a month or so and watch your bring home pay, taxes, and 401k for that month. You’ll never go back imo.
ESPECIALLY for the 50+ group under “catch up” amounts.
30% adds up and you really feel like you’re “sticking it to the man” 🤣.
My state tax liability was zero some weeks when I worked 84 hours.
This is what we both did for at least the last 5 years before we retired. We were both putting the maximum amount we could in there. What it also does is it artificially reduces your "take home pay" and guess what? You not only learn to live on a reduced income, but you learn to thrive on it, so when you move from working into retirement, you are already living on a smaller income, so it's no transition.
I remember meeting with my boss (who is also a good friend of mine...) and we had one of those 6 month meetings where you get your evaluation, raise, etc... And at the end he asked me if there was anything he needed to know. I told him I had built a spreadsheet to help me plan for retirement. He asked how it was going. i told him I could retire that day and actually make more money than I am making working.
He asked me what the hell I meant by that and I told him, "We need to start training my replacement."
