Yeah, W2 earned income for very high income people is taxed massively so high income jobs get killed with taxes upwards of 60+% (near 40% federal, 13%+ state (CA special), 6.2% social security/medicaid)…
When you start making more money, you’ll see very little of it when you get raises/etc that it’s almost discouraging.
Now, add in another 10% for sales tax and pretty much 70% of your earned income is gone when you buy anything.
If you study the tax code, it’s totally against the average income worker.
My suggestion is to start a business. Not only can profits (unlike income) be taxed AFTER all your business expenses (valid of course), but you can also do things like setup defined benefit plans like those fancy pensions, put a ton more in retirement accounts, etc…
Of course, starting and running a company is very hard generally and not for everyone. If you look at the ultra wealthy, nearly everyone was a business entrepreneur though so it’s one of the few ways to get extreme wealth.
Biz people make magnitudes more than entertainers, sports athletes, etc…
