Anonymous
03/07/2026 07:43
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:I don’t mind paying taxes at a 500k+ HHI, but it really sickens me that billionaires pay significantly less than W2 employees in the 200k-1M range. There should be no billionaires.
Right. The billionaires — the truly wealthy of our society — have no sense of noblesse oblige. They seem to think their success has been all them, and increasingly view the masses, even their own employees, with disgust. They have no allegiance to their community or country and happily abandon either or both to seek the lowest tax haven and company of similar types. Self-interest has gone amok with no scintilla of virtue to counterbalance it.
Anonymous
03/07/2026 07:23
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
You can only do a mega backdoor Roth if your employer allows it, right? (I’ve asked mine and they say they don’t allow it).
You will have more flexibility to avoid taxes when you retire. With W2 income there is not that much you can do.
You will have more flexibility to avoid taxes when you retire. With W2 income there is not that much you can do.
Anonymous
03/07/2026 07:14
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
I don’t mind paying taxes at a 500k+ HHI, but it really sickens me that billionaires pay significantly less than W2 employees in the 200k-1M range. There should be no billionaires.
Anonymous
03/07/2026 07:10
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
All the whining about taxes from people making so much is nauseating and uninformed. These people love to trot out the hackneyed statistic that all the people making the most money are paying most of the federal income tax, yet they never stop to consider what they just said — they pay the most tax because they make the most money! More importantly, however, when one considers TOTAL taxation — federal income tax, state income tax, local property tax, sales tax, payroll tax, personal property tax, etc. — people like OP pay similar portions of their income in taxes compared to middle wage earners.
I’ve never understood why people who have benefited so much from the US system/society begrudge paying somewhat more taxes than those who haven’t. Yes, these people use the same streets as the poor person, but they have extracted much more from the society’s overall structure and opportunities. Yes, to some degree that may reflect personal choices, but not completely.
I’ve never understood why people who have benefited so much from the US system/society begrudge paying somewhat more taxes than those who haven’t. Yes, these people use the same streets as the poor person, but they have extracted much more from the society’s overall structure and opportunities. Yes, to some degree that may reflect personal choices, but not completely.
Anonymous
03/07/2026 01:34
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Rental properties like others said but $500K HHI feels low for that with housing prices being what they are? Worth noting $600K was the starting HHI that VA recently tried to increase taxes for, and SALT phases out entirely at $600K. So the government at least is saying “high income” starts around $600K.
Rentals are tough. The yield around here is way below 10%. It's above 10% in some places, but the numbers only work if you avoid paying a property management firm. It's not a golden bullet.
Anonymous
03/07/2026 01:03
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
There's really not much you can do that's creative as a W2 employee. We make a lot more than 500k, but it's all W2. We each do 72k into 401k, 6k into Roth IRA, 4k into 529, max HSA, max DCFSA. A lot of that money is post tax though and we're just doing the fancy things to save for the future.
Focus on how quickly you're growing your NW not on optimizing taxes (assuming you're doing all the things listed above).
Focus on how quickly you're growing your NW not on optimizing taxes (assuming you're doing all the things listed above).
Anonymous
03/06/2026 20:08
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Real estate...great way to shield some income but you do need enough for it to be legit able to deduce business expenses. We have a few small rental properties so run as much as we can get away with through those (cars mainly but various household supplies too.) No one really gets audited anymore so our accountant plays a little loose.[/quote
Wow. This is bold and illegal.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 19:33
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Start a business? All the magic tricks are for entrepreneurs and those in much higher brackets
This. Our HHI is around $800-1M and $100K or so is 1099. Even that “little” (relatively) amount helps a lot with taxes. Can one of you start consulting on the side, find a paid board seat with a smaller company, etc? Anything you can bring in via 1099 would help open up more possibilities.
What? Explain this. Being a 1099 employee is generally the opposite of "helps a lot with taxes."
Bump. I have a 1099 side gig. How does that help other than being able to count legitimate expenses against it?
Because most people funnel non legit expenses like meals out, "office expenses" etc through it.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 19:30
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Buy some rental properties
No, when you are a W2 employee you don't get a tax benefit. It's also very hard to cash flow positive around here unless you are buying outright and you can't write off the excess losses until you sell.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 19:27
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Start a business? All the magic tricks are for entrepreneurs and those in much higher brackets
This. Our HHI is around $800-1M and $100K or so is 1099. Even that “little” (relatively) amount helps a lot with taxes. Can one of you start consulting on the side, find a paid board seat with a smaller company, etc? Anything you can bring in via 1099 would help open up more possibilities.
What? Explain this. Being a 1099 employee is generally the opposite of "helps a lot with taxes."
Bump. I have a 1099 side gig. How does that help other than being able to count legitimate expenses against it?
Run 1099 income through an s-corp. You need a CPA to set it up and help you maintain proper documentation and file taxes for it. This usually only makes sense at $60K+ in 1099 net profit annually.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 18:53
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Start a business? All the magic tricks are for entrepreneurs and those in much higher brackets
This. Our HHI is around $800-1M and $100K or so is 1099. Even that “little” (relatively) amount helps a lot with taxes. Can one of you start consulting on the side, find a paid board seat with a smaller company, etc? Anything you can bring in via 1099 would help open up more possibilities.
What? Explain this. Being a 1099 employee is generally the opposite of "helps a lot with taxes."
Bump. I have a 1099 side gig. How does that help other than being able to count legitimate expenses against it?
Anonymous
03/06/2026 18:45
Subject: Re:For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Talk about first world problems lol my 30% tax rate is twice the median household income in the US whatever can I do about it?
Well most of us got to that place by choices we made. I grew up poor, neither parent went to college, I've had free lunch several years in school, and we were on/off from food stamps whenever parents were laid off. Yet I managed to go to college, pay off my college debt and do well in life. Nothing was handed to me, I had to work hard for it all. Yes, I recognize there are others who have it "worse" but my life wasn't a picnic. I just knew working hard and an education was key to a better life. Then I chose to live within my means and save save save and take career risks to advance.
The fact that those making $178K+ pay approximately 80% of the taxes in the US means that why yes we are in fact providing for the vast majority of society. It's our taxes that make roads, infrastructure, schools, and everything else happen. We more than pay our "fair share"
Anonymous
03/06/2026 18:41
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. You asked a CPA. You didn't like the correct answer s/he gave you. And so you thought you'd crowd source this?
Maybe count your blessings to be doing so well that you can contribute that level of taxation and be glad you don't live in other places of the world where taxes are higher (because the USA is basically the world's tax haven).
The short answers is the same your CPA gave you. You're salaried employees. Short of increasing exclusions like 401K contributions, there really are no magic tricks here. And thank God for that. Pay your fair share, damnit.
Why is reducing someone's tax burden a bad thing all of a sudden?
It isn't. Looking to not pay your fair share, which this PP thinks OP is trying to do (and I agree, certainly smells that way to me as well), is a "bad thing."
Umm....most of us earning $400K+ are paying way more than "our fair share". As a simple example, we pay Medicare taxes on ALL earnings, yet when we hit 65, it will cost us well over $1K per each of us to have medicare, a gap plan and a prescription plan. We don't get any reduced rates, and in reality it will be much more than our healthcare was while we were working. So yea, the fact that we basically are paying for 200+ people to have medicare while we still pay max rates for a crappy medical plan in our retirement, yeah we have the right to complain.
Anonymous
03/06/2026 18:38
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. You asked a CPA. You didn't like the correct answer s/he gave you. And so you thought you'd crowd source this?
Maybe count your blessings to be doing so well that you can contribute that level of taxation and be glad you don't live in other places of the world where taxes are higher (because the USA is basically the world's tax haven).
The short answers is the same your CPA gave you. You're salaried employees. Short of increasing exclusions like 401K contributions, there really are no magic tricks here. And thank God for that. Pay your fair share, damnit.
Why is reducing someone's tax burden a bad thing all of a sudden?
It isn't! Most of us in the making $178K and up are paying the majority of taxes in this country. Someone making $500K is paying even more. But yet we don't use the roads or services any more than the person not paying any taxes or paying barely anything. SO yes, we are happy to contribute, but the solution to a budget problem is not to tax us more....it's to budget better.
Smart people work within the law to minimize their taxes. And for W2 workers it is challenging. And yes, when I have paid more in Federal taxes than most will earn in a lifetime, I think I've paid my fair share and would rather have my money to direct to charities that actually fully utilize the money (and to my own family and friends)
Anonymous
03/06/2026 18:35
Subject: For those with high HHI ($500K), tax saving strategies
Anonymous wrote:So let me get this straight. You asked a CPA. You didn't like the correct answer s/he gave you. And so you thought you'd crowd source this?
Maybe count your blessings to be doing so well that you can contribute that level of taxation and be glad you don't live in other places of the world where taxes are higher (because the USA is basically the world's tax haven).
The short answers is the same your CPA gave you. You're salaried employees. Short of increasing exclusions like 401K contributions, there really are no magic tricks here. And thank God for that. Pay your fair share, damnit.
Ditch the attitude!!
It's frustrating to pay so much of your income in taxes. Those making over $178K pay 75-80% of all income taxes at the federal level. So while many of us are happy to do our part, it's frustrating to see so much of our hard earned income go to taxes ALL the time. We see no real breaks, and are not billionaires