A deep dive into the exact tax moves every high earner should be making, from maxing out your 401(k) to setting up an LLC for your side hustle. No jargon, no fluff, just the advice you would normally pay for.
Most people making good money are still doing their taxes wrong.
I want to be upfront about something before we get into the numbers. I do not claim to know everything about the tax code. Anyone who tells you they do, run from them. What I can tell you is what I have seen work, over and over again, for real people in real situations.
Let me give you an example of what I mean.
I recently met a woman working at Google earning around $300,000. She was using a free Cash App tool to file her own taxes and was about to send the IRS $10,000. A mutual friend connected us. I told her I would spend 30 minutes looking at her return, completely free of charge.
In those 30 minutes, without even thinking hard, I found it. She had not maxed out her 401(k), her property tax was not in there, and her mortgage interest was missing. Just by working on these three basic things, I brought her bill down by $6,000 on the spot. My point is simple: if you are earning above $250,000, do not do your own taxes.
Here is what the math actually looks like for someone earning $250,000 in Texas.
Max out your 401(k), which is roughly $29,000 gone before the IRS sees it. Add an HSA contribution of around $3,500. If you own a home, itemize mortgage interest, property tax, charitable giving, and you are looking at another $40,000 in deductions. Suddenly you are not paying tax on $250,000, but on $160,000. You just sheltered $90,000 using nothing exotic, just the basics done properly.
The second thing I want people to understand is how W2 employment actually works and why your paycheck always feels smaller than it should. Uncle Sam takes his cut before the money ever reaches you. But he also allows you to reduce what he takes, through your 401(k), your HSA, your health insurance benefits. Most people are not using all three.
And if you have a side hustle, even something like driving for Uber, set up an LLC, get an EIN, open a separate business bank account. Treat it like a business and the tax code will treat it like one too.
These are not complicated moves; they are just conversations most people never have. Watch my podcast to know all of these in detail.
.svg)
.png){kind=small}
