re: Here's the budget breakdown of a couple that make $500K and still feel average

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$10K living expenses a month is ballpark assumption. This does not require everything to be paid off. $500K assuming 30% effective tax rate yields $350K take home. $10K/month in spending is $230K free cash flow. This isn’t an unreasonable reach albeit requires discipline to want to actually be that financially oriented.

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You’re high by around 40k to 50k if it’s a dual income family and both earners are maxing 401k’s in Louisiana.

You can add around 20k to that 290k to 300k if you’re in Texas with no state income tax.

I forgot to add if you’re in that income bracket with no write offs and no kids you can expect to pay another 7,500 to 10,000 to federal in April but get a little kickback from the state.