When you add a family, child care is super expensive; think $350/week for two kids
Not to say we aren't hyper-consuming gluttons, but I think that's only about one third of the picture
And that's not counting food, clothing, and other necessary child expenses.
That 300k is really only 180k annually. So the govt takes the salary of a lower level upper class person for taxes.
When u make the jump from 50k to a higher tax bracket, taxes will shock u!
70 to 80% of healthcare plans are covered by US employers though. So maybe we should compare total comp plus benefits? Health plans aren't total costs, though, because cost sharing and care is expensive... But that means adding cost of living adjustments. But if you are using a chunk of your salary to plan for retirement in a lower COL area, maybe those aren't even fair.
An apples to apples comparison is incredibly difficult.
https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/what-percent-of-health-insur...
People making 300k in California will pay between 33% and 39% effective tax rate (depending on marital status), including State, Federal, and FICA.
And that’s without simple tax sheltering techniques like pre-tax deduction for health care, contributing to a 401k, and deducting mortgage interest.
Then above £150k, I believe it's taxed at 45%
Huh? Are you self employed? I don't understand this.