median income of $54k/year, but anyone who has income-generating investments in retirement outside of a traditional IRA - or even just a really large traditional IRA - is gonna get destroyed in taxes later on.

And I hate that because then clients watch their wealth dissipate right when they’re actually relying on it since every time they take anything out of their IRA they’re paying 1/3 of it to the IRS.

Wanna take $20k out of your IRA to take your family on a vacation? Actually you’ll need to take $28k out. And it’s harder to make that up since your investments are more likely to be pretty safe and stock-lite at that point.

And once they’re 72 - with no kids at home, no mortgage interest, etc. - they’re just paying through the nose every year on RMDs. Once you’ve got SS, dividends/interest on taxable investments, and RMDs on top of that, get ready for the 30%+ tax bracket every year. And if they pass it down to their kids, there’s effectively an estate tax on it with no exemption payable within 10 years of your death.

But yeah, if you make $54k/year and don’t save anything outside of your IRA, it’s probably ends up a wash.