That's crazy. The taxes are pretty unforgiving. I'm also in the rail industry so instead of paying into social security I pay into railroad retirement, which takes an extra 5%. So $100k is the social security equivalent of $95k right off the bat. Then federal and state income taxes, health insurance, etc. Then I take out $450/month to max out a dependent care savings account for a portion of daycare and put about $1000/month into my 401k which as of October* had underperformed my savings account over the last 7 years. I've been tempted give up on that and just start buying real estate.