François May's Factphobia.com

How often have you head someone say: “I make 100k a year”. It sounds good doesn’t it, but it is not true, regardless of of what your w2 states at the top line. That is so because it is not the top line that matters. What matters is what is left for you to spend after all the taxes which are taken out. Often even that number is too high because after you file your income taxes both state and federal, you  find you owe ever more money. In most countries when people speak of their income, they almost always refer to their NET income. The government loves to mention the gross amount because it allows them to create animus toward those who sound like they are earning so much more. Actually a couple earning $250k per year pays approximately 55% of it in taxes which include state, social security, medicare, federal, and others. This reduces their take home pay down to $150k which to some may sound great, except that it means that each member of the couple only earned $75k. Another way to look at your income is to figure how many months you worked for the governments. If you have to pay 55% percent of your income you have worked for over 6 months for the privilege of living here. In the real world we should start talking about our net income and not the inflated figure of our gross take. It is time to stop kidding ourselves and others.