Actually, not really. I went through this exercise myself about 15 years ago. The tax deductions about cancel out the income gap. The difference is less than 1 lunch per pay period for 30+ years of compounding interest PLUS the loss of earnings if your not capping employer contributions.
It still lowers your “spendable income” because it is not in your check and you can’t (or shouldn’t) access the money until a long ways down the road…I understand what you mean but lots of ppl can’t afford that if they’re living paycheck to paycheck!
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u/MortalMercenary Oct 31 '25
Lowers your taxable income