<prompt> Human: Some Background: I graduated from college two years ago and since then have been working in IT Product Management. I started working at a large public company and recently transitioned to a small start up in the LA area. I making 80k as a salary but I take home around 50K after taxes. I only have 20K saved I recently bought a car at an auction for 23k and am planning to contribute my first 5k in a Vanguard IRA today. The startup doesnt offer any 401k. I have absolutely zero debt at this point.My Question:How do I save in taxes? Is a CPA really the only way to go?From what I read on reddit, the 1 that is able to pay 15 in taxes generally does so via capital gains, which I have not been able to make I lost 1000 dollars on speculation which turned me off Mr. MarketMy parents have been really hammering the idea that I should purchase a house and rent out rooms to pay the mortgage. I just cant see the logic of going into hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt and being a slave to my job. TLDR: 23 year old. 80K salary. How to save on taxes without buying a housegetting marriedmaking babies?Assistant: There is no save on taxes trick. A CPA would not have any magic to work. The 1 is generally able to affect how their receive compensation from the companies they work forrun so that theyre paid in stock and have complicated setups around that.The best you can be doing is maxing out a 401k and a Roth or traditional IRA. Sorry :Theres some chance you could end up ahead buy a house and renting it out. But are you sure youd be itemizing deductions so that youd even get an advantage form the mortgage interest tax credit? At 23, I wouldnt be rushing into home ownership either.Human: I have designed and managed the production of separate startup site that me and my cousin came up with. Would I be able to pay myself as an employee? We are debating creating an LLC and writing off our management, development, and QA costs against the site, but I wasnt sure about the legal implications behind this Since we are the sole developers, managers, and QA team with the exception of a designer that we paid 1000.  <response>: Okay, now youre getting into territory where a CPA would help. Certainly if youre running a business there are a variety of business expenses that are deductible, but thats not an area Im familiar with. 