<prompt> Human: Hi all.According to take-home calculators Ive found, I will be paying 30k in taxes in 2015 because my income will be 75k. This seems absurd - thats almost half my paycheck! I live in California. What gives?sidenote edit: I previously made less than 20k, and paid 4k in taxes total, which was 20 of my income. Edit 2: many thanks to everyone who commented and helped me understand this tax issue better. I learned two important things: 1 I need to remember deductions and exemptions, and 2 I misunderstood the 25 tax bracket thing for the 50-80k salary range. Thanks guys! And just as an aside, some of yall are hostile as fuck. Ive been a redditor for over four years now old account was compromised so this is my new one, and Ive never before been downvoted the way yall are downvoting me, and have never seen anyone be downvoted like this except in certain subreddits trollx, etc.. Damn, guys. Assistant: try increasing your 401k as much as possible. It wont be able to satisfy you immediately but it will still be your money and increasing your total net worth.Human: I know literally nothing about 401ks. Im pretty young, so how would a 401k be useful to me? Dont you have to pay taxes on the money whenever you take it out? Assistant: 401ks are even more useful for young people. 1000 put in a 401k at age 25 could easily be worth 8000 when youre eligable to withdraw it at age 55. Much better to start saving now.You are taxed when you take the money out, but odds are your tax bracket will be lower once youre retired so youll pay less overall taxes on it.Human: That makes sense, but isnt having the money on hand now more valuable to me? Doesnt putting money in a 401k at my age come with an opportunity cost?  <response>: Everything comes with an opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is just what would you have done with the money if you didnt do the thing you actually did with it.Yes, the opportunity cost of putting the money in your 401k is that you cant spend it on pizza. 