Good points, thanks for sharing. Other things to consider to lower your tax bill are to buy a home instead of rent to get the mortgage interest deduction, and work as a 1099 contractor instead of employee if possible and it makes sense for your situation so that you can write off expenses against your income as a business.
I'm sure there are other good ideas, as well, but I'm no tax accountant...
Good points. Further into my career I would like to move into consulting from regular engineering work. Tax benefits would be a plus!
Like many milllenials, I don't think home ownership is in the cards for me. Home prices are actually affordable in my rust belt town, but I value the career flexibility that renting allows.
1099 is a great transition if you can swing it, both from the perspective of finding work and being able to weather potential increase in volatility of earnings. The benefit of the employment relationship is generally income smoothing, but if you can tolerate additional risk (after perhaps building savings cushion), then the tax benefits and greater take in total compensation are worthwhile. I was at that stage in my previous career, but stepped away for academia...once done with this i'd prefer either being an entrepreneur and/or 1099 contractor.