This is the board where you get to shamelessly brag on yourself, right?
Little background:
DW was working part-time until this calendar year when she got upgraded to full-time, and with that, she is now able to contribute to her non-profit's 403b account. She was hesitant to contribute much (much less max it out) since we have such a high percent of our net worth in "retirement" accounts.
Now:
After forwarding her posts from MMM and Madfientist didn't seem to convince her, I laid off for a few weeks. Last weekend, we're doing our taxes on TurboTax:
DW: Dang, we pay so much in taxes
Me: Tis true, but this is just the effective tax rate. The marginal tax on the "last dollar" earned is actually taxed WAY HIGHER (at least partially thanks to living in CA).
DW: That sucks! What can we do?
Me: Move.
DW: no really
Me: Well ... we could max out your new 403b and defer $18,000 and save a TON on our taxes next year.
DW: Let's do it!
A few clicks later, we are now maxing out her 403b in addition to her ROTH IRA, my 401k, my ROTH IRA, and an HSA.
Woo!