Looking at my W2 and laughing

[CheapScholar]

My wife and I both max 403b plans at 18K each.  We got our W2s today and we realized about how much federal tax we avoided.  I still have to do a little math to figure out what we saved together.  My employer mandates I put 5% of my salary into the plan.  My initial math says that I personally avoided $3320 in federal income tax by maxing out.

[rpr]

Indeed, the tax break is a wonderful deal. For a couple below age 55 in a 30% tax bracket (Fed+state), maxing two 401Ks results in a tax break of $10800.