Can you imagine scraping by on $500,000 a year? Well, believe it. Thousands of households living in expensive cities are running on this never-ending treadmill.

They’ve got big mortgages to pay, private school tuition to pay, and fancy cars to drive. No matter how much they make, these households tend to spend all their income and not save as much as they should.

I’ve highlighted in a previous article how living off $200,000 a year in an expensive city is really just an average lifestyle. In this article, I’ll discuss how one couple is living paycheck to paycheck while making a combined $500,000 a year. They are a real couple who shared with me their financial details to anonymously share with you. Judging others, after all, is an American pastime!

$500,000 a year or higher is a level which I think is considered rich. Anybody who thinks otherwise has no concept of financial reality. Even the government agrees after compromising by raising the income level for when the highest marginal tax bracket kicks in to ~$400,000 from $200,000 back in 2013.

But starting in 2018, things got even more painful  for the upper middle class. The SALT tax cap capped mortgage interest deduction and limited property tax deduction to $10,000. And now, Joe Biden is looking at raising taxes for households making over $400,000!

Although making $500,000 a year may sound like a Herculean task, you’ll be surprised to know there are plenty of regular folks who hit the half million mark every year.

I literally get e-mails and comments from similar income-earning couples every week asking for financial help. This article will discuss why many folks who earn a large income won’t be retiring any time soon. 

The smartest people in the world are listeners, not speakers. If all you’re doing is speaking, how do you learn anything new? To get ahead, you need to smart enough to act dumb.

There was once this portfolio manager I covered who had this uncanny ability to make you feel uncomfortable without saying anything at all. He had a poker face when you spoke to him, and when he felt like changing expressions, he’d go from solemn to smiles in a millisecond.

We nicknamed him Crazy Face. It turns out that he was literally a genius with an IQ over 160. He also consistently beat his index benchmark for eight years in a row and made millions because of it.

The earliest examples of acting dumb to get ahead starts in grade school. You know what I’m talking about. Those kids who were too cool to study and too cool to sit still in class as they flicked spitballs from the back of the room. These kids weren’t just acting dumb, they really were dumb.

When you purposefully waste your opportunities growing up, you’re not only disrespecting your parents, but also the millions of other kids around the world who will never have the same opportunities.

This post will do the following:

1) Argue why acting dumb is a smart move to get ahead.

2) Provide some tips to help you look and seem a little dumber than you are.

3) Share three personal examples of how acting duhhh, has helped in work, stress management, and relationships.