My Mom started as a CPA and retired as a CFO, but before all that, she made sure I learned how to do my own taxes. Every year, starting with my first paycheck, she sat me down and made me walk through my return line by line. As I started earning more and crossed into six figures, she showed me how the tax code shifts as your income grows and how important it is to take a strategic approach. I’m almost 50 now, and I’ve spent decades building on that foundation, learning how to keep more of what I earn using smart, legal strategies most high earners were never taught. When I started sharing these tips with friends, they kept saying, "Why hasn’t anyone explained it like this before?" They told me to write it all down. So I did. They read it, loved it, and said, "You need to sell this." So here it is. I hope these insights help you hold on to more of the wealth you've created.