Am I missing something? What happened to taxes?

As a result of reading HD, I have become fascinated with certified financial planner videos on YouTube, some are pretty good, others not so much.

Often one thing strikes me as ironic. Some presenters look more like they will be starting college in the fall, than experienced experts and none of them look anywhere near retirement age – maybe they will FIRE, but I digress.🤑

My real curiosity is when they show a spreadsheet to see if a hypothetical couple can afford to retire. They usually start by showing the couples needed monthly income- their spending. Often that is quite a modest amount (they should tell us where they live). 

Then they list income sources, like SS, annuities, pension, drawing down investments or whatever. 

When the math works when income equals or exceeds the spending needs, and they proudly demonstrate the couple can retire and their probable success rate is X%. They will be fine we are told. 

What’s missing? Taxes! I have yet to see one of these presentations talk about net income after taxes. So when you match desired spending with gross income, the picture is rosy, but it seems to me the bloom is off when you use net income. The last I tried to pay bills with 20% or so less than I had it didn’t work. 

When I compare my working income to retirement income it’s gross amount to gross amount. Taxes always reduce both. If you are looking for the income that will pay bills, shouldn’t it be net income?🤑