[RickFLM4]

I copied / combined portions of some posts I made in politics section:

Gross income +11.5% in 2018 vs. 2017
Taxable income +19%
ETR (tax / taxable income) almost 3 percentage points lower (from low 20s to high teens, not including 10+% self employment tax each year)
Tax / AGI 6+ percentage points lower

As a result of favorable tax rates, I decided to pay tax on money set aside this year rather than deposit it into my SEP-IRA, which would have deferred taxes until funds are withdrawn. We received a major benefit from QBI / Section 199A. SEP-IRA is deducted above AGI with QBI is below so tax as a % of AGI is very skewed.

We did not see a major adverse impact due to changing from itemized deduction + personal exemptions in 2017 to standard deduction in 2018. Any impact of foregoing tax deferred savings and change to standard deduction was more than offset by lower tax rates and 199A / QBR. Considering I didn’t defer tax on retirement savings and gross earnings increased, I’d say Tax reform worked very well for us.