Humphrey Yang: How To Maximize Your Money as a High Earner
Written by
Ashley Donohoe
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
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According to U.S. Census data, the top 20% of Americans made at least $175,700 in 2024, more than double the $83,730 median household income.
If you’re among the country’s high earners, maximizing your money goes beyond wise spending decisions. You’ll need to take the right steps to protect and grow your wealth and minimize money lost to interest and taxes.
In a YouTube video, financial YouTuber Humprey Yang reacted to a high-earner playbook found on Reddit. Here are eight strategic money moves to maximize your high income and wealth.
Build Your Emergency Fund
While having a three-to-six-month emergency fund is smart at any income level, it’s especially crucial for high earners who likely have bigger bills. For example, if you spend $8,000 monthly, you’d need to accumulate a safety net of $24,000 to $48,000.
Yang agreed with the playbook’s guidance to use liquid options for these funds, such as high-yield savings, money market or cash management brokerage accounts. He said you might earn 2.5% to 5% with these low-risk, highly accessible accounts.
Maximize HSA Contributions
You can pair a health savings account with a compatible health insurance plan. This option offers flexibility for holding some cash for medical expenses and investing the rest, ideally in index fees with low fees, according to Yang.
It also stands out for multiple tax benefits, including tax-deductible contributions, tax-free growth and tax-free qualified withdrawals. Yang said you can even withdraw funds in the future for past expenses and illustrated how this works with a $2,000 out-of-pocket medical expense.
“So, as long as you save the receipt, let’s pretend that 20 years later down the line, the $2,000 in your HSA has grown to $8,000, you can actually withdraw the full $8,000 and use the medical expense from 20 years prior to qualify it for tax-free withdrawals,” he explained.
Contribute To 401(k) and Roth IRA Accounts
This step involves consistently investing 10% to 15% of your income in 401(k) and Roth IRA accounts. Yang recommended at least contributing up to your employer’s 401(k) match, which averaged 4.8% of employee pay per Fidelity’s Q2 2025 retirement analysis.
He also discussed mega backdoor contributions, which allow high earners to contribute more than the standard annual 401(k) limit. This money would come from after-tax dollars and go to a Roth 401(k) or Roth IRA.
Strategically Pay Off Debts
Yang mostly agreed with the Reddit guide’s approach to paying off debts based on the interest rate.
For debts with rates above 10%, you’d tap into your savings, while you’d make bigger monthly payments on other debts with rates of at least 5%. The guide suggested only considering early mortgage payoff if you’re not getting a decent effective rate after accounting for the mortgage interest deduction.
“This type of recommendation is only good if you have a mortgage under $750,000, you’re itemizing deductions, and if you have an interest rate low enough that perhaps investing would beat paying off your mortgage in terms of the return rate,” Yang explained.
Invest in a Taxable Brokerage Account
You can use a taxable brokerage account to invest remaining funds after your HSA, 401(k) and IRA contributions.
Yang focused on purchasing ETFs and index funds rather than individual stocks, as the latter require more research and risk tolerance. While potentially big wins can seem attractive, you would also need to be comfortable with any big losses.
Besides offering easy diversification, funds can still yield solid returns. Yang suggested an 8% to 10% annualized return for the S&P 500.
Figure Out RSUs
If your company gives you restricted stock units (RSUs), you’ll need to decide how to proceed once they vest, keeping in mind you can’t hold them in tax-advantaged accounts.
Yang discussed the common four-year vesting schedule, where you may own 25% of the available RSUs each year. As they vest, you can keep or sell them, and the decision will depend on your financial situation, diversification needs and expectations for the stock.
“If you’re someone who believes in your company and doesn’t really need the money right now, then perhaps you can just hold on to your RSUs because it could be a really great way to generate a lot of wealth if you’re able to hold on to those shares and your company does really well,” Yang said.
Have a Well-Diversified Equities Portfolio
How much of your portfolio to have in stocks is another important money move that depends on your age, risk tolerance and the time until you need the money.
Yang agreed with the playbook’s suggestion for people younger than 50 to keep 80% to 100% of their assets in equities. Closer to retirement, the allocation would drop to 60% or 70% for less volatility. This target is higher than the average 49% stock allocation for 50-somethings, according to July 2025 Empower data.
Protect Yourself With Insurance
While Yang viewed this step as optional, it involves purchasing disability, term life and umbrella insurance for extra financial protection.
The guide highlighted disability insurance as essential if you have a physical job, like in the medical field, as being unable to work would create a major financial hardship. This coverage may provide 60% to 70% income replacement.
Yang said he preferred term life over whole life coverage due to its clearer terms and cheaper premiums. He also discussed the suggested coverage range of four to eight times your income and the use of a laddered strategy that accounts for your age and financial obligations.
Umbrella insurance can fill in the gaps your other policies leave. Yang viewed this one as crucial when you earn a lot since people are more likely to sue you. He suggested a minimum coverage limit of over $2 million versus the guide’s $1 million.
“It’s often usually just $200 to $400 per year for a million dollars in coverage, and each additional million might only cost you another hundred or $200 per year,” Yang added.
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