After I retired. I was an independent contractor, and I could not believe the paper work that was created.
We figured out that every other pay check needed to be put into an escrow account to pay for our Fed/Cali taxes, both sides of SS and other stuff. We still owed money at the end of the year.
When I turned 62, our CPA told me to take the early SS, forget the crazy travel and learn how to manage our investments. My wife protested until our CPA said that if I didn’t, my wife should sit in the back of our pickup with a homer bucket filled with 5 and 10 $ and throw them out to the unemployed as we drove by.
It was the best advice we ever got.
Did you have TV in the dog house? I hate that Kibble smell, myself.