Take-Home Pay

The net money you actually bring home, usually in after-tax and other obligations.

Like...let's say you're a partner in a venture capital company and you make a salary of $1 million a year. Might seem like a ton of money. It may become that if the fund does well...but here's the math in The People's Republic of California: you are taxed about 50 percent off the top. So you have $500k to play with...but you have fund investment obligations, meaning that you have $100-150k a year, usually, that you then have to invest in your fund. You also have 401(k) contributions and other things that come out of your paycheck before taxes. After "everything," you might end up with $300k or so as your take home pay.

Might seem like a lot, but when a dump of a 40-year-old asbestos-filled house costs $5 million, private school for each kid is $50k a year, and alimony for the first spouse is running you $100k a year, the money evaporates...fast. Better hope you find the next GOOG.