When my mom passed away in 2012, my dad started to decline quickly, and my brother and I had to go through my parents' bills and finances. Both my mom and dad worked great jobs for 50 years, but they were never in the top tax bracket. My mom taught English at the local state college (Cal Northridge), and my dad owned a shoe store. I don't know exactly how much they made every year, but in today's dollars, it was probably not more than $150,000 as a couple.