"Once income and spending exceed this level, taxes must be paid. Unless… Unless that income comes from qualified dividends or long-term capital gains. In this

"Once income and spending exceed this level, taxes must be paid. Unless… Unless that income comes from qualified dividends or long-term capital gains. In this case, a married couple can have $24,400 a year in income AND $78,750 in investment income, TAX-FREE" If you can get 78k$ yearly investment income from index funds, you already have a net worth of several million $, and you're thus already among the people that don't need to work (or you had some incredible luck for smaller investments)