For what it's worth, when the marginal rate becomes very high, things like more time off (e.g. unpaid leave/sabbatical) or part-time work become more attractive

For what it's worth, when the marginal rate becomes very high, things like more time off (e.g. unpaid leave/sabbatical) or part-time work become more attractive instead of more compensation. If you can negotiate a 20% pay cut to drop to a 4 day week, but you were in the 50% marginal bracket, you get a 10% cut in take-home for a 20% cut in hours worked. Good deal, especially when you already have more than you need. And in this case it's the marginal rate that matters, not the effective rate. Similarly, it's the marginal rate that matters for decisions like whether to work hard and take on a ton of responsibility to get to principle level, or just hit senior and coast.