Glad you're in the money, but save most of it. Pilots are apt to hit lean periods quite a bit. They say John Wayne drove a used Pontiac... simple living and high ideals.

There was a public discussion some years ago about how to tax those who work in certain glamour jobs that get high earnings for a time then a few years later end up back to square one. Sports figures, actors, musicians were on the list. These groups tend to get rich overnight when they do, rarely know how to handle the uptick in spendable money and in most cases are busted in a few years. The law was supposed to average out their earnings over a lifetime rather than bump them up to the high tax bracket for the few years they rake it in. I thought it was a nice idea and these groups should not be taxed the same way as those who climb gradually up an earnings ladder; more like the lifetime payout option for a lottery winner.