For argument’s sake, let’s say that you earned $500,000 per year. This translates to $41,667 gross per month. Assuming the hypothetical person is single, using the 2003 tax rates, the federal income tax on this would be $139,863, NY state income tax is $36,938, NY city tax is 20,931, Social Security is $5,394 and Medicare tax is $7,250. So, from that $500,000, the after tax take home pay would be $289,624. This would translate to a net take home pay of $24,135 per month.
Now looking at other monthly expenses (all approximate values)
Rent - $5,000 (nice two bedroom in a doorman building in a nice neighborhood)
Car payment - $1,000 (you have to drive a nice car if you make that much money)
Gasoline & other auto maintenance - $200
Car insurance - $300
Renter’s insurance - $100
Parking - $300
Club dues - $200
Cell phone - $150
Cable - $125 (all premium channels plus cable modem)
Telephone - $40 (still need a land line)
Utilities - $100 (do you have to pay utilities in NYC if you rent?)
Food - $1,000 (this includes groceries to stock the fridge and eating out at least once a week)
Laundry - $300 (if you make that much, you can pay someone to wash your shorts)
Taxis & other public transportation - $200
Clothing - $300
Taking out these regular monthly expenses, this leaves $14,820 per month out of your income. Note that this does not take into account savings, planning for retirement, investments, saving for vacations, other mad money. If you were to stick with $300 per hour sessions, but have one every single day, this would knock off an additional $9,000 to $9,300 per month off the $14,280, but it also does not leave much left.
Of course this is a very simplified calc and does not take into account planning for the future (i.e. investing in a house, etc.), but it does give you an idea of how much the money can stretch.