agreed. Jobs, etc. can afford to defend their position of $1 a year. You cannot. It doesn't have to be a high number as base salary. It is very reasonable to pay yourself dividends in quarter or annual bonus (your still taxed on this but can be a bit better). The max social security cutoff is around $102k these days? Not a bad high mark. Assuming your living cost is under $60k, you can probably justify $75k and not lose any sleep. Those are rough guesses, you'll have to find your own comfort levels.

Don't try to dodge the taxman unless you can afford it. In the mid-90s, I had the IRS come after me. Turned out to be a computer error on their part, but that didn't keep them from shutting off all my bank accounts without notice. They turned back on my accounts within a week or so but I spent around $5k and 6 months to a top accountant to prove to the IRS that they were wrong. I even ended up with an apology letter from the IRS. It wasn't a form letter either, I doubt they a form for an apology ;). These buys are tough man, don't mess with the revenue service!!