I think we are going to have to trim back some of the deductions that the upper middle/lower upper folks get.
The amount of income that can be removed from your taxable income is gettting a little silly.
My wife discovered that she actually has access to both a 403b and a 457 plan, and that there is no rule against funding them both to 16.5k.
So our deductions could look something like this next year--
49.5k for tax deferred income
7.5k for mortgage interest
2.5k for property taxes
7k for state income taxes
3k for charity
7k personal exemption
3k exemption for our new munchkin (is that the right amount)
12k for child care tax credit (credit of 3k, about equivalent to a 12k deduction?)
That's about 90k in income that we can avoid taxes on, although I don't know if we will be able to actually make our finances work while saving that much. I'm really tempted to try, though
.
Worst case, we fund some of our living expenses out of savings.
I think we will pay less in taxes than many people with half our incomes. My single buddy who rents is getting a little bitter about subsidizing my house and child, since he makes a lot less than me.