That can't be correct. The nominal tax rate for 300K is 33%:

http://www.efile.com/tax-service/tax-calculator/tax-brackets...

California also has the highest State to Federal tax ratio which is around ~ 10% for what you describe. So your number are way off.

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/state-taxes-california...

Mortgage interest deduction, probably. And it seems like we've gone full circle to the original comment about bankers capturing all the income beyond what it should cost to eat every day and build a house to sleep in.

Mortgage deduction, property tax deduction, child credits, business expenses, charity deduction, medical expense deduction, child care deduction. Also, the entire state taxes is deducted.

My 300k is 1/3 in private stock options which may not actually become money for another 5yrs, if ever. They don't accept it in exchange for homes and my 200k income isn't enough to buy a home, esp given there is a mass layoff every 7yrs. House prices go up more than the down payment I save each year so I get further from owning a home. Oh, and the east bay is about 2hrs fro SF so I'd never see my kids even if I bought a home

You make 200k in income, not 300k.

I wish I could upvote this more than once.

East bay is 2 hrs from SF ?? Oakland ?

So how do you get away from FICA/SocialSecurity taxes?