SSI for but very high earners is not going to really cut it for most folks. 

I am a high W2 earner investing in RE syndications. 

The judge asked him how he arrived at those figures and he didn't really have an answer other than we owed him $800 dollars for "lost wages". 

@Peter Tverdov it depends on going wages in your marketplace.I would imagine labor costs are much higher in NJ than in MI.

The economy is rocking, we have full employment (~4% unemployment) and wage growth is still at 4%.

Things in your tax filing need to be really off to do this.Being a REP/active participant and using cost seg to offset a spouses (or your own if that's all you do) W-2 wages is fairly common practice.

There are several different types of income in the US tax code.Two main types are “active income” and “passive income".Active income is money you earn from working, such as wages from a W-2 job or income from running a business.Passive income is money you earn from investments like real estate, stocks, or rental income from your RE portfolio where you earn $ without actively working.Normally, you can't use passive losses (like losses from real estate investments) to offset active income like your salary from a W-2 job.That is unless you are an RE Pro.The reality is, that Real Estate Pro status is just a filing status similar to filing married or jointly.And if you are a real estate professional you CAN use passive real estate losses to offset active income from other sources.To qualify as an RE Pro you must:1.

Adjusted for inflation, the prices of homes in a desirable location appreciate more than average wages. 

She's also a teacher making decent wages.

Rental activity.Passive losses may only offset passive income, not active or portfolio.This is a problem for wage-earning real estate investors.So HOW DO I GET THOSE DEDUCTIONS?