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There are a lot of people that have a "zippo network". They didn't go to Haaaavard or their Daddy didn't play golf with the Bushes! They went to Hard Luck Community College and Cheap State College, where the better-off alumni send $25 a year instead of $25 million. Their boss at Starbuck's might be willing to write a note about their hard work and great attendance record tho'!
My kids went to Big Ten schools. 13 of the 14 Big Ten schools are state universities.
...I think going forward we'll just hire experts. We're both tech people, definitely not accountant material. -_-
Funny. We are both programmers, and I find doing my own taxes and estimates easy. All you need is to know basic math and be able to decipher IRS lingo. The latter part can be tough, but you can read up on this online.
Hire an accountant to do your taxes, if you have to, but you need to understand yourself how your bonus/raise affects your tax liability.
You owe $15K in taxes and don't think you'll be able to retire... Something's not adding up...
No HSA account to use as a tax shelter and lower your taxable income? No access to regular IRAs to lower your taxable income? No 401k account at your company or even a simple IRA if you're self-employed?
How is it possible to earn enough to owe $15k on top of what you've already paid, yet not max out all the tax-deferred accounts you can?
We've maxed out all those accounts.
As for saving enough up for retirement, I'm only in my 20s. I can't predict future setbacks that could send all hopes of retirement crumbling.
For my W-4, I claimed 0 and stated that I'm married filing jointly.
I got a promotion/raise and a bonus during the year and was told by various sources that I didn't need to change my W-4.
I'm not an accountant for a reason.
My wife and I choose "Married but withhold at the higher single rate" on our W-4 and we always get a refund (we file our taxes jointly). Either your withheld amount is low or you are not using your deductions properly. Like someone suggested earlier, look at your effective tax rate after you are done with your taxes. If it is low, you are just paying more now versus earlier in the year.
As for saving enough up for retirement, I'm only in my 20s. I can't predict future setbacks that could send all hopes of retirement crumbling.
I am a perennial pessimist though.
A perennial pessimist with money in the bank, is better off than the gleeful optimist living paycheck to paycheck! You just might be a practical realist!
As for saving enough up for retirement, I'm only in my 20s. I can't predict future setbacks that could send all hopes of retirement crumbling.
I am a perennial pessimist though.
You've shared what you owe -- might as well share your effective tax rate. B/c if you've maxed out all these tax-deferred accounts, and still owe $15k, I'm guessing you're not going to get much sympathy once we see that rate...
You've shared what you owe -- might as well share your effective tax rate. B/c if you've maxed out all these tax-deferred accounts, and still owe $15k, I'm guessing you're not going to get much sympathy once we see that rate...
I think I've shared enough. This thread was just a rant anyway.
I do acknowledge that my knowledge on all the ins and outs of taxes is not up to par, and is something I (and my spouse) need to brush up on.
OP, if you are claiming 0 and filing jointly, I think there is something wrong. You might want someone to look over your tax documents.
Did you have a lot of capital gains or something? That's the only thing I can think of...
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