[[Can someone help a "newly" married and new to money management? We are both 45 , no
children. How do I manage the deductions from my paycheck so I'm not giving it all to the
government up front? (we clear about 90K together).]]

The first thing that you may want to do is to read my series of posts regarding the "marriage penalty" and the tax issues associated with holy matrimony. You can find those posts in the Taxes FAQ area (archives section).

If you are simply trying to determine the most appropriate amount of withholding allowances for you and your new spouse, you'll want to check out IRS Form W-4 at the IRS web site. You can download this form, and it'll help you determine the correct number of withholding allowances, based upon your income, deductions, and credits for 1999.

Without going through the computations (either via Form W-4 or using some computer program such as Turbo Tax with the planning feature), you'll just be guessing, and may guess wrong. So I would suggest that you check out Form W-4 on the IRS web site and run the numbers. That's certainly the best way for you to go as a starting point.

TMF Taxes
Roy

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