Comments on: Return of Monthly Reviews!

By: HisMoney

HisMoney — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:07:41 +0000

I’ll be paying the marriage penalty this year as well. She makes quite a bit more money plus has additional income from a side business and itemized. I’m in the military so a large chunk of my income is tax free and I’ve always been better off taking the standard.

I am certainly NOT looking forward to it!

By: F2O

F2O — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:14:19 +0000

Marriage Penalty – yep
My wife and I just got married in Sept 07 and I can feel your pain. We were in just about the same situation too. I had the house and itemized, while she took the standard deduction. There really was no way around it with our situation. Luckily I saw it a mile away and we were able to adjust our witholding so there were no ugly suprises. (other than being in a higher effective tax bracket)
One thing about the name change game – I was astounded at how easy it was for her to change her name on some accounts. No proof of anything needed. Some wanted to see the mariage license, but didn’t want a copy for their records. The one thing that required the most documentation was her teaching license.

By: jim

jim — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:13:03 +0000

@Fred: Financially ugly.

@saladdin: Are you kidding though?

By: saladdin

saladdin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:35:59 +0000

“Honeymoon is expensive and one of my vices is splurging on vacations. You only get married once right? ”

What world are you living in? By your 5th marriage you will just go to 6 Flags over the weekend as a honeymoon.

Just kidding.

saladdin

By: fred@opc

fred@opc — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:32:48 +0000

So let me get this straight, you called your honeymoon ‘ugly’ and you’re still able to type with those fingers?

By: Frugal Dad

Frugal Dad — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:26:04 +0000

I like the monthly update features. I’m probably close to killing off my blog-stat reports and personal income pieces. The blog stats only mean something to other bloggers, and it isn’t really what people have signed up for.

By: jim

jim — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:33:28 +0000

Yeah, that was a fun little homework problem for me… married filing separately.

By: The Digerati Life

The Digerati Life — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:37:17 +0000

OMG. You are WAYYYyyyy too funny Jim! Yes, this was a very satisfying update on your personal situation. I’d love this to be a regular feature of your blog, and do turn up the drama a bit. lol. Just kidding. I’m still waiting for wedding photos ala MoneyNing or baby pics (maybe someday) ala Moolanomy. Haha!

By: Lau

Lau — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:18:37 +0000

Aahh.. the joy of marriage: taxes! Just kidding, love ‘em too.
Belated congratulations as well.

And since you did your homework already, I’m sure you guys will know what to do next year.

By: Lily

Lily — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:46:44 +0000

Have you considered filing taxes separately next year? This may not save you any money, since you’ll probably miss the AGI mark for several deductions, but then again it may help, since you won’t be subject to the marriage penalty. (BTW, belated congrats!)