BeBackInASchmeck

BeBackInASchmeck t1_j6ds0g9 wrote

I was always pretty good at making lists, and grouping and ordering things based on some kind of logic. I got incredibly good at it from going through PMP certification (project management profession). It's an incredibly cheap, yet incredibly valuable certification that most people can get. Only cost is taking the test for $500 or so. You could buy study books, but I'm sure you can find plenty of free guides online. Even if you don't want to.get the certification, you can still.learn a lot from reading those guides.

1

BeBackInASchmeck t1_j6dnlu9 wrote

Not all jobs are for everyone. The first thing you need to decide is if this is the right job for you. It's very different to be stern with a coworker or vendor than it is with a client. I'm very stern with my coworkers and vendors, and justify it by "doing what's best for the company", but I don't ever want to interface with clients. I hate upsetting or disappointing them, and I would not feel happy at such a job.

1

BeBackInASchmeck t1_j6dmjz7 wrote

Simplest way to understand it is to first figure out your tax brackets for Federal, State and Local. It's a progressive rate, meaning that the first $30k you earn is taxed at one percent, the next $50k is taxed at a slightly higher amount, the next $60k is taxes an even higher rate, and so on. If you find the rates, it should tell you the exact thresholds.

Then figure out what your taxable income is. It should show this pretty clearly on the W2.

If you main or lost any money gambling or in the stock market, you can include that too. However, if you earned money on a stock that you held for at least a year, those earnings are taxed at a lower rate than regular income for federal.

If you have dependents, then figure out how much you can deduct or credit from them.

I assume you are probably going to use the "standard deduction", which you can also look up with the tax brackets. Subtract that from your new taxable income.

With your final taxable income minus deductions, you can the use the different federal, state, and local tax brackets to check how much you are supposed to owe. Compare those values to what was withheld on your W2.

If you notice a discrepancy, you can take a look at any of your paystubs. Multiply your gross pay by an amount for it to represent your annual pay. So if you get paid biweekly, multiply by 26. Do the same for each the Federal, State and Local taxes on that pay stub. Compare those taxes withheld against the values you calculated before. They should be pretty similar. If they aren't, then it's because your employer didn't have an accurate value for your dependents or couldn't predict your total annual income when they issued each paycheck.

2