Are you hoping for a large tax return this year? Are you planning a cruise to the Caribbean around your tax return this year? Do you come skipping through the front door when your tax return arrives in the mail? Well, stop being so happy about the free one-year loan you have given to Uncle Sam! That’s basically what you have done when you get a tax refund. The crazy thing is that when I tell people this, they say, “I don’t care, it’s nice to get money back at the beginning of the year that I forgot about”. That’s an extremely lazy thought process. Instead of using your federal tax contributions as a 0% percent savings account, why not just open up an online money market account earning 4.5% and not funding the government’s piggy bank.

If you want to give yourself an instant raise for 2008, then you need to alter the amount of hard-earned money that is coming out of your paycheck every week. Follow these three steps to allow the correct amount to be taken out of your check.

1. Contact your HR department and ask for a W-4 form
2. Revise your W-4 form by accurately answering the questions on the form based on your situation
3. If you need help answering the questions on the W-4 form, ask your HR generalist. Then, turn it in and watch more money come into your pocket!

You never knew that getting a raise could be so easy, did you? Actually, this is probably common knowledge to most of you, but you still like the idea of receiving a bunch of money in the mail come April. ::sigh:: Go visit the Pentagon and see if they need your free loan, maybe that will change your mind.

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