PaycheckCity Helps Recent Grads Navigate Personal Finance

PaycheckCity Helps Recent Grads Navigate Personal Finance

Maximize Your Earnings with Paycheck Calculators

Scottsdale, AZ (May 16, 2011). College graduation is a major milestone in life. All the book learning is finished and it’s time to get some practical experience. The best part? Along with this first “real” job, comes the first “real” paycheck. But with this new income, there is also responsibility – to manage it in a way that will create the best financial situation for the future. Understanding all the intricacies of a paycheck is crucial in planning healthy personal finance, so it’s important to know common terms, how the W-4 fits in, and what payroll taxes are usually deducted. For most people, there are federal, state and local taxes taken from each paycheck.

It’s hard to understand something when the terms used to explain it seems like a different language. One great resource is the Glossary of Payroll Terms at PaycheckCity. This would be a good starting point for those new to the work force. Once all the common terms are made clear, understanding it is easier, and talking with a Human Resources or Payroll Department is not so much of a challenge.

Next, accurately completing a federal W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate) is critical for properly managing your finances, so it’s important to understand how this works also. Using the Form W4 Assistant from PaycheckCity can help with filling out the form, and the Paycheck Calculators are useful in checking different scenarios to determine your correct withholding. Each withholding allowance reduces the amount of taxable wages and results in less federal income tax withheld from a paycheck. It’s based on an employee’s marital status and withholding allowances claimed.

Finally, it is important to understand what taxes will be deducted from a typical paycheck. Generally, these payroll taxes include:

• Federal income tax withholding, based on the number of deductions you claimed on your W-4

• FICA – this stands for Federal Insurance Contribution Act. It includes both Social Security tax and Medicare tax.

• State income tax withholding - this will vary depending on where you live and work.

• Various local tax withholding - this will also vary depending on where you live and work, and may include city taxes, county taxes, school taxes, state disability, and unemployment insurance.

About Symmetry Software

Founded in 1984, Symmetry Software is a groundbreaking innovator in tax applications for the internet and corporate intranets. At its core, Symmetry is a software development firm with a high level of expertise in payroll withholding taxes. Our team of software engineers and taxation experts provide leading edge, regulatory compliant payroll software products.  For more information please visit us at www.symmetry.com.

Follow these links for more information about PaycheckCity, private-label Payroll calculators, the Payroll Point Tax Location Service or the Symmetry Tax Engine.