Paycheck, salary and tax guides
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Plain-English explanations of pay, payroll taxes and deductions, checked against IRS and state sources for the 2026 tax year.
Life and Disability Insurance Deductions on Your Paycheck
How life and disability insurance premiums come out of your paycheck, when they're pre-tax or after-tax, and how that choice affects benefits…
Illinois vs Indiana: Take-Home Pay Compared
Indiana's 2.95% state rate beats Illinois's 4.95%, but county income tax changes the math. See 2026 paycheck estimates and the break-even county…
How HSA Contributions Affect Your Paycheck
HSA contributions made through payroll skip income tax, Social Security and Medicare, so they cost you less per paycheck than you save.
How to Read Your Pay Stub
A line-by-line guide to your pay stub, with a sample Illinois stub showing how gross pay becomes net pay.
How to Fill Out a W-4, Step by Step
A plain walkthrough of each step on the W-4, what to enter, what to skip, and how each line changes the federal…
How to Compare Job Offers by Take-Home Pay
Three job offers with salaries $7,000 apart can leave you with nearly the same paycheck. Here's how to compare offers on what…
How to Calculate Your Take-Home Pay
A step-by-step method for working out your take-home pay by hand, with a full 2026 example for a $72,000 salary in Georgia.
How Overtime Pay Is Calculated
Overtime is at least 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Here's the math and what it…
How Much Should You Save From Each Paycheck?
Common savings targets, how to split them between goals, and how pre-tax 401(k) saving costs less take-home pay than you might expect.
How Much of Your Salary Goes to Taxes?
A breakdown of how much of your salary goes to federal, FICA and state taxes in 2026, by income level, state and…