Thanks for the advice guys, especially the calculator from noppenbd. I had already looked up my tax bracket using the gross income stated in my job offer, but I was very unsure about the other misc. stuff like health, dental, Medicare, SS, etc. According to the calculator, I overshot by about $200. Thanks for the input.
Another question. Most of you guys mentioned 401(k) contributions & tax breaks. My company won't match any 401k contributions until you've been with them for 9 months. Therefore, I was planning on maxing out my IRA (very proud that I made maximum annual contributions to that on my own throughout college) and make no 401k contributions during the first 9 months. After those 9 months I would start contributing the maximum to get the employer match from the 401k on top of my IRA contributions. My reasoning was that the IRA expense ratios are lower & I don't have to worry about transferring/rolling over if I leave this employer in the next few years. Is this a good philosophy? Also, am I missing something else that should be considered?
|