I don't understand all the tax codes, tax breaks, exemptions, yada yada yada...What I do understand is that every dollar I earn someone other than me has their hand(s) in my pocket to take their share*, even if it doesn't seem fair they want their share.  Sometimes there is so much scratching and grabbing, the intensity almost matches wild, unbridled sex (from what I've been told).

An article by Bob Jennings of Fox Business (story is here) listed a bunch of tax benefits that are set to expire within the next couple of years.  One major individual tax benefit expected to expire at the end of 2012 is known as The Marriage Tax Penalty.  Do you know what that is???  I didn't so I looked it up and found a somewhat simple explanation here.  The following paragraph made me scratch my 5 o'clock shadow (that took me 5 days to grow---it's an Asian thing) and go "hmmmm." 

"Prior to 2003, if both spouses earned about the same amount of money, then they ended up in a higher tax bracket and were penalized for being married. Actually, the smaller the difference between what they each earned, the higher the marriage penalty. However, if one spouse earned a good salary, and the other didn't, then they weren't penalized. The marriage penalty could affect couples in all income brackets, though. A couple who married could lose earned income tax credits that they had received as singles."

I don't understand it all, but from what I think I comprehend, this may be another reason to stay single.  If you are a tax savvy person in-the-know about this tax thingy I invite you to 'splain this sucka.  If it is true, the time has come where marriage could take someone to the cleaners more than divorce.

Consider pre-marital counseling with a minister and a CPA.

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(*sidenote, remember the 70s song "My Fair Share" or something like that?  The rhyme of "their share" made me think of that song..."Share (sp?), stay with me if you dare...")