There are the brackets that were just released for tax year 2023:

Tax brackets for income earned in 2022
37% for incomes over $539,900 ($647,850 for married couples filing jointly)
35% for incomes over $215,950 ($431,900 for married couples filing jointly)
32% for incomes over $170,050 ($340,100 for married couples filing jointly)
24% for incomes over $89,075 ($178,150 for married couples filing jointly)
22% for incomes over $41,775 ($83,550 for married couples filing jointly)
12% for incomes over $10,275 ($20,550 for married couples filing jointly)
10% for incomes of $10,275 or less ($20,550 for married couples filing jointly
Married filing separately pay at same rate as unmarried. Source: Internal Revenue Service

Tax brackets for income earned in 2023
37% for incomes over $578,125 ($693,750 for married couples filing jointly)
35% for incomes over $231,250 ($462,500 for married couples filing jointly)
32% for incomes over $182,100 ($364,200 for married couples filing jointly)
24% for incomes over $95,375 ($190,750 for married couples filing jointly)
22% for incomes over $44,725 ($89,450 for married couples filing jointly)
12% for incomes over $11,000 ($22,000 for married couples filing jointly)
10% for incomes of $11,000 or less ($22,000 for married couples filing jointly)
Married filing separately pay at same rate as unmarried. Source: Internal Revenue Service

In addition, the standard deduction will rise to $13,850 for single filers for the 2023 tax year, from $12,950 the previous year. The standard deduction for couples filing jointly will rise to $27,700 in 2023, from $25,900 in the 2022 tax year.
Single filers age 65 and older who are not a surviving spouse can increase the standard deduction by $1,850. Each joint filer 65 and over can increase the standard deduction by $1,500 apiece, for a total of $3,000 if both joint filers are 65-plus. You can also itemize individual tax deductions, for things like charity donations, but they need to add up to more than the standard deduction to make itemizing worthwhile.

The IRS uses the chained consumer price index (CPI) to measure inflation, as mandated by the 2017 tax reform. Like the more well-known consumer price index, the chained CPI measures price changes in about 80,000 items. The chained CPI takes into account the fact that when prices of some items rise, consumers often substitute other items. If the price of beef rises, for example, people switch to chicken. 

If you paid a big tax bill in 2022, you should talk with a tax adviser about how to reduce your bill in 2023. It’s probably easier to have more money withheld from each paycheck than to face a big tax bill next year. A good first step is to look at how much tax you get taken from your paycheck. The IRS has a free withholding estimator that can tell you how much you should have taken out.

Good luck getting your ducks in a row before the end of the 2023 Income Tax Year.

Most people I know cannot afford to purchase a new car from a dealer. The reason being the sticker price is shocking, high sales tax and licensing, and they add all kinds of dealer prep charges. I have had good luck looking at cars within 100 miles of where I live on Car Gurus. Our last car was purchased after seeing a Car Guru ad at Earnhardt Toyota in Mesa Arizona. I noticed a Hyundai Santa Fe for a below market price with only 61,000 miles on it, one owner car from Arizona used as a trade in for a Toyota. I answered the ad on Car Gurus, a young salesman called me and answered my questions and we decided to go see it. The salesman asked when we expected to arrive. He said he would have the car ready and waiting when we got there which he did. They had an interesting parking place inside the garage marked This car is our next sale today

We arrive at the dealership and check in and the salesman comes right out and shows us to the car. He asked if it was all right if he rode with us as we took it for a few miles including a short distance on the freeway. We loved the Hyundai Santa Fe with a 3.5 engine which gave it lots of power and acceleration, the interior was perfectly clean and it ran great. The salesman gave us a CarFax which showed the service that had been performed on the vehicle. We decided we were definitely interested in this car if we could buy it ar the right price. A great thing about Car Gurus is they tell you on the ad whether they think it is being offered below market, at market, or over market in comparison to other cars being offered in your area. There are a lot of statistics shown in the ad, like expected miles per gallon, horsepower, any accidents, number of owners, and the dealership or used car lot where it is being offered. There is a CHAT button you can ask any question about the vehicle and the chat person will find out from the dealer the answer to your questions. You do not have to talk to any salesmen or saleswomen until you are ready to make an appointment to see the vehicle. I made an offer on the vehicle trading my Hyundai Santa Fe in, plus a cash amount with $10,000 to be financed. The dealer shuffled some figures around and made it work. The loans were made by Toyota. Some dealers have agreements with Credit Unions to finance their car sales and the interest rates depend on the persons credit history and rating.

There are used car lots that have cars listed on Car Gurus that are not dealers and do not have a maintenance facility to fix cars. Many of those lots say buy here pay here. I would stay away from those lots they hope to sell you a car and finance it with a high interest loan.

I would suggest looking at used autos offered by dealers with a good reputation that offer a short term guarantee on the vehicle so you can have any items you discover after getting the vehicle corrected. Most dealers would like to sell you a maintenance agreement. For instance, we bought our car from a Toyota dealer, Toyota offers a maintenance and repair plan that they can add the cost to your purchase price to be paid in monthly installments. We were not going to take the agreement but the finance person said you have a great credit rating, I can lower your interest rate enough to pay for a maintenance agreement and the monthly payments will be the same. So, we took the offer, the cost of the agreement over the term of the car loan was $2700, two weeks later the business officer that did the paperwork called and said , “I have bad news and good news, Toyota would not put a maintenance agreement on that vehicle because it will be ten years old this year. They only have those agreements for cars less than ten years old, so the good news is I need to refund $2700 to you which will be applied to reduce the principal of your loan. So, we were elated. You see working with an honest dealer has many advantages over purchasing from a car lot or an individual. You have no assurances when dealing with individuals or shady car lots.

A recent caution has been shown on the major news services beware of flood damaged cars after the recent hurricanes, they are hard to detect. Buy cars that come from a known area where there has not been flood damage, or hail damage.

Good luck finding a good used vehicle for your family

Repair costs for home appliances, cars, golf carts, bikes, and home items, such as electrical and plumbing have You Tube presentations. Learning how to use these presentations can save a family a lot of money.

Something so simple as replacing the flush valve system on your toilets can be simplified by going to the You Tube presentations. There are many variations of toilet repair kits. It is important that you take a photo using your phone before you go to the hardware store, Home Depot, or Lowes, you can find the replacement items that match your toilet. Replacing washers in tub faucets can be fairly complicated, there are You Tube presentations showing how to do several different faucet systems which can be helpful.

Replacing light switches is not always a slam dunk. Certainly you need to turn the power off before removing and replacing a light switch. But there are two way switches and different wiring configurations depending on what the switch is being used for. Take the face plate off and take a photo of the existing switch. Take your phone with you that has the photo to purchase the replacement.

Automobiles are so complicated today that there are only a few things that an individual that is not a trained mechanic can do to fix defects. But there are small things that could cost big money that you can perform yourself. The plug in outlets in my Hyundai were not working, there was two in the front , one worked and the other did not. There was an outlet behind the seat which did not work and one in the back cargo area which did not work. I looked on You Tube for the causes for outlets not working. You Tube indicated that it is usually the fuse that controls those outlets has blown. It also shows you how to find where the fuses on your car might be after you put the information for your vehicle in the search. I replaced the fuse and all of the outlets were working again.

Our headlights on a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe had yellowed and were not letting the maximum amount of light out in the headlights. I purchased new lights from a wholesale on line auto parts dealer. The installation information for my vehicle was included on You Tube. Getting the old headlights out was more difficult than installing the new ones. My wife and I together installed the new lights. The dealer wanted $800 for the lights and installation. I purchased the lights for $350 from the wholesale auto dealer.

I have a GEM Car golf cart that is difficult to charge the batteries with the on board system. I have paid $700 to a golf cart repair service to do work on the batteries and replace the batteries under warranty. Still the on board charger is not charging the batteries. There are several kinds of batteries and the charger on my cart will only work with one kind of deep cycle battery. By looking on the internet I found that there is a company that specializes in GEM battery chargers that will work with all the types and brands of batteries including lithium batteries. It costs $639 for the charger. There are six 12 volt batteries in a GEM that cost between $1800 and $3000 depending on the type and brand purchased. That fact indicates it might be cost effective to get the charger for $639 if you can use cheaper batteries that can be charged.

Lets go outside and look at drip systems and sprinkler systems for your yard. It is very costly to hire a landscaper or sprinkling system person. Looking on You Tube it has presentations that show you the timer systems, piping, tubing, drips, heads, and tips to put together a system. If you feel you can do this work you can save a lot of money.

Good luck in finding YOU TUBE presentations to assist you in doing work on your property and belongings rather than having to hire it done.

Most people are struggling and trying to figure out even little things they can do to make a few bucks. This project I will explain can by done by adults and by younger family members if they have a few computer skills.

As a sidelight I buy and sell used golf carts, it is a good business from August to November and then again from February to April, the rest of the year it is dead.

The project I am going to explain concerns printing business cards, address labels, and fliers. If you go to Avery.com you can register at no cost and create projects which are held for you indefinitely on their website. The software is all there so you can create a business card and have your choice of many different styles. You can print the cards yourself on your computer or ask Avery to help you design the cards and print them for you. You want to print the cards and labels by yourself, it is not difficult. Getting the spacing just right requires some patience and trial and error but when you are satisfied with the design you created, it allows you to download PDF so you can print the cards an stock compatible with Avery 8875 business card stock which costs $24.95 for 400 cards. Avery stock on Amazon is very expensive. There is a very affordable alternative on Amazon there is a generic brand priced at $20 for 1000 cards, there are ten on a sheet. I order the generic and they do just fine, you just crease them on the borders and in the middle and the cards easily separate.

I would recommend that if you want to sell business cards that you have created, that you first try to sell your friends and relatives. That way you may be able to avoid shipping costs. If you want to advertise them and sell them to people publicly you can beat Avery’s price even with shipping. Let’s see how much it could cost you to produce 250 business cards. The card stock would cost stock would cost approximate $5.00 and you have your time in designing the card, so you could probably sell 250 cards for $12 to $15 plus shipping costs and end up making $7 to $10 on the deal.

You can use the same procedure with Avery to design and print address labels. Again buy the generic label stock from Amazon. It is $15 for 3000 labels generic compared to almost $10 for 750 Avery. There are a large number of templates on the Avery site you can choose from. They also have ones you can download photos onto a business card or label if you want to personalize the product. At a cost of two cents a label for generic and consider your time in design and preparing it for delivery. You could sell $250 labels for $10 to $12 which would seem to be a very affordable price for most people. Your profit would be $5 to $7. Of course if you could sell them 500 cards or labels your profit would be significantly higher.

By using “Word” you can design fliers for community, church, or family events, changing the fonts and colors. You can design an attractice brochure by just copying and pasting photos logos, and quotes on a Word blank sheet and saving the project. Each of these projects would be priced at how much time you spent preparing it.

Have fun try some of these projects and see if they are profitable for you, GOOD LUCK!

Thie cost of living has skyrocketed in the last three years under the current administration and it is not improving as we speak. If you do not have a family budget start one now. It is so easy now for a family to find that the dollars will not stretch for a full month of expenses if you do not control the family spending. Groceries have gone up in price so much that families have to decide what kind of meat they can afford not necessarily what kind of meat they would prefer. As percentage of income food costs have risen over 30% in the past three years even looking for the lower priced items. Gasoline is up over $2.00 a gallon, than it was before Biden took office. Eating out is up over 35% more than three years ago. I used to take my wife to breakfast for under $20 for both of us, now it cost me over $35 with tip at IHOP. Steaks are up percentagewise even more. Haircuts have risen in price also. With all these variables you need to prepare a family budget now.

Below is a framework that might be helpful for you to prepare your family budget.

Start with Income:
His Income
Her Income
Outside Income
(A) Total Income

Fixed Expenses
House Payment
Car Payments
Gasoline
Utilities
Electric
Gas
Water
Total
Medical Expenses
Internet Expense
Cable TV Expense
TV subscriptions like Netflix
Other Fixed Expenses
(B) Total Fixed Expenses

Variable Expenses
Groceries
Eating Out
Personal Expenses Him
Personal Expenses Her
Personal Expenses Children
Pet Expense
Medical Expense
Home Improvements
Car Repairs and Licensing
Other Variable Expenses
(C)Total Variable Expenses

Compute your family funds remaining by Subtracting the Fixed Expenses (B) and Variable Expenses (C) from your total Family Income (A)
The result is the income available for savings, investing, and emergencies. If you do not have a positive amount remaining you need to adjust your family budget downward until you are satisfied with the distribution of the available funds.

GOOD LUCK WITH PREPARING A FAMILY BUDGET THAT WILL WORK FOR YOUR FAMILY.

Even if you are a younger working person it is good to investigate retirement living alternatives. As your working years progress you and your family can get some idea of how much money you will have to work with in your retirement.

We were living in Grand Junction, Colorado when I retired. A friend of my wife ask her to go with her to visit her mother and present the benefits of DoTerra essential oils. My wife took the friend in our car and drive about 180 miles to a place called CORA (Campground of The Rockies Association). It was an HOA type campground where all the people owned their own property and could have a motor home, fifth wheel, park model home, or trailer on a lot that had purchased within CORA. My wife went to the office and got a list of available properties. She stayed with Dave and Lou the parents of her friend. They invited her to bring me back the following weekend to look at properties. My wife was very excited at the location and the affordable prices for the properties. My wife had a favorite on the list she wanted to see again on our visit. We drove our 1983 Volkswagon Vanagan to CORA and stayed on the lots Dave and Lou owned who were the parents of my wife’s friend. They fed us and took us on a walking tour of all of the properties on the 10,000 ft. elevation level. It was dark when we returned to our Vanagan but we got to see about ten properties that were for sale. There are 500 properties on the 10,000 ft level and 350 properties on the 8,000 ft elevation level.

We were running two tables in an indoor flea market so could only go up the first part of the week, the flea market was open Thursday thru Sunday. We went back to CORA and decided to make an offer on a property. The owner was a very difficult person, when I made an offer close to his price he would raise the price, I decided I was not going to play games with him and looked at other properties. The place next to the place we made the offer on had a very new looking Everest fifth wheel and the lot had an unobstructed view of 13,000 ft. Buffalo Peak. There was a real estate for sale sign in front of it. I called the number on the sign and instead of the real estate agent I got the owner. He said he had just cancelled the listing with the agent and was going to sell it himself. He explained he purchased the Everest fifth wheel in 2002 new for $66,000 and had it towed to that location from Denver and it had not been moved. He said in six years they had only stayed in the Everest about six weeks so it was like new. The real estate agent had it for $87,000 then $78,000, then $68,000, then $52,000 when I looked at it. I ask the owner are you asking $52,000 for the lot and the trailer? He said oh that is too much, how about $45,000, I said how about $38,000? I ask if I was in the ballpark? He said yes but I want to have one more party up there this next weekend, you come up after 4 on Sunday and look at it. We went up and looked at it and he accepted $38,000 for the Everest and lot. Lots were going for about $24,000 at the time, so we got a fantastic deal to get the fifth wheel and the lot for $38,000. The seller needed cash right away to buy a lot to build a home near Breckenridge, Colorado.

CORA has a large indoor swimming pool, a clubhouse, a tennis court, cow pasture golf with sand greens, horseshoes, and playgrounds for the children. The annual cost is less than $1800 for dues and $100 for electricity, and the property taxes were less then $300. The insurance on the property was about $500. The property is only usable about nine months a year. In the heart of the winter the temperatures get to 40 below zero. The roads are kept clear year around so people do go up there in the winter to cross country ski and to go hunting. There is a large reservoir across from CORA. Antero Reservoir is one of lakes that supplies Denver with water. There is fishing and boating allowed at Antero. There is also a fishing pond owned jointly by CORA and Ranch of the Rockies which is stocked with trout.

We sold our home in Grand Junction Colorado, and moved our possessions to CORA and to a home we owned on rented land in an RV park in Apache Junction, Arizona. We spent the summers at CORA for
eight years until COVID 19. We did not go there in 2019 and 2020 with COVID. In 2022 we went to CORA in June with the idea of putting our place up for sale and if it sold right away we would come back to Casa Grande, Arizona where we had purchased a home. We sold the place within two weeks and returned to Casa Grande.

SO YOU CAN SEE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO RETIRE AND PROVIDE LIVING PLACES WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR RETIREMENT!

With the high cost of gasoline and so few have electric cars families are looking for an affordable family vacation this year. We live 40 miles south of Phoenix and 70 miles north of Tucson in the city of Casa Grande, Arizona. Yesterday on a local TV news station they showed eight different botanical garden related parks in the Phoenix and Tucson; area. Last week they showed a list of a large number of museums located within the Phoenix and Tucson areas.

I live 10 miles east of the city of Casa Grande but it is in the Casa Grande city limits. We live two miles from the Pinal County Fairgrounds and the adjoining auto racing track.The fairgrounds have lots of activities during the year, The Pinal County Fair is held the third week of March each year with a big carnival and all the displays that go with a county fair from animals, paintings, garden plants, quilts, and much more. It was attended this year by a very large number of people. It is like people want to get out after being restricted with COVID-19. The auto races go Thursday thru Sunday from March to September. There is a National Gourd festival held at the fairgrounds in February each year.

Coolidge Arizona is just ten miles from our house and on the north side of Coolidge is the entrance to Casa Grande National Monument. It is open from 9 to 4 every day but Monday. There is no fee and it is an interesting composite of ancient Indian ruins with one very large structure and lots of surrounding adobe ruins that are built like a fort to protect the larger building and it’s occupants. Coolidge is a quaint little town of approximately twelve thousand people. It has a Walmart, MacDonalds, Sonic, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Subway, Safeway, and several good restaurants. Since it is an equal distance compared to our trip to Casa Grande we go there to shop fairly often. Casa Grande is a town of approximately 60,000 people in the winter and up to 100,000 in the Winter with all the “Snowbirds” in the RV parks in Casa Grande. Casa Grande has several business areas but has one primary main street called Florence Avenue. Florence Avenue is about seven miles long in the business area from Interstate 10 to where the Gila Bend Highway begins. Florence Avenue is solid businesses from one end to the other on both sides of Interstate 10.

There are several historical museums in Casa Grande. An electric neon sign display dating back to the 1940’s is on Florence Avenue.

Eight miles south of our home is Sky Dive Arizona near Eloy , Arizona. It is a a large sky diving and hot air balloon facility. In fact the world championship sky diving competition is held at Sky Dive Arizona annually with divers coming from all over the world. There are two large landing areas like football fields located near a large group of buildings that support the sky diving activity. They have a packing shelter where they pack their parachutes. There is a dormitory, restaurant, swimming pool, massage parlor, training rooms to prepare jumpers, staging room where to they sign up to jump and wait to be transported to the plane, military training buildings, and recreational area with a basketball court. The Eloy airport adjoins the sky diving facility. There are over eight planes used for sky diving, six for Sky Dive Arizona and two for the military. Trained repeat jumpers can pay and be scheduled from about nine in the morning if the wind is not an issue that day. The cost for repeat jumpers is about $80 a jump. Tandem jumpers are those that want to be strapped to an experienced jumper for the experience. A three hour training session is required in the training rooms before jumping. it costs about $150 for tandem jumpers. The jumpers are scheduled and announced, when their group is called they load on a trailer with benches and are taken to the plane a short distance away, loaded and taken to an elevation of 5000 feet and then to 14,000 feet. Usually the plane goes to 14,000 feet where the jumpers are dropped. The 5,000 elevation, I understand, is for first time solo jumpers for them to get used to jumping. There are grandstands where observers can come and watch the divers as they dive and come onto the two large grass fields. I go to watch them fairly often. They come in fairly fast. Some do not hit the grassy area and they have a pickup truck and trailer to go get those that miss the target area. It is a great activity.

The point I am making is no matter where you live if you look around their are vacation type activities your family can experience at a small cost. You do not need to spend hundreds of dollars on gasoline and lodging to get to a place that may not be as interesting as places right near your home. Good luck in planning a great close to home family vacation.