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Uhhh, the only training that's relevant here is elementary level math. In your original comment you told a dude earning 42k a year he should refuse to drive more than 15 minutes for anything less than a 50k raise (more than double his salary, presumably based on a 40hr work week).

If you are really living the "time is money" ethos, you may want to revise your calculation.

If you’re young go with the higher paying job. Building a salary early in your career will be beneficial in the future

I would pick Wealthfront over Ally since it acts more like a checking account than a savings account. Still FDIC insured. 4.3% APY

You are right that I don’t remember seeing this whole thing when I filled the w4.

Try to work a hybrid arrangement if possible I would personally take the the pay increase,but that will get old quick. If it’s anything like central Florida that commute would drive you insane. If you’re flowing for 45 mins that’s cake nice podcast or audio book.

Yea just dump it. Market conditions aren't likely to shift back to 2021 levels again, not without low interest rates and continued high inflation. If anything, it's more likely to be worth less in 1.5 years.

But.. as others have said, don't time the market. If you don't want to be a landlord, dump the asset and reallocate the cash to investments you do want to be involved in (or passive).

I think now I’m starting to agree that the system is set up to favor some and against others… and I know there’s not much to do about it but I’m angry about it.

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read different articles saying expect rates to increase until end of 2023, and then they will begin to drop in 2024.

yes lived in it for 5 years before we started renting it out 1.5 years ago.

Wasn’t common to me.

Wife and I are married. I still withhold as “single” and we both claim “0” dependents despite the fact we have a child. Still ended up owing like a grand.

I think the employment tax as an independent contractor is 15.3% or something like that. As a W2 employee you pay 1/2 that or around 7.65%

So you would multiply what you could make as a W2 employee by 1. 0735. In your case $1225 x 1.0735 = 1315 a week. So it seems to me you’d be making less overall.

Are you getting any benefits that could make up for that difference?

Now…don’t take my word on any of this. This is just from my very limited understanding. I’m hoping someone will chime in to say if I’m on point or not.

Payroll just withholds according to the W4 that you submit to them. If that W4 isn't set to withhold enough, then you won't have enough withheld. So payroll is likely correct in telling you they did everything right. And your CPA is likely also correct....you didn't have enough withheld, so you owe.

That being said, I really don't know why your CPA will need to go through each of your paychecks. All they need to know is your final income numbers, and how much in total was withheld.

Entitlement? Or perhaps you've been trained all your life that companies shouldn't be paying for your actual time.

Time is money and it is something you will never get back in your lifetime.

The OP essentially only getting paid $375 per week (or $75/day) more. He/she can easily earn that without commuting that much. Op is wasting roughly 2hours each day on commuting and preparation. Not to mention the cost of the devaluation of the car.

Give me a break on this "entitlement" bullshit

It's perfectly fine to choose "Married Filing Jointly" on the W-4, but if your spouse also works, then you have to follow the instructions in Step 2: "Complete this step if you (1) hold more than one job at a time, or (2) are married filing jointly and your spouse also works. The correct amount of withholding depends on income earned from all of these jobs."

The problem is a lot of employers use an online payroll system that offers a barebones web form to fill out in place of the actual W-4, and don't bother pointing you to the real form for instructional purposes.

Here's the full form with instructions: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

Instructions are on the form when you filled it out

I think everyone learns the same way that you did, unfortunately. I know my first HR portal only gave you three options to pick from and had no instructions explaining the difference.

Neat.

I think it depends on the condition of the car. 95k miles and impeccably maintained, paint cared for and waxed every 6 months probably makes sense to fix.

But if the interior is falling apart, the car is showing early signs of rust, the clear coat is failing and it needs new brakes, radiator is leaking, etc, it's probably best to cut losses.

Remember the engine is just the engine. They have to unbolt everything that attaches to the old engine and bot it on to the new one.

Insulation on wire goes brittle, breaks when you bend it. All the plastic bits on cooling system are good candidate for replacement, shouldn't cost extra in labor but you need to pay for the parts. Motor mounts for sure should be changed. If it's a manual transmission inspect clutch carefully and overhaul if nearing end of life, etc, etc.

Wait: A Honda Civic with only 95K miles... needs a new engine!?!? Did something spectacular go wrong, or was maintenance completely ignored from day one? I'd consider this to be a pretty unusual failure, in normal circumstances.

Just to be certain, I'd check with another mechanic (EDIT: specifically, a local, independent shop with a good reputation). Perhaps it can be repaired instead of replaced. Further: I see used engines for typical '09 Civics (presuming this isn't an unusual performance edition, etc.) for about $1K on-line, so a 4K replacement on a 14 year old car seems pricey to me. There are probably cheaper approaches to solving this problem.

Personally, I'd try to fix this car. My family fleet includes 6 cars; this car is newer and has fewer miles than 5 of my cars; I'm a believer in taking care of an old car - and keep driving.

Mileage alone $0.655x23x2x4x52=$6,267.04

That's a third of your pay increase gone right there.

If you ve your time at $20/hr, $20x1.5x4x52 =$6240, that's another third.

So you are effectively getting an extra $6,000. But, you will pay income tax on all $18k.

If you need a better car to make the daily commute work, it is probably not worth it.

Sounds like this car is at a dealership. Take it out of there, and take it to a well reviewed, independent mechanic. Do not tell them what the dealership told you.

That’s what I had to do for state taxes. It took a couple of years before realizing my state taxes made military pension