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"\n\tAdvertisement - Continue Reading Below\n\t\n\n\n\n How did you spend the first day of 2013? If you're like us, you nursed a post-New Year's Eve hangover with copious amounts of water and asparagus.The members of Congress didn't get to have the day off, though: They finally put the bickering aside (for a few hours) to agree on a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. Uh, fiscal cliff? The term's been thrown around a lot lately, but it's hard to really understand what it means for you\u2014and your money. Basically, the fiscal cliff is the name given to the nightmare scenario of expiring tax breaks and planned tax increase. The deal\u2014finally brokered late Tuesday night\u2014keeps us from going over the cliff, but it'll still have an impact on your money.How so? It includes a whole lot of WTF language, but let's break down the major changes: * The payroll tax \"holiday\" is over. We all pay a percentage of our income out in taxes, but a previous tax break let us pay 2.9 percent less in Social Security tax. Now, we'll have to pay that extra cash on the first $113,000 we make. So, if you make $1,000 a week, the government will take an additional $29.* The richest Americans will have to pay a 39.6 percent marginal tax rate on any income over $400K (for individuals). That's the very basic gist\u2014there's much, much more involved in the deal. The bottom line: Your wallet won't take a huge ding (right now), but it will take a little hit.Want more from Meagan? Follow her on Twitter."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/news/a11225/fiscal-cliff-deal-explained/?click=cos_new>