While preparing their personal taxes for the year a client had an unpleasant surprise.  They discovered that their family owed the government thousands of additional dollars.  Why?  Because their family’s W-4′s were out of date and their paycheck witholdings were too small.   This kind of crisis is easily avoided.  If you start gaining substantially more income or there is a new source of income (like a new business or side-hustle), make sure you update your household’s W-4′s and quarterly estimated tax schedules.

Set up an recurring calendar reminder to have your entire household fill out fresh W-4′s and check the math on your estimated tax payments.  If you wanted to be super-safe you could also create a quarterly check-in to verify there haven’t been an major shifts in income within your family that would require additional mid-year refreshes.