There's a Midnight Post Office Run In My Future

Income taxes are kicking my ass this year. Between going from married to single (again), self-employment taxes, and losing most of the mortgage interest deduction by selling the marital residence, my effective tax rate has more than doubled from last year. I certainly haven't made that much more money.

Our government is no friend of divorced men with no property who can't be bothered to reproduce. It's a good thing they haven't started taxing cynicism or I'd really be screwed.

Here's a little life lesson I've learned the hard way so maybe you won't have to: if you ever have the misfortune of going through a divorce, don't forget to fill out new W-4 forms at work to increase your withholding as soon as you decide to leave your spouse (or vice-versa).

If your divorce becomes final on or before December 31, the IRS considers you single for the entire tax year. Unless you're strategically staying married on paper through the end of a calendar year just to preserve joint filing status, a delay in changing your withholding could lead to a very nasty April surprise.

By the way, I'm not schooled in tax law, accounting or personal finance - and I made a D in high school algebra - so don't take this like it's the burning bush.