PayrollTax

When it comes to Social Security's woes, the potential cures discussed the most are unpleasant: Raise the retirement age, reduce payments, or raise the tax rate. Fortunately, those aren't the only options.

Between debt ceiling debates, the crisis in the eurozone, and battles over tax rates, money issues filled the front pages in 2011. Here are our picks for the seven stories that most directly affected your wallet.

The House has passed a two-month renewal of payroll tax cuts for 160 million workers and unemployment benefits for millions of jobless, giving President Barack Obama a resounding victory over Republicans who control the House. The Senate approved the bill earlier Friday.

House and Senate leaders traded demands Wednesday but remained mired in a bitter holiday-season stalemate that is threatening 160 million workers with Jan. 1 tax increases and millions of the long-term unemployed with an end to their benefits.

On Thursday, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann may have inadvertently made one of the boldest moves of the 2012 primary campaign. Speaking on Fox News, the Minnesota congresswoman stated that she wants to adopt Ronald Reagan's tax plan, a rate structure that's much higher than current tax rates.

Everyone knows that Social Security is seriously in need of reform. But now that the retirement savings of so many Americans have been decimated by declines in the stock market, shoring up the program seems more important than ever. Meantime, the options for what to do are dwindling. It's clear now...

Business owners (especially new ones) often look toward independent contractors to help complete their work. If you have an outside person who does an occasional project with you, independent contractor status is probably just fine.But if you've got a person who is working regularly with you, often...