• If your spouse-to-be is considering postponing the wedding because of fears about the so-called "marriage penalty," you two probably have bigger issues than whether you'll have to pay higher taxes as a married couple than when you were single.
• Having said that, marriage does indeed have many financial ramifications - both good and bad - and several involve the dilemma over whether to file income taxes together or separately. Let's sort through the noise:
• First, a quick primer on how progressive taxation works. As your income increases, the additional income gets taxed at increasingly higher rates. Currently there are six federal tax rates ranging from 10 percent for low-income families and individuals to 35 percent for earnings over $388,350 a year. Most people's income straddles several brackets.
• For example, a single person with $50,000 in taxable income would pay 10 percent tax on the first $8,700 earned; plus 15 percent on income between $8,700 and $35,350; plus 25 percent on income between $35,350 and $50,000. Thus, you're

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