Most people, when they take a new job, pay little attention to the withholding forms they complete for federal and state taxes. Now is a good time to take a look at the standard payroll deductions you opted for. Maybe it's time to adjust them.

The amount deducted for federal and state taxes decreases as your number of exemptions increases. That means if you are in a family of four and you have declared zero exemptions, there is a higher deduction from your paycheck. This usually results in a better tax refund in the spring.

But ask yourself if that's really beneficial. Yes, you get that nice refund in the spring. But what if you took that extra money in your paycheck right now? You could put it into your own savings account and earn interest on it. It makes more sense for you to get the interest than for Uncle Sam.

Raising your exemptions will lower your income tax refund, it's true. But homeowners are eligible for a variety of tax credits, and they will offset the reduction in your tax refund.

In simpler terms, you will see more of your own money in your paycheck each week. And normally, you would get less of a refund. However, because of the tax credits you qualify for as a homeowner, you will not get a smaller refund-the tax credits will preserve your current expected refund.

If you're timid, try it from now through the rest of the year by just adjusting your deductions by half. For example, if you have a family of four and you are declaring zero deductions, raise it to 2. When you see how this change is offset by your homeowner credits, you can change it again from 2 to 4.

You can also try first to change the federal deductions only, and then later change the state withholding. Be careful with this, however, because many state withholding tables are calculated pretty closely, and you don't want to end up owing.

Take a look, too, at your other withholdings. What about health insurance? If you and your spouse work, be certain you are not double-covering yourselves and your children. Only one of you needs to pay through employer-acquired health insurance. Compare the employee's share of health insurance premiums at each company before you change. Also, check to see if either of these employers offers a cash bonus to employees who opt out of health insurance.

What are you putting into your retirement fund? Certainly it's important to save for later in your lives, but you want to put your money where it will earn the highest returns. With many employer 401(k) or 403(b) plans, it makes little sense to contribute more than the amount that they will match. Maybe you should adjust your contribution. Save your money in a place that earns you better interest or dividends.

Last but not least, look at the life insurance you've taken out through your employer. No matter what you are paying into it, think about the fact that it will vanish if you leave that company. Also, look at the fine print in your policy carefully. Some companies offer employees a life insurance amount equal to their yearly salary or maybe twice that. They offer the option to purchase additional life insurance. But many of these add-on policies only pay in the event of accidental death and not in the case of illness. You're better off to quit paying for that type of insurance and just buy a policy on your own.

When you take action to adjust your own paycheck, be certain that you're acting as an informed tax payer. That means you need to be knowledgeable about all the tax credits available to you as a homeowner.