You should also take into account those expenses for your kids that you pay for, such as lunch money, clothes, entertainment and other periodic expenses.

FORBES: How Much You Should Pay Your Kids For Allowance

On the sales front, Philip Miller, the current boss of Saks, argues that Proffitt's cash flow and real-estate portfolio will speed Saks's plans to open stores, pay for more renovations and help take Saks's name into new countries and new retail formats such as the Internet.

ECONOMIST: Retailing takeovers

Moreover, lower take home pay has to translate into slower economic activity, and therefore lower sales and income for public companies.

FORBES: Huge U.S. Equity Fund Inflows Being Funded By Tax Front Running Income

But too many officials held off in putting the money into their pension funds, trying to pay for other things and not take care of the workers they leaned on for years.

CNN: Unions have to make concessions

They typically make up the majority of the take-home pay of people who work in the financial markets, and they can reach into the seven and eight figures for top players.

NPR: Wall Street Workers Reap Gains in Bonuses