Alicia Desantis

Reading a Paystub
DIRECTIONS: Write the letter of the item on the paystub that matches its name in the list. Then, write your
OWN definition of each part of the paystub, using COMPLETE SENTENCES in your OWN words.








1. __D, B___ Gross Pay: Gross pay is your total amount of money that you earned before deductions.
2. ___C__ Net Pay: Net pay is what you have left of your gross pay after deductions.
3. __B___ Deductions: Deductions are the money taken away from your gross pay for taxes, your
retirement plan, and your medical benefits.
4. ___A__ Pay Period: Pay periods are the time where a persons wage is calculated. The amount of time
it takes to calculate a persons wage depends on the employer. It can take as little as a week or as
much as a month.
5. __G, B__ FICA: FICA means Federal Insurance Contribution. 2.9% of your income needs to be paid for
Medicare and 12.4% of your income goes to social security.
6. ___J, B__ Year-to-Date: Year- to- Date is the overall amount of deductions that have been withheld
from a persons pay check from January 1
st
to the end of pay period shown on the paycheck stub.
7. ___E, B__ Federal Withholding Tax: Federal Withholding Tax is the amount of money required by law
that employers need to withhold from a persons wage to pay taxes.
8. __H, B___ Medical: Medical is the money taken from a paycheck for health benefits.
9. __F, B___ State Withholding Tax: State Withholding Tax is the percentage that is deducted from your
paycheck to help fund government agencies in the state.
10. __I, B___ Retirement: Retirement is the money a person takes from each pay period to put into a
retirement plan and your employer will most likely match your contribution.