Taxes may be one of the things you can be sure of in life, but the same can't be said of tax laws. They can change at any time.

In June 2001, for instance, President Bush signed into law the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The Act significantly alters the tax treatment of several major financial issues, including income, retirement savings, educational savings and estate planning. It's a complex law that amounts to over $1 trillion in tax cuts, but most of those cuts are being phased in (and in some cases also phased out) over a 10-year period, and the entire act itself will sunset at the end of 2010. Between now and then, however, Congress may pass other measures that either extend provisions in the Act or eradicate them once the law sunsets.

In the short-term, however, you should know the Act lowers marginal tax rates over a five-year period and introduces a new 10 percent tax bracket. That new bracket effectively reduces the amount of your income that previously had been taxed at 15 percent.

For more on what the new tax law means to you, click here. And also be sure to read the Money 101 lessons on retirement, estate planning and college savings, all of which have been updated to include the changes rendered by the Tax Relief Act.