Bush, New Congress Face Several Pocketbook Issues.

No one can predict exactly what President Bush will do. But you can get a hint, based on what the Congress couldn't gel through during President Clinton's time.

Many Republican bills racked up strong legislative majorities, thanks to modest Democratic support. But they weren't veto proof majorities, so the legislation died.

With Bush in the White House, Republicans will drive the agenda, even with a Senate split. Congress will restart versions of legislation that Clinton stopped. The president will press his own conservative ideas.

Tax cuts dominate the headlines. But many other important proposals are on the table, affecting your wealth and health:

* Retirement accounts. Last year, the House passed a popular bill to raise the deductible amount you can put into retirement accounts.

For example, the ceiling on IRAs would rise to $5,000 a year, from $2,000 now. The 401(k) ceiling would rise to $15,000, from $10,500. You could make extra contributions, if you're 50 or older. Small business owners could set aside more for themselves in their employee plans.

That's great, for people who can afford it. But the legislation doesn't affect the average employee. You need an upper income to benefit from this likely law.

Of workers with 401(k)s, no more than 6 percent are contributing the maximum today. Among the 4 percent of taxpayers with IRA deductions, just half contributed the maximum n 1997, according to a Treasury estimate.

* The minimum wage. Last year, House Republicans joined with Democrats to pass a $1 increase in the $5.15 minimum hourly wage (packaged with some business tax breaks).

But that was an election year. Republican leaders generally oppose an increase in the wage. The slowing economy will strengthen their argument that businesses can't afford to pay workers more.

* Education IRAs. Currently, you can contribute $500 a year to a tax-deductible IRA for college expenses.

But there's no point to it. State-run "529" college-investment plans provide better tax breaks and let you invest much larger sums.

So why are Republicans pushing to expand the Education IRA? Because they want it to cover savings for private primary and secondary schools.

The Senate passed this bill handily last year, but it got tangled with other issues in the House. Clinton threatened a veto, saying it amounted to a windfall for the moneyed class. Presumably, Bush would sign the bill if Congress tried again.

* Bankruptcy. A bill passed both houses that would have made it tougher and costlier for wage earners to go bankrupt, but Clinton refused to sign.

Bankruptcies are expected to rise this year, due to higher unemployment and the burden of highrate loans on people with no savings and marginal jobs.

* Privatizing Social Security. That's a tough sell, politically, when people are losing money in stocks. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has proposed yet another study commission - presumably to produce a recommendation he wants.

One positive result of a Lott commission might be an actual bill, showing the public who's helped, who's hurt and how the transition would be financed. So far, the pols have been peddling dreams.

* Drug benefits for seniors. Bush campaigned on giving seniors fast help by providing federal money to widen state programs. But only 19 states have subsidized drug benefits for seniors, and limited numbers of seniors qualify.

* Patients' rights and other health issues. Here's a short watch list.

1. Will you be able to sue an HMO that delays or denies covered medical treatment? Bush is on record as saying he backs the type of limited lawsuits currently allowed in Texas, with a cap on what you can recover.

2. Will Congress take action on coverage for the uninsured? This could become a sleeper issue, as workers lose jobs during the slowdown and companies slice health benefits for early retirees.

3. Keeping your medical records private. Congress couldn't agree on how to do it so the Clinton administration issued regulations. Now, Republican leaders say that Clinton went too far.

In all, you're looking at a major change in political thinking. Even in disputed elections, winners win.

New IRA Regulations Helping Savers

Sound the trumpets. Bang the drums. Wake up everyone who owns an Individual Retirement Account and has struggled with the rules on taking money out.

Those rules were inscrutable. Errors were common. Many IRA owners and beneficiaries paid far more in income taxes than they had to.

Last week, the Treasury Department changed your life. It issued generous new rules that simplify your choices and let you undo bad decisions you made before, says Ed Slott, publisher of Ed Slott's IRA Advisor in Rockville Centre, N.Y.

What's more, the new can instantly reduce your tax, if you don't need the IRA to live on and are currently taking only the minimum required distribution.

The rules aren't yet final. But the IRS says that you can use them, starting now. Here's the good news:

* There's one, simple withdrawal rule for everyone. And it puts no crimp m the way your beneficiaries receive their funds.

* Spouses who inherit an IRA can take the proceeds gradually, over their lifetimes. But under the old rules, children and other heirs were sometimes forced to receive the money within five years, like it or not.

Under the new rules, children and others can almost always receive their IRA inheritance money gradually, over their lifetimes. By stretching out payments, they lower their current tax and leave more money in their inherited IRA to build.

* For people who have been taking less than the proper minimum distribution: There's a 50 percent penalty on the money you failed to withdraw. But the penalty is rarely assessed because the IRS doesn't know who you are. The proposed rules include a new tax-reporting system, so the IRS can track you down.

-- Jane Bryant Quinn