Image: Man pulling dollar sign at edge of cliff © Steve
McAlister, Getty Images  The worst didn't happen. Yes, your
paychecks are smaller by 2%, thanks to the expiration of the
payroll tax holiday. But a slew of other tax breaks were
preserved with the fiscal cliff deal -- including some that were
much better than anything we've been led to expect from
Congress.  Here are some of the surprising benefits of the Jan.
1 agreement:  Estate taxes are now a nonissue  OK, not quite.
There will always be those who abhor "death taxes" on principle,
and maybe they'll have an audience again if we ever get our
deficit under control. For now, though, Congress' decisions to
exempt estates worth less than $5.12 million, to make that
exemption permanent (or as permanent as tax law ever is) and to
index the exemption to inflation means that estate taxes won't
be an issue for the vast majority of Americans.  Not that the
vast majority of Americans ever had to worry. Nearly half of
Americans die owning less than $10,000 in fina