President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry have distinctly different ideas about issues that affect your pocketbook.

From taxes and health insurance to Social Security and retirement, bread-and-butter issues have become dominant in the election campaign. Here’s how the candidates stand:

Income taxes

Bush: Bush, who got his tax cuts extended through passage of the Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004, will seek to make those tax breaks stick permanently.

The tax reductions, which Bush signed into law Monday, include the $1,000 child tax credit, relief from the marriage penalty and expansion of the 10 percent tax bracket.

Some Bush-backed tax cuts are set to expire in coming years; making them permanent is a major Bush campaign pledge.

But don’t look for more tax cuts under a Bush second term. The ballooning federal deficit stands in the way.

“There will be few new tax cuts,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “If anything, they will be at the margin.”

Kerry: Kerry views Bush’s tax cuts in a different way. Higher-income taxpayers are in his crosshairs.

Kerry says the Bush tax cuts benefited only the wealthy, while his plan helps the middle class and small-business people.

Kerry would roll back Bush’s tax cuts for families that make more than $200,000 a year.

“Kerry will keep the tax breaks for the middle class, but he would build on them by providing tax breaks for education and job training,” Jillson said.

Kerry said rolling back tax cuts on the affluent would pay for $419 billion in new tax benefits for the middle class, including a tax credit on up to $4,000 of college tuition and a credit for new jobs created in manufacturing, other businesses affected by outsourcing, and small businesses.

Health care

Bush: A key part of President Bush’s re-election strategy is promoting an “ownership society” in which Americans are more in charge of their financial lives.

The goal is to wean Americans from being dependent on government to becoming owners of their own security, including health care dollars, retirement savings and homeownership.

Health-care savings accounts are a cornerstone of that strategy.

The accounts are sort of a cross between a flexible health-care spending account and a 401(k). Like a flex account, you can use the money to pay for health care costs that insurance doesn’t cover, including some premiums. Unlike a flex account, you invest the money as you see fit, it grows tax free, and you can roll it over from year to year, or to a new job.

But to contribute to such accounts, you must be younger than 65 and you must be enrolled in a health plan with high deductibles.

You’ll use the accounts to pay for medical expenses up to your deductible, or for other expenses that aren’t covered. Once you meet the deductible, your health policy will cover you for the rest of the year.

Bush believes that if Americans had more control over their health care dollars, they would spend them more prudently.

Kerry: Kerry wants to cut family health insurance premiums by up to $1,000 a year, lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and use tax cuts to make health insurance more affordable for Americans.

He favors the reimportation of safe prescription drugs from Canada and ending barriers to generic drug competition.

Retirement

Bush: If you’re a younger worker, you would have the option of saving part of your Social Security payroll taxes in a personal retirement account under Bush’s proposal.

Benefits for current and near-retirees wouldn’t be affected.

Bush also has proposed encouraging Americans to save in Retirement Savings Accounts and Lifetime Savings Accounts. He wants to expand homeownership — especially among minorities.

“The biggest component of most people’s retirement security is equity in their home,” Jillson said. “If you expand homeownership to more people, that means more people are growing equity in their homes that will be available to them in retirement.”

Kerry: Under Kerry’s proposals, you wouldn’t be getting a higher bill for Social Security taxes or have to retire later.

He says he wouldn’t raise Social Security taxes or the retirement age, cut benefits or privatize Social Security.