Thinking Like an Accountant

Things have been looking up at The Wealthy Accountant. Traffic is increasing and the audience is expanding. Even better, the original demographic attracted to the site has expanded, bringing in more people to benefit from the information provided.

The newfound success also causes problems. People unfamiliar with the FI (financial independence) community are frequently shocked at the way I present information. It’s an easy thing to do. Right up there in the title is the word accountant. The blog ought to be about taxes and similar stuff found in a CPAs office. Then you open the cover and find me standing there. Don’t worry! It would scare me too.

There is a major misunderstanding on what this blog is about. Yes, the word “accountant” is in the title. There are a few reasons for that. First, it’s getting hard to find an unused url in the dot com universe anymore. Second, I don’t want you to be an accountant (unless you want to be), but I want you to THINK like an accountant. There is a difference.

Thinking like an accountant allows you to make better decisions in all areas of your life: working, investments, taxes, even relationships and raising the kiddos. Accountants think in a logical fashion. They plan. They also look before they jump.

That doesn’t mean all the fun is squeezed out of life either. Readers around here discover real quick there is something mentally wrong with this accountant. I love having fun, kidding around, laughing and turning life into one big joke. And a drink now and again never hurt my feelings.

Accountants have a reputation for being boring. Nothing could be further from the truth. When no one is looking we break loose and riot across town. Then, when the cameras are turned back on, we don our wire rim glasses and pocket protectors. And if you are unaware, we are a darn sexy group, too.

Can We Talk about Something Other Than Taxes?

Approximately 15% or so of this blog is deep tax stuff. This is by design! Taxes can be boring because it requires the use of large portions of gray matter. It gets old after a while, even for people who love this stuff, like me.

My first goal is to entertain. This had better be fun or my readers will jump ship faster than a cat from a tub filled with water. (All paws and tails coupled with an unusual meowing wail.) And this stuff is fun. Most of what I tell you guys is true. The rest is modified to fit the story to the page and not burden you with massive back story or an info dump; not to mislead you, kind reader.

After I get you to chuckle I know you let your guard down. With your force field dismantled I can share serious stories with a moral; we can call them parables.

Entertainment is the most effective form of education. Learning is easiest when it doesn’t feel like learning. Never will you hear me say, “I’m going to teach you a lesson.” (Unless you make me really, really mad.)

Now we get back to the thinking part. I want to help you improve the way you think. Granted, I am no genius when it comes to the answer to life, the universe, and everything. (The answer is 42, if you must know.) Instead, my unique experience of working with people on the intimate details of their financial and personal life gives me an advantage only someone in my position has.

I’ve seen a lot over the years: divorces I never saw coming and could not understand, couples married for decades succumb to drugs or gambling, and worst of all, the number of young people who have died. If there is anything that causes me to pause in life, it is the number of young adults and children I saw to their grave. What can I possibly say to a bereaved surviving spouse or distraught parent? Answer: There are no words. All I can do is hold my client and reassure them they must be strong in honor of the lost loved one. Some days at the office are harder than others.

Most of all, I want you to have a seat on my side of the desk. My hope is you will take a chair behind me and silently watch me work my trade, to see the things I see. I’ve seen a lot. Most of it is hilarious, other times it amazes me how I keep from taking my own life. (How many young people have to die of disease, violence, or accidents before enough is enough?)

I hear your hopes, dreams and fears. I laugh (and cry) with you. You are my people. I joke because it hurts so much in here. When you hurt, I hurt. It is not an over-exaggeration when I say I love my clients. There has never been a better group of people to ever walk this green earth.

From your life I learn lessons, lessons I want to pay forward by sharing to the world at large. After entertainment, The Wealthy Accountant is about living life well, living life right. We can do this only if we do it together.

I am not your guru. All I have is a massive repertoire of stories and a modest memory and ability to share them.

It’s not about money. Money gets a lot of play around here, but it is not about money. Money gives you freedom and few other fun things. In the end money is not the issue. Your family, friends and community are. All the money in the world will not replace those things. Without these things we are miserable.

Finding meaning in life as you view life is what counts. I can’t tell you what to do or what will work for you. My stories only provide prompts to jog your memory and thinking capacity into action discovering those things which make your life worth living.

Can I Say a Word or Two about Taxes?

Tax posts get the most push-back around here. Explaining taxes is a risky business. Heck, even the Tax Courts don’t always agree on the correct way to interpret sections of tax code. If the Tax Court has problems getting their arms around it, what chance do I have a winning the crowd with a tax idea or concept?

Most of my tax posts are built around concepts versus hard tax law or application. This is by design. I want this to be a tool for the common man. Tax professionals will find value, but will need additional research above what I share here. The reason is simple. Once you peal open a complex tax issue there are so many variables, I could easily sink into the quagmire of boring tax blog rather quickly. Then no one wins. Especially my ego. I like traffic! Makes me feel wanted.

I seem to get a lot of comments poking and prodding around the edges of my tax concepts. It’s a good thing because it means people are thinking about what I am presenting. It is also a bad thing because it means at some level the same people are missing the point.

If fewer than one in five posts focus on tax, where does the accountant come in? Well, accountants do a lot more than taxes. We do payroll, bookkeeping, consulting, retirement planning, auditing, and more. Tax is one small part of the equation. You think accountant are tax guys (or gals) only because that is a big part of their public image.

The most difficult task any accountant faces is taking the complex tax code and making it understandable to non-tax pros. And we have to do it without making the client feel inferior. Trust me, I am not up here and you down there. I have to find a way to bridge the gap.

So I am left with concepts when I write here. I have written plenty in the past about serious tax issues for tax professionals. The people who read that stuff is a fraction of 1% of the people who read this blog and I don’t blame them a bit. It is dry reading. You only read that stuff when researching a tax issue for personal needs.

The Wealthy Accountant is not meant as a stale tax guide used for reference only. When I share tax ideas I know I am leaving out the 3,083 other possibilities. The ideas I present are different from anything else you read on the subject or hear from your tax pro. If it wasn’t different, why bother?

My last post was on saving half your gross income and how it reduces your tax liability. My argument was: Saving half your gross income doesn’t cost half your income because the government has a coterie of deductions and credits attached to saving and investing. Several readers were concerned I skipped, missed, or potentially mislead readers by leaving out certain possibilities. I made a conscious choice in my presentation. I fully understand what I skipped and with good reason. To add too many possibilities or circumstances starts to bog down the post. Boredom is the greatest risk I face when sharing an idea.

My worst fear is that some readers might miss the message. My motivation is to make a difference in the life of every reader who wanders this way without turning it into drudgery. It is a difficult road. Please, keep questioning my work when it doesn’t make sense. I could have made a mistake and it is easy to correct before too many people read the error. But don’t get lost in the forest for want of a good shade tree. I will never intentionally mislead you. To the best of my ability I will take a complex issue and reword it in a way that is understandable to people not active in the legal community. Always seek the concept I am offering.

The reason I am here, kind reader, is for you. If I save you a bit of money: awesome; if I cut your taxes a tad: excellent; if I get a smile while I do it: priceless.