I see what you’re up to. Don’t even think about it.
Thursday this week was the due date for calendar year S corporations and partnerships. We are in the heart of tax season and your favorite accountant is feeling the strain. Stress is okay as workflow is moving reasonably well with a few notable exceptions I intend to rectify. The April 17th deadline looms.
Money was handed out this week: $100 to a subscriber and $100 to commenter.
Brett S. from Lake Havasu AZ is our subscriber winner. He took the PayPal cash transfer. Congratulations!
As a side note, Brett is a really lucky guy. He was the third person chosen, not the first. The name pulled out of the random generator hat would have been our first non-U.S. winner, but he/she had unsubscribed. The second name pulled also unsubscribed within the last few days. Yikes! Ya gotta be a current subscriber to win the subscriber drawing.
Our second winner is “Jason E. of Providence, RI (originally from Minnesota….and hope to get back to the Midwest soon)”. He took the Amazon gift card.
There were 186 comments in the last 30 days; Jason’s was number 117, the number the random number generator called as the winner. My comments are excluded from the drawing for obvious reasons. (Hey, look everybody. I won so I get to pay me!)
Here is the blog post with the winning comment.
This is the short and simple comment that put $100 in Jason’s pocket:
Thanks for the find. I will definitely be reviewing this within a short period of time.
Consider using an Amazon link from this blog with the winnings as it helps fill the coffers used to fund future drawings and gifts to charities.
What I’m Reading
An interesting short book I enjoyed this week is The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant.
What I’m Watching
I’ve never been a Suze Orman fan and this video didn’t help me think better of her. Of course, take anything you see online (actually anything from anywhere) with a grain of salt. It’s easy to manipulate facts in our modern age.
Every so often I go back and review a documentary on the 1929 stock market crash. It was such a fascinating time.
The water dispenser died on my fridge. A YouTube video and I’m off to do it myself, saving some serious dough.
What I’m Listening to
As regular readers know, my youngest daughter reached the age of majority this week. I’m having mixed feelings.
Here are two songs I listened to this week to reflect my melancholy.
I also found this nugget. I like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme song. When I saw this scroll through I expected a laugh. Was I surprised! The theme song finishes with The Ecstasy of Gold, another excellent song.
https://youtu.be/KkM71JPHfjk
Have an awesome weekend, kind readers. See y’all on the other side.
Steward Sam
Monday 19th of March 2018
I've been hearing talk of tax season being stressful for my accountant friends. I have a question regarding you and taxes. How did you end up doing it and was there a point in your life where you felt that it was more enjoyable than strenuous?
John Salvato
Monday 19th of March 2018
Saw that same Suze Orman Scam documentary and it really bothered me. Not sure how much was true but even if it was half true it's enough to make me dislike her
M. Midlin
Saturday 17th of March 2018
Good to know about Suzi
Kenneth
Saturday 17th of March 2018
"see you all on the other side" Keith, you know, you could sell your business, invest 75/25 stocks/bonds and live happily ever after! You seem stressed during tax season, wonder why? I think you might be a candidate for doing "something else" or "nothing at all". Just my thoughts, Kenneth
P.S. I'm doing nothing at all, just enjoying retirement. A hundred rounds of golf a year. Trips to Paris, Italy, Germany, Florida, Vegas at New Years. Just saying..
Keith Taxguy
Saturday 17th of March 2018
Tax season is a good stress, Kenneth. Traveling is stressful too. I've been through immigration returning from abroad. I can travel nine months of the year without affecting tax season and I still work hard to avoid it. I'm certainly not a "nothing at all" guy; within a year I'd be dead or in prison. As for "something else", I do have this blog. I could write less and if the stress becomes too much I will. I like writing however and enjoy the self-imposed deadlines.
I get asked to golf dozens of times per year for free. But I started cutting back and then stopped accepting golf offers. Not much into knocking a ball around a field. If you enjoy traveling and a quiet retirement you SHOULD do it. Been to FL many times. Been to Vegas more than I want. (Check out my card counting post. I used to spend time in Vegas with a card-counting team. I tried it and then moved on.) I doubt I'll ever leave the North American continent. I refuse to visit Europe or any place that far from home. I did manage to accept my parent's invitation to Costa Rica. It was nice; it was even nicer when the trip was over.
There is a pleasure that come from finishing a good tax season. There is joy is solving an intractable tax or financial issue. It's like finishing a good book only a thousand times better. All my stories are from my life activities, including my practice. I've never found something that gave more pleasure.
Finally, do you know why they call it a trip, Kenneth? Because I stubbed my toe and tripped. That is vacation/retirement to me in a nutshell. That said, the missus and I are heading to the Hoover Presidential Library in Iowa. Does that count as a trip or vacation? Mini-retirement?
Jerianne Trammell
Saturday 17th of March 2018
I am beginning to believe ice trays are the way to go.