Don’t get worked up about jumping through administrative hoops such as filling forms, filing tax returns, sending applications.
Also, if you make a half-decent salary, ask yourself whether you ought to be doing it at all as opposed to delegating it to e.g., a tax professional.
Probably one of the most important rationality skills I have learned is to really internalize the principle “my time is worth something” and spend money on delegating tasks I find annoying or time-consuming.
I tried delegating my taxes to a tax professional last year. It took -more- time, not less.
This year it could potentially save my time, because I already know my deductions are going to be pretty significant. (1/5th of my pretax income last year went towards a new roof. And I bought a new computer for work. And a bunch of other homeowner investments that AFAIK are deductible.) As opposed to last year when the “professional” ignored me when I told her my deductions wouldn’t exceed the standard deduction, and insisted on going through mounds and mounds of paperwork and receipts, trying to get me $1 over the standard deduction. (I think we ended up about $50 short, and that was after some very… creative deductions.)
Be cautious with professionals who think they know more than you about your business, I guess.
Also, if you make a half-decent salary, ask yourself whether you ought to be doing it at all as opposed to delegating it to e.g., a tax professional.
Probably one of the most important rationality skills I have learned is to really internalize the principle “my time is worth something” and spend money on delegating tasks I find annoying or time-consuming.
I tried delegating my taxes to a tax professional last year. It took -more- time, not less.
This year it could potentially save my time, because I already know my deductions are going to be pretty significant. (1/5th of my pretax income last year went towards a new roof. And I bought a new computer for work. And a bunch of other homeowner investments that AFAIK are deductible.) As opposed to last year when the “professional” ignored me when I told her my deductions wouldn’t exceed the standard deduction, and insisted on going through mounds and mounds of paperwork and receipts, trying to get me $1 over the standard deduction. (I think we ended up about $50 short, and that was after some very… creative deductions.)
Be cautious with professionals who think they know more than you about your business, I guess.
Also, laundry, dishes, and cleaning. If you have potentially lucrative side projects going it can be stupid NOT to free up your time.