Six Months Later… Taxes

We were a little busy earlier in the year and while it has been a long time coming and many hours sitting at my desk, our taxes are finally done! It should be no surprise that after having printed out all our statements and highlighting our expenses I ended up with a packed well over a hundred pages thick. Not the biggest and not the smallest pile that we have handed off to our accountant. Of course, unlike last year, I did pull aside most of the 2015 documents needed for April… maybe next year we can simply file our taxes rather than an extension.

However, while I am hopeful for a small refund (even with this administration), it is little relief considering the bill that we will have to pay for having our taxes prepared. It is a flat rate but a rather steep one and it will take a pretty hefty sum to balance out that particular expenditure. By the time all is said and done, like every other year, I really have to take a closer look at the proposals for a simplified tax code rather than the hieroglyphics currently in use.

I believe this is a great time to start reaching out to the brethren and finding someone with whom I can trust our financial information. The place that we currently use definitely served its purpose for a while but the friend of the family that once handled our returns has long since retired and we have been passed around annually since then. They are strictly a service firm at this point rather than a place where there is a personal connection… time to move on.

It really is amazing when you think back on how long it takes to pull everything together especially when it is done in one shot rather than slowly over the course of the year. Well, it is a long process for me as I prefer to itemize all of our expenses especially the outrageous amount of medical expenses for which we are now responsible… thanks Obamacare! We could just file a simple return but why simply surrender part the money we earned over the past year? After all, the government didn’t temp for me during the year to take the day off so why should I pay them more?

In the end, the most important thing for us, especially now, is that this can now be marked as complete and we can devote our focus on many more important things in our life… especially the little stinky one. It is just annoying when tasks such as this occupy so much of my time, time that can be better spent elsewhere. Hopefully this is something I can avoid next year now that I have all the supporting documents up to date and an office is some kind of order even though it may not fit the definition of being organized.   

I Hate When Cleaning Leads To Taxes

Every once in a while my wife and I find ourselves in desperate need to do some cleaning around the apartment. With our schedules the way they are and other projects taking priority, things just seem to build up over time until we get to the point that we can’t take it anymore. It is a slow build but one that we see happening and keep planning on taking care of which in itself is a process that can take weeks.

There are also projects that keep getting put off. Mostly they involve reorganizing different areas or shifting things around from one location to another. A prime example is the reconfiguration of our kitchen. When we first moved in we set up a kosher kitchen and kept it that way for well over a year. However, in the early part of last year we decided to adjust our observance level and at that point stopped keeping kosher. Since that time we have been meaning to consolidate some of the utensils and free up some counter space. Today that finally happened.

Later in the evening, after my wife had gone to bed for the night, I shifted my focus to the office. Paperwork of any kind is tedious but especially when it is a matter of organization. I first went through the existing files and pulled out all of the items that made me say “why the heck is this getting saved” and threw it into the overflowing shred box tucked under my desk against the wall. I guess I am going to have to make another trip to Staples in the near future.

Once I was able to consolidate and sort the overabundance of papers in the filing cabinet I was finally able to focus on the piles that had taken over my desk. This is when I came to the realization that most of the papers were either paid bills or magazines. While the magazines have been consolidated into a single stack the bills were a little bit more involved. Some went into a miscellaneous bills folder but the vast majority ended up in the dreaded tax folders.

Yes, I said folders. Plural. If there is ever a reason to hate this time of year it is for the simple, yet complex, reason of pulling together all of your documents, receipts, and forms and filing your taxes. While I closely watch, track, and itemize every year I have never gotten a significant amount back. In fact, last year, I owed an amount of money which didn’t make sense whatsoever… during a financially red year the government still wanted more… more of what we didn’t have. We managed, barely, to pay the bill and now we have to go through the same process again.

Just like cleaning and organizing, taxes seem like a zero sum game but we all eventually end up having to deal with it. I can already tell that this is going to be a long first part of the year. Maybe after April I will be able to breathe… but I think that is going to depend on the financial outcome on in the middle of that month. I guess we will just have to wait and see.  

Busy Night Among Friends And Brothers

Thursday night was a long one but a good one. After running behind during the day, I was in a mad rush by 4:00 PM to get going and even then I wasn’t able to start getting ready until 30 minutes later. It was one of those situations when you get one task accomplished only to find that two other items popped up while you were getting the other one done.

The first stop of the night was at a Commonwealth Club reception in West Conshohocken to meet and hear Congressman Jim Gerlach speak. Unfortunately, Google Maps and I had a disagreement on the way over and so I spent an extra 20 minutes turning around and getting back in to the hotel parking lot. Anywhere else around here (with the exception of Philadelphia of course) would have taken five minutes. I made good time otherwise and so I was only a few minutes late upon arrival, still plenty of time to schmooze and have a drink before the Congressman stepped to the podium.

Not surprisingly, the talk was quite informal and to the point. While I have seen so many politicians waver on the hot topic(s) of the day, there was none of that happening that night. Everything was on the table including Syria, federal spending, IRS investigations, immigration, and other topics that were raised during questions. Immediately after the honest dialogue, I made my way up front, properly introduced myself to Congressman Gerlach who in turn introduced me to his wife, had a quick chat and politely excused myself as I had to get back on the road for my second engagement of the night.

Having lived on the Main Line for most of my life, I know many of the back roads to take to avoid traffic. I may not know the names of the roads making me useless when it comes to directions but I know where and when to turn when I am behind the wheel. This is why even though I left the reception 15 minutes late I was still able to get to the lodge with 30 minutes to spare. Finally, some time to relax.

Our stated meeting got started right on schedule as all the brothers made their way to their usual seats in the lodge. Although, there was one person that was not in their usual seat… me. The lodge Secretary asked that I sit next to the desk and take the minutes. I guess my training has officially begun.

I agreed a few weeks ago that I would take over the position as lodge secretary at the end of the year. I have a pretty good idea of what I am getting myself into but I am probably completely wrong. The question is how am I going to be able to juggle all the different commitments already on my calendar with the additional duties that I will have on my desk in due time. I am not sure how to answer that at the moment but I am confident that I will find a solution.

After our meeting and an excellent presentation by a couple of the brothers from Scottish Rite (I will be joining their ranks this fall), it was time for pizza and additional fellowship… but not before one more good deed. A man that had petitioned our lodge before the summer break was now experiencing some physical and financial difficulties and is now unable to pay for the necessary degree work to become a Mason. We all agreed that this is the last thing that should prevent a good man from becoming a mason so we began passing the hat and by the end of the evening we had nearly reached the half way point of the funds needed.

We have immediate plans to take care of the rest. This goes to show that this is indeed a brotherhood. We do what we can to take care of one another sometimes even before you officially become a mason.  Once a mason, always a mason. Once a brother, always family. This is what it’s like to be a part of something much greater than yourself. I couldn’t think of a better way to end my night.