America’s economy has morphed throughout our history, starting from agricultural to manufacturing to service to technology. Now it seems we’re moving towards a celebrity-based economy. The world is full of D-list celebrities competing for attention: third-rate rappers hoping to break through their own noise, random Kardashian cousins, and spurned bachelorettes fighting for one last rose. (If you’re ever invited to compete on Dancing With the Stars, you’d better hope you were nice to people on your way up, because you’re about to see if they’ll be nice to you on your way down.)
America’s unlikeliest new celebrity is a Japanese woman named Marie Kondo, who created a mini-empire around The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. She’s spun the concept into a line of bestselling books, including a graphic novel, and an eight-episode series on Netflix. (No doubt there’s a line of designer-branded plastic storage bins headed to a Target near you soon.)
Now, you’re probably thinking you’ve got to squint pretty hard to find a connection between tidying up and taxes. (And you’re right . . . cut us some slack, it’s not always easy to come up with topics every week!) But once that connection jumps out, you’ll wonder why you missed it all these years.
The KonMari method starts with holding a physical object and asking yourself a simple question: does it spark joy? If so, find the right place for it, and enjoy how it adds to your life. If not, respectfully let it go. She suggests you start with clothing, because it’s easiest to discard, then move on to books, papers, “komono” (miscellaneous “stuff”), and finish up with sentimental items. Kondo even prescribes how to fold the clothes you keep — nearly a million people have watched a video of her folding socks.
Now, try this with your money — take a look at where it goes. There are plenty of expenses that really do spark joy. A family vacation, a kitchen renovation, or even a night out on the town all bring a smile to your face and make you feel good about yourself and your choices. Even big-ticket bills like your children’s college tuition spark joy as you watch them prepare to succeed in life.
But if you’re like most of our clients, your biggest single expense is taxes. Does writing those checks (or seeing them deducted from your paycheck) spark joy? Maybe at the local level. Plenty of people vote “yes” on local levies, then gratefully enjoy their schools, parks, and libraries. But very few people find joy in sending up to 40.8% of their income to Washington and watching the people in charge of spending it shut down the government for five weeks because they’re more interested in scoring points than solving problems.
Now, the world is full of tax professionals who are happy to take those W2s and 1099s that are starting to clutter up your desk right now, and assemble them into a tax return. They’ll tell you how much you owe, which is what you need. But very few of them will tell you how to pay less, which is what you want. To continue the Marie Kondo analogy, they’ll help you inventory your closet. And that’s important, because you’ll need to know where that ugly Christmas sweater is when next year’s party rolls around. But they won’t help you clean it out. Because, really, ugly sweater?
So, ready to clean up your tax bill? We’ll work through your business, your retirement, and your investment portfolio. We’ll fold it all into easy-to-pack little balls. You’ll love the feeling of zen and you might even see your blood pressure drop. So call us when you’re ready and see just how tidy we can help you get!