How do we manage our family finances? Let me tell you a story.
The year Gina and I got married, we filed taxes separately. Gina was a relatively sophisticated investor and tax strategist, so she had accountants prepare her return. I didn’t, so she got a front row seat to watch me prepare mine. I did what I always did:
- Purchase TurboTax.
- Close my eyes.
- Click the Next button 50 times in a row.
- Enter my bank account details and let the IRS take their money. I rarely noticed how much it was.
Gina was horrified, and I was never allowed near our finances again. That arrangement has worked out well for everyone involved, including our portfolio.
(The flipside of this is, I approached investing the same way. My strategy over the past 20+ years has been to buy Vanguard funds and then forget about them. All things considered, that’s done pretty damn well.)
Iโm still in your camp, but insist on attempting to deduct my car registration fees for some neurotic reason. Not taxing me on that $180 Uncle Sam!
This is my approach to laundry, make clean pink socks, never be allowed to do it again. ๐คซ
You’re a Boglehead Harry!!