Say 'uncle'....

While in your 20-somethings it sometimes seems to be impossibly hard to know what you should be able to do and what you will need help with. We want to learn it all and prove to ourselves, our families, our friends, maybe even our significant others that we can tackle all the tasks life throws our way. Along with taking on many new tasks it's important to know when to say 'uncle' and get some help.

For me this became clear when trying to file a partial year residency state tax form for Indiana. I moved in May so I worked Jan-May in Indiana before making Florida my new home. This caused a series of issues when it came to my taxes as there is state tax in IN but none in FL, etc. After making 3 somewhat unsuccessful attempts myself (I didn't submit them because I knew they were wrong) I decided to say 'uncle'.

While in Carmel visiting my parents I decided to seek professional help and I made myself an appointment with H&R block. I have HAD to learn a great many things in the last year but this didn't really seem as though it needed to be one. Here's what I learned from the experience...

There is a reason that people go to school for finances. There are a great many things they need to know that the average person does not. Similar to social work (my profession) there are many faucets that people do not even know they don't know about. Ha! This was crystal clear to me as he continued to say, "Did you claim this?" and I continued to have no idea it was claimable or even a "this" (for example apparently Purdue was considered in the Midwest disaster area for 2008 and so I get more money back).

Also, I realized it was worthwhile to pay someone a little over $150 bucks because after letting him do my state taxes and file an amended federal tax he got me $400 more than I had gotten myself which more than paid for him (and helped supply a job), put more money in my pocket, and kept the IRS from keeping more of my money (I feel they already get their fair share).

I said 'uncle' and I'm proud of it...and a little richer for the experience.

B