The holidays have ended and New Years is a hazy memory of fun.
As I lounged on the couch on a Sunday watching the playoff games, I just couldn't get comfortable.
It was like I had blocked out some type of pain.
Then the problem became clear.
It was time to start thinking about taxes.
The tax season is upon us.
You probably know this is for no other reason than you are getting W-2, 1099 and other tax forms in the mail.
The State of California actually sent me a refund late in 2009.
I just received a 1099 for the interest that they paid me on the late refund.
So I know have to report to the IRS that California paid me interest and then I have to pay tax on it to both the IRS and...
drum roll...
California! Ah, welcome to tax season.
Preparing your taxes can drive you insane.
It can make a good, decent human being turn into a vicious, moody person.
Marriages are put under stress and so are bank accounts! This need not be the case.
The key to minimizing the torture is simple.
Start early and take it slow.
You should plan to spend an hour or two one night a week until the return is ready to go.
There is always a night when nothing interesting is on the tube and there is nothing to do.
Plan it and stick to it.
The first step in preparing any tax forms is to get organized.
This means rallying all your tax documents.
Grab the receipts.
Grab the monthly reports from your investment accounts.
Gather the mortgage interest report for the home that you owe more on than it is worth! Just get everything together and organize it in some manner that makes sense to you.
Now you are ready to go.
At this point, it is just a matter of going through the 1040 form.
You can do it with a computer program or do it manually.
You will probably need to stop to go find or order up some information.
That is okay because you have months till the return has to be filed.
Compare that to trying to thrash your taxes together with only a week left or so!