The root of all evil

I dropped off all of my tax information with my accountant yesterday.   I really like my accountant.   I only see her once a year, but I always enjoy the visit.   She is very friendly and always asks about how my life is going.   A tax accountant that you use over and over every year occupies and interesting place in your life.   They know so much about you financially.   Mine knows every investment I made.  She knows which ones made money and which ones lost money.   She knows exactly how I am compensated at work.   She knows about my houses and how much I paid for them.    She knows how much money I gave (or didn’t give) to charities.   That’s a lot of intimate knowledge.   Those are things I don’t really discuss with people.

The funny thing is that I’ve never really worried about giving her all of that information.   I’ve never paused and thought, “should I be telling her all of this?”   I would have that pause if I were discussing it with my best friend.   I would certainly have it if I were talking with people at work. I don’t worry about it with my accountant because our relationship is professional.   She has to have all of that information to do the job I pay her to do.   If she and I were actually friends, and I mean in the sense that we saw each other socially, then I think it would be different.   I think I would find a new accountant.   The reason for that is because money stratifies people.   Discussing money with your friends is taboo because it creates barriers between people.   For those that have more, discussions of money seem like bragging.  For those that have less, it comes off as whining.   This is why we don’t discuss money.