{"id":3017,"date":"2018-03-29T12:25:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-29T12:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?p=3017"},"modified":"2023-02-14T10:44:40","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T10:44:40","slug":"hacking-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/hacking-taxes\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Hack Taxes and Stop Procrastinating"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve ever heard of the \u201cIdes of March,\u201d you probably know it\u2019s something to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">beware<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of. But did you know it actually has to do with finances?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the Ides are most famous for the death of Julius Caesar, the Romans considered this a time for settling debts. Fitting, as March is the month we start thinking about some accounting of our own &#8211; taxes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But beyond \u201cbeware,\u201d April 15th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;is a day many of us <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dread:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;Tax Day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Did you know <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one in four<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tax returns get filed within two weeks of the deadline? And those numbers don\u2019t even include extensions (which, by the way, is an additional 10 million households). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, get this: according to Google Trends, \u201cprocrastination\u201d peaks in popularity each year from March through late April. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Surprising? We think not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3025\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph.png\" alt=\"Correlation between procrastination and taxes\" width=\"1200\" height=\"709\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-768x454.png 768w, https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Graph-1024x605.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It begs the question: Why do most people wait until the last minute to do taxes? If you miss the deadline, you\u2019ll end up paying an extra 5% per month. Also, your chances of overpaying are much higher when you do things last minute.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So how can we beat procrastination once and for all, and get our taxes in on time? We\u2019re going to break it down, backed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/social-science-coronavirus\/\">behavioral science,<\/a> of course: <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why we procrastinate<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of your one friend who\u2019s a token procrastinator. What do you think is the main factor behind his or her behavior? Laziness? Overconfidence? Adrenaline junkie? While one of these may seem like the root of your friend\u2019s issue, it isn\u2019t. It\u2019s just side a effect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to our Chief Behavioral Officer Dan Ariely, your run-of-the-mill procrastinator simply struggles with <\/span><a href=\"\/blog\/prioritize-future-self\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">misaligned incentives<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> between short-term rewards and long-term goals. In other words, they favor short term feelings over their future self.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Studies concur. Poor financial choices, like putting off paying taxes, are associated with high levels of in-the-moment-living. (American Psychological Association) And the strongest predictor of smart financial decisions isn&#8217;t our level of financial literacy \u2013 it\u2019s how often we stop to think about the future. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read: you\u2019re not alone &#8211; even financial advisors or economists may have some trouble when it comes to filing their taxes! It simply depends on how future-minded they are. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Breaking the cycle<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first step to kicking your tax procrastination habit is publicly declaring when you\u2019re gonna pay up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Research by Prof. Ariely found a strong correlation between making a public commitment and following through on your stated goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can you go about creating this public commitment? We suggest posting about your goals on social media &#8211; or even doing a countdown &#8211; and tagging your friends (pay it forward, right?). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not a fan of the social approach? Tell your roomie or family that you\u2019ll finish up your 1040 by a certain date, and to be ready to go out and celebrate (on you!). This way, you\u2019ll be accountable to others, and will feel more energy and motivation to get it done on time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Public declaration made. Now what? <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Getting to the zen of taxes<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to beat procrastination, you have to find a way to make your present self act in the best interest of your future self. Here are a few tips from some of our favorite scientists:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Visualize your future self<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a psychological study, one group of college students was shown images of their own faces, digitally altered to appear 50 years older. The second group was shown unaltered images of themselves. Those shown a glimpse of their future selves said they would allocate about 30% more money on average to their 401(K) than the students who were shown pictures of their current selves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3027\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/image-3.png\" alt=\"Visualization of you future self - lemonade blog\" width=\"498\" height=\"349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/image-3.png 498w, https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/image-3-300x210.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/nymag.com\/scienceofus\/2015\/01\/time-to-get-acquainted-with-future-you.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magnus Herschfield<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the pioneer of this study, concluded, \u201canything that we can do that will increase how concrete and salient our future self is \u2013 that\u2019s the type of thing that can help us make better decisions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Takeaway: when it comes time to sit down and do your taxes, picture your debt-free self planning a vacation to some warm, exotic destination. It\u2019ll help you power through. Alternatively, if you need a little help, or require a visual, try downloading an aging app on your phone, take a selfie, age yourself, and keep it handy in event of procrastination. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Use days as your unit of measurement<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Psychologists Neil Lewis of the University of Michigan and Daphna Oyserman of the University of Southern California examined the dissonance between long-term goals and short term behavior in a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recent study<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> published in Psychological Science. They found that if people considered far-off events from the perspective of days rather than months, or years, they acted more quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In one of the studies, half of the participants were instructed to imagine they had a newborn child that would begin college in 18 years; the other half in 6,570 days. In alignment with the original hypothesis, \u201cparents\u201d who considered their \u201cchildren\u2019s\u201d college from the perspective of \u201cdays\u201d planned to start saving <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">four times sooner<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than their counterparts planning from a \u201cyears\u201d perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now let\u2019s apply this to your income taxes. Here\u2019s last year&#8217;s schedule of all major tax due dates:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3046\" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/image-4.png\" alt=\"schedule of tax form due dates 2018 - lemonade blog\" width=\"704\" height=\"416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/image-4.png 704w, https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/image-4-300x177.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next step: start a countdown! Our suggestion is to set a reminder each day that tells you the number of days you have left. Sound annoying? Try a weekly or monthly reminder, but just make sure to use days rather than weeks or months are your unit of measurement!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Automate the tasks you tend to procrastinate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another way to get better at prioritizing your future self is to make it your <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">default option<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you owe the IRS a big chunk of change, it\u2019s hard to fork over the cash, especially when you haven\u2019t saved up. How to fix this?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe lesson from behavioral economics is that people only save if it\u2019s automatic,\u201d said behavioral economist and Nobel Prize winner <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/behavioral-economist-richard-thaler-on-the-key-to-retirement-savings-1448852602\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Richard Thaler<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cIf you want to help people accomplish some goal, make it easy.\u201d <\/span><a href=\"\/blog\/oh-behave\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dan Ariely<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> agrees. \u201cWe should just take [15, 20, or 25% of our salary] out of our paycheck directly, automatically, without paying attention. Put it into a different account, don\u2019t think about it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have a nice buffer in the bank, it\u2019s a whole lot easier to pay your taxes on time. We like Prof. Ariely\u2019s recommendation of automatically setting 15% aside each month; in addition, it\u2019d be smart to set aside a small piece of any cash windfalls, or unexpected gains you may receive throughout the year &#8211; it may even come in the form of a tax return!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fun facts: about eight out of every ten tax returns filed in 2013 got a refund and, according to The Conversation, there is an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/why-most-of-us-procrastinate-in-filing-our-taxes-and-why-it-doesnt-make-any-sense-39766\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">85% chance<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you either owe nothing or will get money back, which gives you better odds that many state lotteries!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another thing to \u201cautomate,\u201d if you just cannot bring yourself to sit down and crunch the numbers, is the tax process itself. Long gone are the days of scribbling numbers down on a handful of IRS forms and schedules &#8211; there are tons of apps out there that\u2019ll help you with filing your taxes and they are just getting better and better. Intuit\u2019s TurboTax app and H&amp;R Block\u2019s mobile app are both great options,&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not to mention personally tested by some of us here at Lemonade. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taxes have never been faster or easier to check off your to-do list. It\u2019s up to you to make a declaration, set a date, and when you feel that itch of procrastination creeping up, visualize your future self.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s the real reason most people wait until the last minute to do taxes, and how to motivate yourself to check this pesky task off your to-do list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":3043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[],"puppies_section":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-behavioralecon","8":"category-lifehacks","9":"post-hentry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Hack Taxes and Stop Procrastinating - Lemonade Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Did you know one in four tax returns get filed within two weeks of the IRS deadline? 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