Out of His Depth

Years ago, a workout partner of mine told me something that to this day still holds true.

“You will meet some of the nicest people while at a gym and some of the strangest.”

Some three decades later I have never encountered anyone at the 10 or so health clubs I’ve belonged to over that span who disputed that point.

Lou is a case in point. A mustachioed curmudgeon in his late 60s there is arguably no member in my current gym of 3,500 who is more dedicated to exercise than Lou.

Each day he comes at roughly 8:30 am and leaves nearly three hours later after taking several group fitness classes and then working out on his own.

Lou is also perhaps the world’s biggest skeptic when it comes to everything from government to Wall Street. He is convinced the system is rigged for the 1 percent (this despite his being an attorney for one of the world’s most well-known Fortune 50 companies).

And don’t even bring up the subject of accountants and financial planners. Apparently he once had a CPA who felt the most telling barometer of his skill was to get Lou the largest tax return he possibly could. You can imagine Lou’s surprise when he received a letter from the IRS several months later informing him of a pending audit.

Ditto for a financial planner who told Lou that he could no longer manage his portfolio as he was leaving the business to pursue an MBA. Only later did Lou learn that MBA was an acronym for “Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.”

So with a pedigree like that you can imagine his ill will toward the profession.

I figured it was futile to try and convince him otherwise, but as is wont, he was complaining one morning about how many schedules he had to complete while doing his own 1040 because he had begun a contracting business on the side.

I told him that from year to year there are hundreds of changes and revisions to the tax law and he couldn’t possibly keep up with all of them.

“I’m not getting screwed by a CPA again,” he insisted.

So I asked him, what type of due diligence he did when hiring both his accountant and financial planner.

He told me they were both recommended by a former colleague at his company.

Did you do any research on your own?

No, replied the lawyer whose practice often depends on due diligence.

So I counseled him not to judge the profession on one person. I pointed out how many medical malpractice cases there are and people still trust doctors.

Yeah but they’re not handling your money!

No, you trust them with something far more valuable – your health.

He remained unconvinced. He then asked me what I knew about equipment depreciation.

I told him I’d ask my CPA. I think he may eventually get the message.