Mr. X is a financial advisor. People give him money and he finds ways to invest it. He invests a lot of money for himself as well. Although he lived in the Midwest, he decided that he wanted to buy a condo in Manhattan as an investment. Mr. and Mrs. X flew to New York to close on the sale. They returned from their trip on a Saturday morning. While Mr. X went into his office to go through a stack of mail he’s been neglecting, Mrs. X went to take a shower. “Honey, why doesn’t the water work?” she asked a few minutes later. At the same time, Mr. X finds the shut-off notice on a three month old $66 water bill. “Oh, no,” he exclaims, “this got overlooked!” After a call to the Water Company, he was told he had to wait until Monday morning to pay the bill and get the water turned back on.
“Why don’t you pay someone to take care of these details?” asked Mrs. X? Mr. X actually discussed this option with his accountant. His accountant offered this service to some of his other clients who couldn’t seem to stay on top of these details. He had a staff of bookkeepers that would handle going through mail, reconciling checking accounts and making sure bills were paid on time. Mr. X would have to provide his bank account numbers, passwords, and arrange for mail to be sent directly to the accountant’s office. He charged $100 an hour for the service.
“That’s ridiculous!” he exclaimed. “I’m a rich, smart guy. I don’t need to pay someone to do something as simple as pay some bills.”
Start Money Smart asks, do you just need money and brains to pay bills?
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