Why poor people stay poor

Last summer, I was talking to my server, a single mom, at a local sports bar....
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Her So you are an accountant?

Me Yeah

Her Do you do simple tax returns like mine?

Me Yeah

Her I just have a W-2 and earned income credit what would you charge me to do my return?

Me My minimum fee is $95, I charge $20 to efile the return.

Her Holy cow, HR Block charged me $340.00 last year.

Me You must have done a rapid refund?

Her Yeah, you can't get me my refund that day?

Me No, when you efile you should have your money in about a 7-10 days. Frankly, I think the rapid refund is HR Block rip off. They're actually loaning you the money you'll have in a weeks time.

Her Well this year, I'm going to have you do it, I can wait a week to save $250.

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Now mind you, I go in this same sports bar roughly every Wednesday for their Gyro special. I've had this conversation with her at least 10 times since last summer.

So how does the conversation go yesterday.

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Her How much would you charge my boyfriend to do his taxes?

Me $95 plus $20 for the efile

Her Well, I think I'm going to have him call you. He's trying to do it himself and he getting frustrated.

Me What about your return?

Her Oh, I already had HR Block do it. I got my refund that night!

Me Just out of curiosity, how much did they charge you?

Her About $350.

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Now you can write me off as pissed off business owner who lost the sale. Frankly, I don't want these kind of dumb asses as clients. I've got enough tax business as it is. I don't want the DNA of my client base diluted with these ding dongs.

However, there's a reason idiots like this never have any money. Because they're willing to pay someone $350 to get a refund v. waiting a week for $115. In fact, if they did the form themselves on old fashion paper, they could have their money in a month for free!

Let's just call it poor people math.

The good news is her and her boyfriend aren't dumb enough to forget how to procreate. She's got another one in the oven and society will be the recipients of another dumb ass to feed.