Travis H. Long, CPA, Inc. Blog

Originally published in the Pacific Grove Hometown Bulletin

April 18, 2012

At 10:16 am on April 3rd, I entered fatherhood!  Needless to say, this has made the most interesting end to a tax season for me so far!  Elijah Bennett Long was born at our home weighing in at seven pounds four ounces and 20 inches long.  Personally, I think it is quite neat that he will have a Pacific Grove birth certificate – not too many of those around!

I was negotiating with him while he was in the womb for the past few months and explaining why it would not be wise to renege on his contract date of April 21st.  He brought up several valid points: 1) he was not the proximate cause of this event 2) there were early escape clauses in his contract, and 3) interested parties (Joy – Momma) would prefer to have him at seven pounds four ounces rather than closer to nine pounds!   I admit, the kid had some good points.

Despite his exercising the early exit-strategy rights on the development phase, we have decided to approve his initial contract for child-rearing.  We are thinking to have this contract extend through kindergarten with two renewable six-year options.  The second renewable option would include an opt-out for us after the middle school years.  There would be some additional language which could allow for a third six-year option to get through the college phase depending on certain performance benchmarks achieved in the prior option period.

With business out of the way, we have been having the time of our lives!  How fun it is to come home and see that tiny bundle of love.  It actually has worked out quite well these past few weeks as tax season has come to a close.  I was working late hours anyway which made it perfect to help out with some of the night duties since I was still wide awake!  What a blessing!

Next step…convincing Momma that baby-modeling is a good idea so he can generate earned income and open a Roth IRA!

Prior articles are republished on my website at www.tlongcpa.com/blog.

IRS Circular 230 Notice: To the extent this article concerns tax matters, it is not intended to be used and cannot be used by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law.

Travis H. Long, CPA is located at 706-B Forest Avenue, PG, 93950 and focuses on trust, estate, individual, and business taxation. He can be reached at 831-333-1041.