tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976144462093297473.post7954415568358454388..comments2024-03-26T19:10:00.791-04:00Comments on West Coast Stat Views (on Observational Epidemiology and more): Risk AversionJosephhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10760453165301871031noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976144462093297473.post-65969258638283133342013-04-16T11:33:21.815-04:002013-04-16T11:33:21.815-04:00A much larger mistake, that I only made once (in C...A much larger mistake, that I only made once (in Canada) is to underpay your taxes and then not have enough money in the bank to pay the balance owed. That was a fabulously expensive error. Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10760453165301871031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976144462093297473.post-25971586472319375992013-04-16T07:09:34.704-04:002013-04-16T07:09:34.704-04:00Joseph:
Good point, especially for those of us wh...Joseph:<br /><br />Good point, especially for those of us whose income fluctuates somewhat unexpectedly from year to year.<br /><br />More generally, it's not rational to try to micro-optimize all aspects of life. I once met someone who's obsessed with frequent flyer miles. Sure, it's cool to get the occasional free flight, but there's a cost to finding all these bargains, also a cost to flying a day you don't want to fly or changing planes or whatever you have to do in order to get the miles you want.<br /><br />Considering all the mistakes people make with their money (notoriously, paying continuous credit card balances at high interest rates), I can't see that paying some of your taxes early is such a problem. Sure, it's not optimal behavior, but McArdle is stretching things a bit to call it "an enormous mistake."Andrew Gelmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02715992780769751789noreply@blogger.com