My 24 Hour Focus is only 3 days away. I hope you made a quick plan to focus on your finances between Saturday and Sunday. Well my Sunday will be busy so Saturday it is.

For years I’ve filed my Tax return late even though I usually had a refund. Why wait especially when you expect a refund! Letting the government keep your money at no interest and worse yet out of your use is not the best option.

So I ordered Turbotax (http://www.turbotax.com) home and business for $74.95. You can download it immediately for Mac or PC. I’ve used this for years so I’m stuck on it but there are free Federal tax filing programs that then charge you for state filing. (eg. http://www.freetaxusa.com).

FreeTaxUSA: File your federal and state taxes in as little as 30 minutes. (DIsclosure: I get paid when you use this link.)

Then I gathered up all the W2s. Your employer should have provided this by the end of January. If you own a home with a mortgage those related statements should be here too. Next, since I have my own business, I gathered up my receipts so I could start tabulating them on Saturday.
I should have used an accounting package; well that’s a focus for another day.

Voila. I’m ready for National Family Financial Planning Day!
I will complete my taxes, file them electronically and hopefully receive my refund in 5 to 7 days!

What will you and your family do on your day?

This is a grassroots movement to promote one day each year where families or individuals take time out to do some financial planning. The first Saturday in February has been selected since it is early in the year and after the excesses of the year-end. It’s a 24 hour holiday from all other concerns. You start at anytime on Saturday and end 24 hours later.

By joining this group you make a simple commitment:

1) to schedule for you and your family, the first Saturday of February (Feb 4, 2012) to “COMPLETE” one or more financial planning tasks, to make completing the tasks interesting and to reward yourself once you’ve completed all tasks,

2) to tell at least 7 of your friends about National Family Financial Planning Day and encourage them to join this group by visiting www.24hourfocus.com.