The Least Expensive Option

There's one thing about the 2008 tax season I am absolutely sure about: it would have been less expensive to hire an accountant than it was to do my own taxes. When I add up:

1. The direct cost of the tax software for one federal return and three state modules,
2. The direct cost of money I might have saved had the forms been filed earlier/differently, and
3. The opportunity cost of my own time (~6 hours)

The number I arrive at is much less than the cost of having an accountant help me twice a year.

I'm finding this to be true of other things too. I'm reaching a point where, for certain services, the cost of having someone do it for me really is less than the total cost of doing it myself.

I always knew specialization was coming, I just didn't expect it to start arriving so soon!