How We Can Learn a Valuable Lesson from Wesley Snipes

August 27, 2010

Wesley Snipes was recently sentenced to three years in prison for failing to pay over $15,000,000 in taxes.  It could have been worse for him; the sentence was considered light because “jurors accepted his argument that he was innocently duped by errant tax advisers.”

That makes me ask a few questions: Wesley, what exactly were you thinking? You hired tax advisors who told you it was acceptable to NOT FILE TAX RETURNS???  Did that not sound suspicious?

Did Wesley Snipes willingly accept a huge risk?  Or did he, as well as many other people often do, rely on the advice of experts?  Perhaps we are all at risk in some areas.  How susceptible are all of us to “expert” advice?  When my knee “didn’t feel right,” I consulted an “expert” (orthopedic surgeon) and found that I had a torn ACL and needed reconstructive surgery.  How did I know he was telling me the truth?  I took him at his word and acted like I was paying attention when he showed me the MRI results.  Lines and dark spaces could have been anything, but I chose to accept his advice and get surgery.  I relied on an expert.  So did Wesley Snipes (if one is to believe his version of events, which the jury apparently did).  Don’t we all?

How do you choose a physician?  How do you choose a financial planner? How do you choose an estate planning attorney? How do you decide what “expert” recommendations to accept vs. what to reject?  Life is all about decisions, so how do we make sure we make good ones?  I’m interested in hearing any stories of how other people make important decisions when a so-called expert is involved.