Who's money is it?

Americans love their tax refunds:

"when asked if they'd prefer to owe taxes, get a refund or break even, none said 'owe,' according to the USA TODAY-Gallup Poll. Fifty percent hope they break even, and 45 percent hope they get a 'bigger' refund this year than last. They're in luck: The average tax refund is up 3.2 percent from 2006, according to the IRS."

Ugh. No one wants to owe? Well, I guess to be honest, I'd rather be closer to breaking even, but that's more because Joanne & I have occasionally been close to being penalized for underpayment, as I didn't make a point of structuring our withholding to estimate what we'd owe. The IRS, though, does have a calculator to estimate the proper withholding, which is handy. Actually, on second thought, I would rather owe the fed (but not too much) because the way our withholding has worked out for Arizona, we always (i think) get a refund there. So it balances out.

But going back to the poll, not quite sure where the missing 5% is, but 45% want more of a refund? Joanne & I are fortunate with our jobs and spending habits that we don't live paycheck to paycheck, but you'd think the notion of have more money in each paycheck would appeal to taxpayers, rather than a lump sump. But maybe that lump (say $1000) in the future is better than a bump ($40 every two weeks). At the very least, though, it's a good way to practice forced savings to pay for those "big ticket" items that refunds get directed to as well as stopping the practice of giving a free loan to someone (Uncle Sam). Or does he deserve it?

The other implication of that poll is that the knowledge/understanding of finances is fairly low. When I interned at the Goldwater Institute, we had a post work happy hour where a handful of the analysts and staff were talking about the finances and debt and the comments of a couple shocked me in their lack of understanding (example, the failure to realize that credit card debt is very bad) of what I thought were simple issues. And these were, whatever you think of the Institute ideologically, intelligent people.

The question is the best way to increase the level of personal financial literacy. The largest audience is in the high schools. But can you nationally require a course that includes this kind of content? Or maybe it already exists--a week or two slice of high school economics that I may even have received but don't recall. But that opens up a broader issue of education in the schools and if it offers enough life skills.

I think I've gone tangentially far enough. Are you accustomed to the refund, or do you like holding on to you money as long as possible? If you like the refund, what do you end up doing with it?