The economy is a little shaky, but you still have needs and wants. Everyone else is in the same boat, including businesses who still have to sell products if they want to make a profit. If you have a good cash reserve and the opportunity arises, now could be a good time to get a great deal on things like electronics, washers and dryers, televisions, kitchen appliances and so on.
Not long ago, big box electronics shops like Circuit City began competing against the lower prices and better deals found online by offering just as good of prices. However, that meant they didn’t make very much profit because of the overhead of running a store. They countered that by aggressively selling extended warranties to their customers. Soon, virtually all of the profit from an electronics chain was from warranties.
Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for everyone else, customers soon caught on and came prepared for the warranty hard sell and more importantly, came prepared to say know. In the process they saved themselves from wasting a fortune, and at the same time put Circuit City and others out of business.
That doesn’t mean that retailers have stopped trying to sell extended warranties, far from it. Particularly on electronic goods, appliances, and televisions, most purchases come with at least a quick offer to purchase a warranty, if not a much harder sale. Either way, extended warranties are almost always a bad deal for consumers, not because a warranty is a bad idea, but rather because they are almost always overpriced.
The ones that are not outrageously expensive generally have “features” that make them unattractive as well such as getting a percentage of the cost based on how long you’ve used it, or worse, getting an “equivalent” replacement that usually isn’t.
But, thanks to a company called Square Trade, you no longer have to choose between worrying about what happens if your new purchase breaks, or overpaying for some 50/50 shot on an extended warranty.
The premise behind SquareTrade is that it is possible to make money on warranties by aggregating failures and spreading out risk like insurance companies. Then, selling the warranty at a fair and reasonable price assures that more warranties will be sold. Since nothing happens to most items, there is plenty of money to be made without treating anyone like a sucker.
The best part is that instead of having to keep receipts and paperwork and hope you can find them if something goes wrong, you setup an account at Square Trade and use it to manage all of your warranties in one place.
Chances are a Square Trade warranty will cost you half of what the retailer is offering you and unlike the retailer warranty, there is no high pressure to buy now. Sleep on it and buy the warranty in the morning if you think it is still a good idea.
Now, you can be covered, and not get robbed.
Don’t forget to see if you credit card offers some form of protection for your purchases as well. Generally, this will be for a much shorter term than an extended warranty, but it never hurts to know what savings you could be getting there as well.
It was with much fanfare last month that Congress and the Obama administration passed laws putting into effect government programs to help American homeowners with their mortgages. Both The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were front page news all over the country. A lot of this publicity was due to the fact that Americans have started to perceive the government as helping out Wall Street and big banks more than they are helping ordinary taxpayers and homeowners who did nothing wrong during the housing bubble and subsequent market collapse and banking collapse.
However, the same publicity also made it easier for scammers and dishonest marketers to take advantage of people’s hopes by pretending to have something to do with the government programs when, in fact, they are either outright scams to steal your money or steal your identity, or they are mortgage brokers or mortgage companies that have nothing to do with the government mortgage aid programs trying to insinuate that they are part of those programs. Unfortunately, many people are falling victim to these con artists and their tricks.
How To Protect Yourself From Scams, Thieves, and Con Artists Using Government Mortgage Aid Lies
First, understand the facts about how people take advantage of these government mortgage aid programs. There ARE NO EMAILS of any kind being sent to homeowners by any government agency or banking institution associated with the programs. None, zero, zip, nadda. Any email that you get of any kind, from anyone, no matter how official sounding or looking is a scam. Delete it immediately.
Second, there are no checks being issued to homeowners. Some mailings include checks that ask you to call a toll-free number for some official sounding reason. When you do, they will ask you to deposit the check, but wire some money to another account for some reason. This is a scam. The check will bounce and your wire transfer money will disappear. NO CHECKS ARE BEING SENT TO HOMEOWNERS by the government or banks. Any and all help you might be eligible for will come in the form of a refinanced loan or a load modification. Either way, there is no check involved.
Third, is junk mail designed to look like it has something to do with the government’s mortgage aid programs, but carefully worded to actually just mislead you into thinking this without actually saying it. These come from banks and mortgage brokers and mortgage companies. They are nothing more than junk mail hoping to get you to refinance with them, most likely at a higher interest rate and with higher closing costs than you could get elsewhere. There is no proactive attempt of any kind going on to contact homeowners in this way. Anything that is sent via 3rd class mail, or bulk mail of any kind is clearly not from the government or banks. It is junk mail, throw it away (actually, shred it). Even mail sent first class is most likely fake junk mail.
Use these guidelines to see if the offer you have received MIGHT be legitimate. You will still have to follow up with your mortgage company, but if any of these apply, don’t even bother, what you have gotten is phony.
- Only Mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are eligible. If yours isn’t, there is no aid program for you.
- The official title of the Government Refinancing program is “The Home Affordable Refinance” program. Scammers will carefully avoid using those exact words to avoid fraud liability.The overall program name (both loan modification and refinance) is “Making Home Affordable”, again, scammer will avoid the exact wording. If those exact words are not used, then you are holding onto a scam.
- There is no charge, no fee, and no up front payment of any kind. Anything asking you to send money is a scam.
- There is no need for you to send your personal information to anyone. The government and the banks already have your name, address, and social security number. There is no need to “verify” this information for any reason. Anyone calling on the phone, or any mailing asking you to reveal your social security number for any reason including verifying your identity is a scam.
The best way to avoid scams is to look-up your lender’s phone number independently (do not use the number provided which obviously rings where the scammers want it to ring) and call them to ask if you qualify.
Remember, there are no government mailings, government phone calls, or government emails of any kind. Anyone saying differently is a con artist, fraud, and liar. Hang up, shred, or delete immediately and save your money and your identity.
Here is the latest OCC Tips for Avoiding Mortgage Modification Scams and Foreclosure Rescue Scams
Copyright 2009 – Exclusively Published at FinanceGourmet.com – ArcticLlama, LLC
How To Pay Less Taxes Next Year
CommentsSave more receipts. That is how to pay less money on your taxes next year.
You wanted something more amazing didn’t you. So do most people, which is why they buy books and magazines and secret kits and then pay the same amount of taxes as they did last year.
This year try something different. Just save more receipts. When it comes time to file your taxes you won’t use any more lines on the tax forms for deductions, but you will be able to have higher numbers on the lines that you already use.
A Smaller Tax Bill
Wait ‘til next year. The most often used phrase in sports may also be used by many taxpayers this week as the stress and shock of filing federal income taxes wears off. Whether it was having to write the IRS a big check, or if it was seeing how your tax bill compared to others, or if it was just seeing the enormous number that you earned but never got to see thanks to paycheck withholding, it’s common to want to pay less taxes next year.
Paying less taxes is a goal that most Americans have. Yet, it is a goal that most of us fail at. The problem is two-fold. First, life happens. We get busy, we have other concerns, and pretty soon, the amount of money being sucked out of our paychecks each week or each month fades into the background noise until early next year, when once again, we are forced to remember how much money we lose each pay period to taxes.
The second problem is that even when we do manage to take action, it is often the wrong action. Huge books line the shelves at libraries and bookstores offering children’s fantasies to pay zero taxes, or to cut your tax bill in half. Others, simply promise to give you all the knowledge of a CPA or an MBA in 21 days, or whatever. The truth is that the answer to lower taxes does not lie inside the thick books, nor in some unknown trick carefully hidden in the dark shadows of finance and tax law.
The Tax Secrets Myth
Every year, literally millions of people examine the tax code, tax laws, and all of the tax changes to find ways to save money for themselves or their clients on taxes. Their findings are not kept a secret. Instead, they are propagated through advertising, publishing, and numerous other methods. However, it is in some people’s interest to continue spreading the myth that their are tax secrets, that you are a sucker who pays too much because you don’t know them, and if you would just buy their book, their kit, their package, their subscription, their service, their whatever, you too could pay zero taxes! As you can imagine, every one of these people has something to sell you.
Here is the little known truth about income taxes. Payroll taxes are virtually impossible to lower in any meaningful way.
Shocked? Don’t believe me?
Grab any tax tricks book, website, or article you want. Start reading. You will see all kinds of ways to do things about lowering your taxes, but look closer. You have to have something else first.
1035 Exchange? It’s great, but it only works on real estate.
A deduction you’ve never heard of before? Do you have to have a small business first? Or, does it have to be a certain percentage of your income before it counts?
Trusts? Works on assets, but not paychecks.
Off-shore accounts? Ditto.
What does work? The usual. Home mortgage interest, property taxes, state & local taxes, child care, child tax credit, student loan interest, tuition, capital losses/gains, dividends, IRA contributions, and charitable gifts.
Medical bills work, but only if they are at least 7.5% of your income, and then there are a bunch of miscellaneous deductions. These are the ones that people love to tell about that are “secrets”.
The truth is even if you tried to get every one, they probably would still have no impact on how much taxes you pay because they don’t count until they exceed 2% of your income. Did you subscribe to enough magazines, buy enough tax software, and drive to enough seminars to add up to 2% of your income?
Most people don’t. That is why they don’t know about those deductions. They don’t apply to them.
Which Deductions Can Normal People Get
When it comes to taxes, there is a standard list of tax deductions that are likely to apply to most people. Everything else is a specialized gimmie to a special interest group, or a political ploy to appeal to certain voters. In others words, it isn’t for you, and getting one of those deductions is likely to cost you more than you would save. Your best bet tax-wise is to not worry about these “secret” deductions.
If you are afraid that you won’t get one of the special tax deductions when you qualify, don’t worry. Someone will tell you. Someone will be so eager to tell you that you’ll know about it before you have even thought about any tax implications. Why? Because every finance or transaction professional in the world wants to have your business and they all have been repeatedly told that saving you money on taxes makes their service more valuable. So, when you go to sell a piece of real estate that might qualify for a 1035 Exchange (your home does not), trust me when I tell you that the real estate agent, the loan officer, and probably even the people at your bank will bring it up.
*
*
Today is April 15. For those of you from non-US countries, that probably doesn’t mean much. To us Americans, today is Tax Day, the deadline to file my tax returns.
If you’re working at the last minute then you might be looking for last minute tax tips. Of course, what many people really want to know is what happens if you don’t file your taxes by the deadline and is there anything I can do if I can’t get my taxes done?
The answer, actually, is surprisingly benign. Filing late is a no-no and can result in all kinds of problems, not the least of which are penalties. But, there is a ray of hope. Instead of filing your tax return, file for an extension. One extension is granted automatcially, so all you have to do is send in the form. If you can’t get your taxes done by April 15, then make sure you file your request for extension in its place to avoid penalties, fees, and interest.
If you file for an extension when are your taxes due? October 15th, a full six months later. Whew, big relief eh? You’ll need IRS Form 4688 Filing for an Extension. It has instructions for using the paper form, or other electronic methods.
But, there is a catch. Your TAX RETURNS are given an extension to September, your TAX PAYMENT is not. In other words, if you end up owing money, you still have to pay it by April 15th even if you get an extension. How are you supposed to know how much to pay if you haven’t done the tax return yet? Guess.
Actually, estimate, is the correct answer, and make sure you are on the “over” side, not the “under” side.
For example, if you’ve partially completed your taxes and it looks like you would owe about $2,000 but you haven’t gotten all of your income entered in yet, then send Uncle Sam a check for $3,000, or whatever you are pretty sure will end up being too much. You’ll get the extra back as a refund when you do finally file your income taxes which is an incentive to do them before September.
On the other hand, if it looks like maybe you’ll owe $2,000 and you are positive all of your income is accounted for, it’s just that you aren’t sure about some deductions, then send the IRS the two-grand and see if those deductions work out. If not, no harm, no foul. If so, you’ll get a rebate too.
If you still plan to beat the midnight deadline, make sure you know which, if any, post office in your area will be staying open late to collect tax returns. With budget cutbacks, you can expect the post office to be a little less grand in how many collection locations it leaves open late.
You want to travel, but with the recession, you want to travel cheap, or travel for free. Here is one way to help. United Airlines offers a non-flight way to earn free Milage Plus points without flying that can add up fast and help get you those last miles you need to get a free flight. Its a dining rewards program called United Mileage Plus Dining.
The best part is that it is really easy and you don’t really have to do anything once you set it up.
Basically, you go to Mileage Rewards Dining website and create a Dining Rewards password to go with your United frequent flyer miles number. Then, you register your credit cards with the dining miles rewards program by entering the credit card number, expiration date, and so on.
Once your credit cards are registered, then you earn miles whenever you eat at a participating United Mileage Plus Dining restaurant if you pay with any of the credit cards you registered. That’s it! It couldn’t be any simpler.
You don’t have to remember a coupon, you don’t have to remember to tell the waiter, or give someone your Mileage Rewards number or anything. It’s all electronic behind the scenes. You pay like normal, and voila, free points in your account. As a double bonus, this has nothing to do with the regular credit card rewards points you are earning. So, for example, if you buy dinner with your Capital One Rewards Credit Card, you still earn Capital One No Hassle Miles for the dinner PLUS the United Miles.
For each dollar you spend, you get one free United frequent flyer mile. But, from now until June 30th, you get double points on the Dining Rewards program so that is 2 free miles per dollar spent eating out at restaurants. Depending on the kind of person you are, this can add up to big points. Eat out twice a week at $40 each and that is 160 miles earned per week without flying anywhere!
If you take clients out for meals, try and setup your meetings at restaurants in the program and you can earn points for those meals too. Pretty soon, you’ll be setting up your free vacation.
There is no cost and no charge to register your credit cards, so I registered every credit card I have. I never even look at the list of participating restaurants. I just go out to eat where I want to eat and just by coincidence hit rewards restaurants all the time.
*
