Free Tax Prep for you?

Is FREE Tax prep right for you?
Free help in preparing your return is available by IRS-trained volunteers. The program is for tax-payers age 60 or older with simple returns. To find the a center, see

AARP’s website at www.aarp.org/taxaide or call 1-888-227-7669.
Don’t forget to ask for your credits: Child care, education, retirement savings, child tax, and residential energy. Your deductions: educator, IRA, student loan, tuition/fees, self-employed health, moving, health savings, etc. The volunteers file electronically and can direct deposit refunds within 14 days. Find out more online: “get help” tool at www.irs.gov/freefile.

Auto insurance discount
Esurance, the direct-to-consumer Allstate company, is offering Pac-12 students and alumni living in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah a car insurance discount of up to 15 percent. Find 12 additional discounts with our Guide: amazon.com/Insiders-Guides-Discount-Financial-Services/

Texting while driving costs
Online auto insurance quotes provider 4autoinsurancequote.org released a study which reveals that insurance rates are rising due to the increase in texting while driving. nearly 10 percent of the driving population in the United States text and drive on a regular basis. According to the CDC, drivers who fall between the ages of 18 to 29 admit to texting while behind the wheel at least once per month, while a full 25 percent of those in that age group state that they habitually text and drive.

Homeowners to see hikes in 11 states—time to shop?
Some insurance companies will make hikes of 18% or more on specific homeowners insurance lines in 11 states, which include Tennessee; South Dakota; Kentucky; Arizona; Virginia; Maine; Colorado; South Carolina; Alabama; Kansas; and Georgia, according to Best's State Rate Filings since Dec. 1. Check on your insurer: http://ratefilings.ambest.com/default.asp

Katrina victims MAY see claims paid after 7 years
Attorneys took aim at bank accounts of Louisiana's property insurer of last resort Monday and began seizing more than $100 million they won for homeowners who claimed the company dragged its heels in adjusting hurricane claims in 2005. The money includes a $92.8 million judgment for more than 18,500 Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. policyholders _ plus $11 million in judicial interest. Each plaintiff stands to receive $5,000. Citizens failed to begin adjusting their claims after hurricanes Katrina and Rita within 30 days as required by law. Citizens provides property coverage to homeowners and businesses unable to obtain insurance from private companies.

Is SallieMae Insurance right for you?
The student loan company now offers accident, renters, and short-term medical insurance to students underwritten by insurers like Assurant. This means you are paying an extra bonus to SallieMae in your premium. Accident insurance pays your tuition if you have to withdraw—very low occurrence. Renters cover may not be the best bargain for students since the coverage is given without credit checks and with payment plans. It also includes Involuntary Unemployment which is unlikely for most students who are not employed. The small print assures insurers that they are unlikely to have to pay many claims so this coverage is high profit. Most students are better off buying coverage under their parents’ homeowner if they have money to burn.

Insurers overpaid by Medicare
Insurers offering Medicare health plans were overpaid by the U.S. as much as $3.1 billion in 2010 because the government miscalculated how sick beneficiaries were, federal auditors said. The managed-care plans remain overpaid, said the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigatory arm, in a report. Insurers received from $1.2 billion to $3.1 billion more than they should have in 2010 because the government overestimated how sick their customers were, a process called risk adjustment. Medicare calculates the risk of covering Advantage customers each month by considering their age, gender and any major medical conditions and disabilities. The plans get bigger payments for people with higher scores. Enrollment in Advantage plans was about 11 million people in 2010.

No Sweat Investing: Let your money work for YOU!
Presented by Lawson Steeple MBA 25 year veteran
Market swings are huge-3 of the top 12 in history in 2011
Interest rates are low-some of the lowest rates in history
Financial products are more complicated-riskier than ever
Advisors are not able to stabilize gains-no one can predict markets
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SCAMS
Obama’s mortgage probe—too little too late?
The worst criminals have already settled with fines paid by stockholders/insurers and slaps on the wrists. No one has gone to jail or had to give up their spoils of the plunder of the mortgage market. Executives have learned that the benefits outweigh the penalties—$2.9 million benefit with $542,000 given back in one case. Would you Do it again if you were them? http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/business/mortgage-task-force-has-fancy-name-but-will-it-get-tough.html

12 people decide GOP election—Supremes convert US to oligarchy paid by wealthy
A quarter of the money amassed by Romney’s campaign and an allied super PAC has come from just 41 people, each of whom has given more than $100,000, according to a Washington Post analysis of disclosure data. Nearly a dozen of the donors have contributed $1 million or more. Some of Romney’s biggest supporters include executives at Bain Capital, his former firm; bankers at Goldman Sachs; and a hedge fund mogul who made billions betting on the housing crash. These and other donor details follow the release last week of Romney’s tax returns, which showed millions held in the Cayman Islands and other overseas havens and a tax rate that is far lower than that paid by most American workers. Since Citizens United decision by Supremes that "money is speech," most Americans can’t afford to have their vote count. A dozen anonymous contributors (foreign governments?) have made GOP candidate. Who pays for Obama's election?

IAN
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