If you filed your federal return electronically, I found a nice little resource over at TaxAct.com that can give you an idea of when your refund should arrive. Basically it looks like they divide filings into weekly cycles that start and end at 11am EST on Thursdays, with direct deposit refunds being sent the following Friday (note: this is the day they initiate the transfer, meaning you’ll probably receive it a couple of business days later) and paper checks being sent a week later. Here a link to the chart:
You can also access specific information on the status of your return from the IRS website here using your social security number, filing status, and refund amount.
My apologies for the delays in this post and the general lack of post for the last week. I work in corporate accounting for a major corporation, so last week we were scrambling putting together all our schedules for year-end results. On top of that, we put our house up for sale as a for sale by owner using a flat-fee MLS listing service last week (more on that in future posts), so last week was an incredibly busy week to say the least.
Here’s some more free money for all of you out there in Austin who do the bank account deals. PlainsCapital Bank is offering a $150 bonus for opening a free checking account. Just open the account with a minimum of $50 using the offer code FCAU1109 by February 19 and you’ll get $50, and when you have your direct deposit made to the account you’ll get another $100 for a total of $150. You could previously apply online, but they have since restricted the offer to Austin residents and it must be opened in person in one of their Austin branches. The terms of the offer say that you have to keep the account open for 90 days to avoid a fee, although the disclosure documents in the application process say 180 days, so plan on having the account open at least 6 months.
To qualify for the $50 bonus, you must open a new PlainsCapital Bank Free Checking Account by Feb. 19, 2010, with a minimum deposit of $50 in new funds (e.g., money not currently held at PlainsCapital Bank). The $50 bonus will be automatically deposited into your new account within 10 business days. To qualify for the $100 bonus, you must set up direct deposit into the new account within 60 days of account opening. Once direct deposit is set up and a deposit is made, the $100 bonus will be automatically deposited into your new account within 10 business days. Bonuses cannot be considered the minimum opening deposit. Limit one offer per customer. Checking account to remain open for 90 days or the account could be subject to an early closing fee. Account is subject to approval. Bonus is considered interest and must be reported on IRS Form 1099-INT.
UPDATE 1/14/2010 3:05pm: It looks like they have completely taken down the offer from their website. You may want to call to see if they will still honor this offer in-branch before making the drive over to one of their locations.
I have seen a lot in the blogosphere of late about the “Move Your Money” campaign, which aims to motivate people to boycott the big banks that were the primary recipients of government bailout money and move their business to smaller community banks and credit unions. This has led to a lot of discussion of boycotts in general, including this great post over at Bargaineering.
But if you disagree with a company’s business practices, is a boycott the most effective means of jabbing a stick in their eye? I would submit to you that it isn’t. You may do the most damage to the offending company by being what Best Buy termed several years ago as a “devil customer”. Best Buy determined that some of their customers who bought high-priced items or overpriced accessories without a sale were “angel customers”, but there was a certain percentage that were unprofitable customers that were considered “devil customers”. Included in the behaviors of the devil customer were taking advantage of price-match policies and only buying loss leader items (items sold below cost to get you into the store with the hope you’ll buy other items at regular price). Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson was quoted as saying, “They can wreak enormous economic havoc.”
So how can this be applied to protest companies you don’t like? Simply be a devil! For retail stores don’t boycott the store, but go there and only buy obvious loss leaders. If it is a store like Walmart with a price-match policy, go and price-match other stores’ loss leaders. Buy nothing that will actually make money for the store - save those items for their competitors and let those stores reap the profit.
Taking this concept back to banks, do everything you can to make sure the bank doesn’t make money on you. Move your money elsewhere unless they are paying an extremely high promotional rate that they are likely losing money on. Take advantage of promotional offers to open checking accounts and credit cards for bonus money or other perks, then only use the account enough to qualify for the bonus and avoid services fees and as soon as you are allowed cancel the account. If you do the dollar coin hustle, use an account over there to dump off your coins and make them eat the expense of handling them. Basically do anything that will cost them money but where you won’t incur any fees.
Think of it this way: if you boycott a company, they just don’t make any money off of you. But if you are a devil customer to a company, not only do they not make money off of you but they actually lose money by your having a relationship with them.
Here’s an easy freebie to start your day. You can get a free 1-year subscription to Popular Mechanics magazine by signing up at RecycleBank. There is no cost to sign up and when you do you will receive 100 reward points automatically, which can be redeemed for the subscription. If Popular Mechanics isn’t your thing, you can choose one of the other subscriptions listed below instead.
One of my colleagues at the office is fighting with an identity theft scam involving her primary checking account, and listening to the line of bull they are feeding her has inspired me to post about the things you bank doesn’t want you to know if you are an identity theft victim.
Here’s her story: she had her wallet with her drivers license and debit card stolen in early November. Before she even realized it had happened, the fraudsters used the license and debit card to cash forged checks against her account. Note they didn’t forge checks drawn on her account, but they forged someone else’s checks and used her account to cash them against. She found out when she got an overdraft alert from her bank (Wells Fargo) and promptly contacted the bank to alert them to the scam and filed a police report. Wells Fargo ultimately opened them a new checking account and closed the old account that had been compromised.
So that’s the end of the tale, right? Nope! Because the fraudsters are still running around with her ID and know she banks with Wells Fargo, they simply ran the scam again last week and cashed forged checks against the new account. Now she’s fighting with Wells Fargo again to get the mess straightened out and the funds returned. They are now talking about opening a third account with a teller alert attached to supposedly prevent this from happening yet again.
So what does this story illustrate? Two things:
When something like this happens, it is best just to move your primary account to another bank. In this instance changing the account number does no good because the fraudsters still have her picture ID and know she is a customer of the bank. Because it is typical for customers to not know their account number, it is common practice for bank tellers to use the picture ID to look up the account. That’s how this fraud was perpetrated a second time even though the old account was closed.
Any safeguard depending on the teller is of minimal effectiveness. I say this as a former bank teller. A teller alert or note on an account does little good if the teller never reads it. When the bank is busy and customers are lined up as far as the eye can see, most tellers will just press whatever button they need to clear the alert and complete the transaction. This is especially true of tellers working the drive-thru lanes. The limited visibility of the customer created by the way most drive-thru lanes are configured (especially when you are dealing with the farthest lanes and/or the passenger as the accountholder) and the desire to get customers in and out fast also limits the effectiveness of an ID check. If a bank manager tells you a teller alert will prevent fraudulent activity on your account, they are either lying or stupid because they should know better.
Although one of my resolutions is to eliminate unnecessary accounts, there is a lot of wisdom in having a secondary checking account that you can use in this type of situation and/or keeping most of your funds in an account other than your primary checking account. In any case if this happens to you, it is probably best to retreat to a different bank and hope the scammers don’t follow you there.
This is the second installment of Property Pitfalls, a series where I discuss some of the hazards out there waiting to ensnare unsuspecting homeowners. Today’s topic: Security system contracts from the big name national companies.
Crime is all over the headlines, and if that wasn’t enough of an encouragement to install a security system for your home Brinks/Broadview Security and ADT, the two big national alarm companies, put out plenty of advertising to remind you just how vulnerable you are. But think twice before you sign a contract with one of those big companies, because you may have trouble getting out of it and may ultimately end up with nothing to show for it.
When I was young and stupid (about five years ago) I signed a contract to have an alarm installed and monitored by Brinks Home Security, which has since been renamed Broadview Security. The sales pitch sounded good: they would install a system in my home free of charge if I allowed them to monitor the alarm for a monthly fee, and a portion of that monthly fee would be offset by a discount on my homeowners insurance. So I stupidly signed a contract with them, and only later realized the many gotchas in the deal:
By signing a contract, you are locked into a contract with them for three full years, and if you fail to notify them in writing that you want to cancel service your contract will be automatically renewed for an additional year at the end of the current contract term. This isn’t like your cell phone where you can go month-to-month after the contract expires, and trying to break the contract at any point will subject you to an avalanche of fees.
The free system they offer to install is likely completely inadequate for most homes. What is included in the standard install is a single keypad, two door or window sensors, and a single motion detector. If you want other doors covered or motion detectors installed, it will cost you extra.
The equipment you are “buying” isn’t really yours! You’ll notice in the fine print of the contract that the alarm system installed in your home is property of Brinks. If you cancel service, they can request that equipment back. Even if they don’t request it back, the control panel and keypads are proprietary and will not work with any other alarm system. If you want functioning alarm equipment, you’ll either need to resign with Brinks or pay someone else to install new equipment in your home.
Alarm monitoring through Brinks is much more than you can get through other providers. Brinks current monitoring rates start at $31.99 a month. We found another highly rated provider in the Houston market that provides service for $16.99 a month with no contract, while some online-based providers charge as little as $8.99.
Your best bet is to find a locally-based company to install and monitor your alarm. You may pay a little more for the equipment, but you will ultimately have a functioning system without being locked into a single provider. While there is nothing technically illegal about what Brinks/Broadview and ADT are doing, this is ultimately a raw deal for consumers. Whatever company you go with, be sure to get recommendations from friends, research the company with your local Better Business Bureau, and make sure their monitoring service is UL certified (this is what qualifies the monitoring for a discount on your homeowners insurance). And please, please, READ THE CONTRACT IN FULL!
My wife and I just purchased a new home in November, and the experience is reminding me of the many pitfalls that are out there to take advantage of homebuyers. With that in mind, this is the first in a series of posts about the raw deals to watch out for in buying a home.
The first pitfall I’ll discuss is homestead exemption filing services. Especially first-time homebuyers may know what a homestead exemption is and that it can save them money, but will be under the mistaken notion that getting a homestead exemption is a difficult process. Preying on that notion are homestead exemption filing services that mail offers to file the papers for a homestead exemption on your property for a modest fee of $35 to $100 in most cases. Filing for a homestead exemption is not hard, and paying someone else to do it is a complete waste of money.
First off, let’s discuss what a homestead exemption is. A homestead exemption is simply a portion of the value of your home that is not subject to property tax. The amount that is covered under a homestead exemption will vary based on the rules of the various tax jurisdictions you are subject to (i.e., for us in Texas the county exemption amount is different than the School District exemption amount). You will ultimately pay property tax on the appraised value of your property less the homestead exemption amount.
So how do you file for a homestead exemption? Generally you file a short form, usually to a tax assessor’s office or county appraisal district, on which you provide your name, the location of the property, your contact information, and a certification that the property is your primary residence. For our home in Texas, the form is a single page that took less than five minutes to complete. You can likely find instructions online for filing a homestead exemption by just Google searching the phrase “homestead exemption” and your county’s name. If not, find a phone number for your local tax assessor or appraisal district and they can point you in the right direction.
Sounds like easy money: go test drive a Smart Car and get a $25 Target gift card. So I decided to drop into the Smart Center in Sugarland, Texas to do a test drive and qualify for the gift card. What a waste of time that was! Turns out they only do test drives between 9am and 2pm and by appointment only, meaning the only way I or any other person with a typical job working business hours could do a test drive is to take off of work. So I guess if they only do test drives during a short window during business hours the target market for these things must be unemployed pot-smoking hippies eating granola and wearing Birkenstocks?
Moral of the story is that Smart Center Sugarland sucks, much like the cars they sell. Unless you are going for that Euro-trash chic look you can certainly find something better than these glorified go-carts.
December 31st, 2009 by BillyOceansEleven
1 comment »
Right now through December 31, 2009 (yup, today) Lending Club is offering borrowers a $150 Amazon gift certificate for a new loan. Here’s the details from the email I received:
Have you considered applying for a low, fixed-rate loan from Lending Club?
As a Lending Club investor you already know that funding loans is confidential, quick & easy. As a holiday bonus to current Lending Club Members, you’ll get a $150 gift card to Amazon if you get a loan in the month of December!*
Whether you are looking to transfer credit card balances or consolidate other debt, a loan from Lending Club can be the perfect solution. Here are just some of the benefits of a Lending Club loan:
Low, fixed interest rates. Unlike credit cards, your interest rate will never change.
No hidden fees. Period.
36 equal monthly payments. Payments automatically deducted from your bank account.
No pre-payment penalties. You can pay off the loan at any time with no penalty.
Private & Confidential. Your personal information and identity is kept completely private and confidential.
Apply in just 3 minutes and get an instant decision >>>
As a Lending Club investor you will need to create a new account, using an alternative email address, to apply for a low, fixed rate loan.
Sincerely,
The Lending Club Team
There is no prepayment penalty on the loan, however there is a small origination fee based on your credit rating. With what they referred to as an A2 rating, my fee was $12.50 on a $1000 loan. $1000 is the minimum you can borrow. The process was pretty easy and I’ll end up netting $137.50 less whatever interest accrues on the loan in the short time before I pay it off (a few days at 7.4% shouldn’t be much). Slick deal!
Click here to apply and get in on this deal. Enter in the referral code Member_596953 and you’ll earn us a bonus as well and help support this site. If you want to sign up as a lender with that code you’ll get a $40 bonus, but I don’t think we earn anything from the referral.
