This post is part of my Freaky Financial Fridays series, where I argue a case from an opposing view, generally in contradiction to my own philosophy or conventional financial advice.

Most financial planners and personal finance bloggers warn against having a large income tax return.  They argue that overpaying throughout the year is equivalent to giving the government an interest free loan.  While you might be better off keeping the money within your control, there are still some benefits to getting a large tax return, particularly during tough financial times.

Many People Don’t Save

If you were to have less withheld from each paycheck, you would get a smaller return at the end of the year.  If you were to save or invest the extra money you received in each paycheck, then a large refund could be a bad thing.  But many people don’t save.  More money in each paycheck would mean more to spend each week.  Configuring your withholding to get a large refund effectively forces you to save throughout the year.  Yes, you’re basically saving at zero percent interest and inflation makes your money less valuable when it is finally returned to you.  But isn’t it better to save something at 0% than nothing at a higher percent?  Of course it is.

Small Savings Returns

When online savings accounts were offering 5% interest, your interest free loan to the government seemed pretty bad.  But now rates are down around 2% and many brick and mortar banks are offering

Continue >>

Small business owners are largely seen as the ones who can help to bring us out of the economic crisis.  Women entrepreneurs are an important factor in that group’s success.  A New York non-profit,  Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, has been contributing to the success of women-owned small businesses for years and now their help may be more important than ever.  They are the group behind the business growth competition, Make Mine a Million $ Business.

With a grand prize of $100,000 and a year’s worth of advertising opportunities, the Make Mine a Million $ Business RACE (M3 RACE) is a competition to inspire women entrepreneurs to reach revenue goals.  It does this by providing personalized business assessment and revenue tracking tools; quick and easy networking; sales, marketing and promotional opportunities; and the chance to win

Continue >>

Many people who read Richer by the Day and my posts on the Lending Club blog know that I am a full time telecommuter.  To address the needs of other telecommuters and give insight to those considering this career path, I launched a new Telecommuting Blog this week.  Content is still rather light, but over time it should become a valuable telecommuting resource.  The site will also give career and productivity advice, so even those with traditional jobs may find the information useful.  I hope you take the time to check it out and would welcome any feedback or comments that you have.  Thanks!

There are many strategies to stall or stop foreclosure proceedings, but one of the fastest growing methods is known as “Produce the Note.”

Overview

The basic idea is rather simple.  In order for foreclosure to proceed, the lender who is foreclosing must prove that they are the ones who own the loan.  Proof is established by the lender producing the mortgage note, which is the original piece of paper you signed at closing.  This strategy may stall foreclosure because the original note may be difficult (or impossible) to find.

One side effect of the housing bubble was the repeated selling of mortgage notes.  Many notes were sliced up, combined with others and resold.  All of these transactions make finding the original note very difficult.  A University of Iowa study reported that in 40% of the bankruptcy cases caused by foreclosure they analyzed, the original note was not found.  Had the homeowners requested that the note be produced, the foreclosure may have been delayed.  Without proof of loan ownership, the judge may throw out the foreclosure proceedings until the lender locates the necessary paperwork.

The original note is usually found, and some judges may allow proceedings to continue with lesser documentation, but for people with no other options, requesting that lenders produce the note is worth a shot.  The request will likely stall forclosure, at least temporarily, and may give them the time you need to settle the debt and remain in their home.  In some cases, a little more time is all that is needed to avoid foreclosure entirely.

Fallout

While you can’t blame people for employing this method, the simplicity and rising use are cause for concern.  I tried to present the overview in the light in which it is normally presented to homeowners facing foreclosure.  Note that the pitch didn’t start with a caveat like, “If you lost you job, became disabled, or some other event beyond your control is forcing you towards foreclosure and a slight delay could save your house, try this method.”  Rather it’s seen as a blanket tactic for everyone facing foreclosure, regardless of whose fault.  A large percentage of homeowners are facing foreclosure simply because they bought way more house than they could afford.  Even people facing layoffs shouldn’t get too much sympathy if they’ve been living beyonds their means and have nothing in the way of an emergency fund.  There are certainly foreclosure situations that do deserve sympathy, but I fear that the majority do not.  Rather than promoting a blanket tactic to delay all foreclosures, I would prefer that Produce the Note requests would only be used in those truly sympathetic cases.  In the rest, I would urge an alternative strategy: homeowners taking personal responsibility for their own poor choices and the consequences that occur as a result.

Two of my latest posts were included in blog carnivals recently:

How Many Mustangs Could The $800 Billion Stimulus Buy? was included in the Carnival of Government and Money.

Fixed Rate Mortgage Comparison: 15 Year vs 30 Year was included in the Carnival of Personal Money Management.

There are many similarities between eliminating debt and trying to lose weight.  Looking at those similarities can help you to achieve both once you have achieved one.  Here are just a few:

Progress takes time

Lotteries and surgeries aside, there are few ways to speed up either process.  Those who try shortcuts, get rich quick schemes and crash diets, usually end up worse off as a result.  The trouble is that the real solutions, the golden rules (below) take time and people want results now.  Carefully tracking your measure of progress, in pounds or in dollars, will allow you to see the small changes that add up over time.

They Affect the Majority

The average American household with at least one credit card has nearly $10,700 in credit card debt, according to CardWeb.com, and the average interest rate runs in the mid- to high teens at any given time.  A full 63% of Americans are overweight, according to

Continue >>

Though it may be as common as in previous years, there seems to be many more taxpayers discussing IRS Code 1301 this year.  After filing a return, and checking their status, they are told to call the IRS and mention reference number 1301 to the IRS Customer Service Representative.

The code basically means that your return was filed at least three weeks ago and processing has been delayed.  There are many reasons why processing might be delayed, but a particularly common one this year involves the new 2008 Recovery Rebate Credit.

An early sampling of 2008 returns showed a very large number of them had errors regarding this credit.  You are supposed to use the amount you received in last year’s stimulus check to calculate the proper number for the Recovery Rebate Credit.  Since most taxpayers got the proper amount last year, only a small percentage of people will actually qualify for the credit.  The problem is that many people are entering the wrong amount for the credit, instead entering the amount they received last year.  Though such errors are generally detected and automatically corrected by the IRS, since so many people are making the mistake longer delays are the likely result.

As of January 30th, the IRS reported that refund delays were running no longer than 1 week behind as a result of this issue.  So if your return is delayed and you are in the IRS reference number 1301 group, you’ll probably only have to wait about one extra week.  You can always call the IRS, just to be sure.

Please help others in a similar situation by using the bookmark button to share this post on Digg, StumpleUpon, Reddit, Buzz, etc.  When your tax return arrives, come back to leave a comment (below) detailing your actual delay.

As reported by The Digerati Life and elsewhere, Experian is terminating their relationship with Fair Isaac that allows consumers to access their Experian FICO score.  Starting tomorrow, Experian will continue to sell your FICO score to the banks and lenders that decide on your credit approvals, but will no longer give you a way to access the information.

So today is your last change to get your Experian FICO score.  You can access that individual score using the FICO Standard product from myFICO.com and choosing your Experian score.

The US Mint unveiled plans for a new penny back in September and today the coin enters circulation.  The release coincides with the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth and was marked with a ceremony at his birthplace in Hodgenville, Ky.  There are actually four new pennies, each honoring a different period in Abraham Lincoln’s life.  All of the coins will have the same front as the current penny.  The reverse will feature the Kentucky cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born and spent his early childhood,  a young Abraham Lincoln educating himself while working as a rail splitter in Indiana, a professional looking Abraham Lincoln in front of the Illinois Capitol, and finally the half-finished United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.  The coins will be released, in order, about every three months.

The new penny is bound to renew the debate on whether the penny should be eliminated, which remains one of the most popular posts of all time here on Richer by the Day.

The total price tag of the stimulus plan being pushed through congress by President Obama has yet to be finalized, but it seems to be settling in near $800 Billion.  A number like $800,000,000,000.00 is difficult to comprehend, so I decided to look at it in a more tangible way.  Here’s the value of the stimulus in terms of Ford Mustangs, in their many shapes and sizes.

Hot Wheels Mustangs

Amazon has this 5 pack of Hot Wheels Mustangs available for $16.99.  At that price, the stimulus could be used to buy 20 of these 5 packs, or 100 Hot Wheels Mustangs, for every child in the entire world.

Power Wheels Mustang

Also available from Amazon is the Power Wheels Mustang.  At $304.39, the stimulus could alternatively send one of these to every child in the world.  Perhaps a split between Hot Wheels and Power Wheels would bring

Continue >>