Why You Should Avoid Tax Refund Anticipation Loans
<p>Have you ever filed your tax return and hoped you could get your hands on your refund early? You're not alone. In fact, this has been a common practice in recent years. Most large tax preparers would offer what's called a tax refund anticipation loan. How it works is they determine how much of a refund you'll be receiving when filing your taxes and then lend you the money immediately so that you don't have to wait a few weeks for the IRS to send you a check. Then when your refund actually does come in it goes towards paying off the loan, less any fees. Sounds good, right?</p> <p>Well, the problem that this is an expensive proposition. Sometimes they will charge you fees in excess of a few hundred dollars just to get your hands on your tax refund a week or two early. This often translates into an APR well over one-hundred percent. Would you willingly get a loan with a 200% APR? Of course not, but that's exactly what these short-term tax refund loans give you.</p> <p>Thankfully, the IRS recently issued a statement that says they plan on eliminating the information they used to send to tax&#160;preparation&#160;services that would allow them to underwrite these tax refund loans. That doesn't mean companies will need stop offering them, but it may curb their wide&#160;availability&#160;in the coming tax season. That's good news because it's a form of predatory lending not much different than payday loans. <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://financialplan.about.com/od/taxplanning/a/Tax-Refund-Anticipation-Loans.htm">Learn more about these loans and what the IRS has to say about them</a>.</p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border:1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://financialplan.about.com/b/2012/02/10/why-you-should-avoid-tax-refund-anticipation-loans.htm">Why You Should Avoid Tax Refund Anticipation Loans</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://financialplan.about.com/">About.com Financial Planning</a> on Friday, February 10th, 2012 at 17:28:48.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://financialplan.about.com/b/2012/02/10/why-you-should-avoid-tax-refund-anticipation-loans.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://financialplan.about.com/b/2012/02/10/why-you-should-avoid-tax-refund-anticipation-loans.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://financialplan.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://financialplan.about.com/b/2012/02/10/why-you-should-avoid-tax-refund-anticipation-loans.htm&#038;zItl=Why You Should Avoid Tax Refund Anticipation Loans">Email this</a></p>


words it is now probable to sell your whole life insurance policy to the highest bidder and take a cash settlement, called the life settlement, and use it for whatever purpose that fits your circumstances.

However, before going down this channel I recommend that you consider your alternatives. Reason about it, there would be certainly not such thing as a life settlement industry if there wasn't a ton of loot to be made switching old policies for new - which is the goal of the industry after all.

They are not in the life settlement business for their health or your profit. In fact it wasn't very many years ago when flock who recommended that you switch an old policy with a new one were literally breaking the insurance laws in their states.

Buying life insurance is just about the most unselfish thing anyone can do. Having some advisor announce you that you don't need it any more and more is repeatedly an irresistible opportunity to receive back to thinking of themselves.

Surrendering a life insurance policy, getting a bunch of gold back for themselves and buying another life insurance policy with some of the proceeds and putting the rest in their pouch is an offer they don't want to refuse.

However, the need for life insurance never goes away. The assets and persons you are protecting and the reasons you ought to want to protect them change, but it's still there. The everyone suggesting that you don't need the insurance anymore because the specific defence you bought it in the first place has changed are not looking out for you, they are looking out for them and their commission.

Before you earnestly consider a life insurance settlement proposal contact the company that sold you the insurance in the first place. Go to the cooperation's web site, not that of the counselor - since they may have very different objectives, and see what options are available without generating a huge new commission for the blood relation recommending that you interaction your old, according to them "outdated" life insurance policy for a new one.

Reason about it, don't you imagine that State Farm, New York Life, Prudential and all the other well established companies have creative ways to adjust the billions and billions of life insurance policies they have sold to meet situations like this? For them keeping the life insurance policies on the books is the single most profitable thing they can do.

So talk to offspring at the home office who are ready to make the adjustments necessary in the whole life policies you to this day have. Then seek the input of knowledgeable fold you trust, maybe members of your business to business peer group, who do not have a financial stake in the finding you make.


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