FiLife

A few years ago the Internal Revenue Service struck a deal with the Free File Alliance, a group of tax software companies. The Alliance, which includes Intuit (maker of Turbo Tax), H&R Block and EZTax Return, agreed to provide free federal income-tax preparation software to the majority of American households.

If your household had $54,000 or less of income in 2007 (the number changes each year), then you can prepare and file your taxes online for free using tools that Alliance members provide. The only place you can this access the software is on the IRS website (here).

The Back-story 
Why would these companies offer the software free to people who might otherwise pay for it? Well, the IRS has publicly ruminated about the possibility of creating its own electronic tax-preparation software. Alliance members probably hope that offering their own freebies will keep the government from meddling in the billion-dollar industry.

This may well be enough to keep the IRS at bay. After all, if more Americans file their taxes electronically, the IRS will save boatloads of money in processing costs. (more…)

Until recently, I never thought about when I wanted to retire or how much my retirement years will cost me. I just assumed that 10% of my income plus my employer’s matching contribution, compounded over time, would do the trick.

Then I stumbled upon Boulevard R’s website a few weeks ago. Boulevard R is developing a tool to help young people think about retirement planning in new ways.

After spending a few minutes on Boulevard R’s site, I quickly realized that I had been thinking about retirement all wrong…or rather that I had not been thinking about it at all. (more…)

Last week I mused about the joys of the TurboTax free question. Some readers pointed out that the fun-loving folks at the Internal Revenue Service had also set up a free, year-round tax hotline. In fact, there are numerous hotlines.

Eager to spill my fiscal guts to another complete stranger, I decided to give the IRS line a test drive and see how it fared.

Let’s put it this way – if you’re into being scolded, hold music and wasting your time, then the IRS hotline is for you. (more…)

I love Cinderella stories.

Whether it’s J-Lo rising from the Bronx or Rocky knocking out Mr. T., there’s something inherently wonderful about the idea of someone rising from scrubbing floors to being transported into that proverbial pumpkin.

So when I heard about Alan Corey, the 22-year-old basement-dwelling bro who met his goal of becoming a millionaire by the age of 30, my own impoverished twentysomething soul leapt for joy, but was skeptical. Was he a drug-dealer? Did he invest in Apple right before the iPod? Is he related to Mark Zuckerberg?

In his book A Million Bucks by 30, Corey reveals his secrets. Whether you choose to follow them or not is another matter. (more…)

There are hotlines for getting help with crossword puzzles, hooligan neighbors and even your love life. But what I really want is a tax hotline. A free one. Someone who will chat with me about what forms I need, which ones I don’t and how to fill them in. For free.

As it turns out, this financial fairy tale can be a reality for anyone until January 31.

The folks at TurboTax have started FreeTaxQuestion.com. They claim that when you submit your question there, a real person will call you and answer your question within 24-48 hours.

That sounds as believable as all that toads-into-princes garbage, but I thought I’d send ‘em some questions to see what would happen.

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My Money Matters Kit reminds me of my college roommate. Every morning she wrote little messages to herself on the bathroom mirror in red lipstick that would say things like Today will be a good day! and You are beautiful. The only problem was that at the end of the day she was still a manic-depressive with an over-eating problem. All of which is to say that her Dior-Rouge- Nectar-scribed affirmations were as beneficial to her self-esteem as My Money Matters Kit is to my finances.

The $24.95 kit consists of four parts: money tips written on index cards, work booklets, a money journal and what else? Affirmations! Including priceless wisdom such as I am not afraid to take charge of my own finances and I am open to receiving prosperity and abundance.

The press release for the kit says that this product is for women who have “been intimidated and overwhelmed by money issues.” Apparently the plan is to appeal to these types of women with bright colors, floral accented affirmation cards, and girly font. The press materials proudly point out that the entire kit can comfortably fit into a pocket book! How exciting!

What this kit is trying to tell me is: We know you’re insecure and afraid of complicated things like money that men typically deal with, but don’t you worry, women can do it too!

All this from a woman who got an MBA in finance, worked for Bear Stearns and launched her own business. The kit is authored by Gina Gichon, founder of Down-to-Earth Finance, a company that offers financial advice to women. We’re guessing she doesn’t find money all that scary.

Besides the fact that the feminine packaging and uplifting affirmation cards are offensive and condescending, the kit isn’t even that useful. Sure, the money tips offer some basic advice like enrolling in a 401K and obtaining a credit report. But who wants to be sitting around filling out work booklets about this stuff?

Most of us just want someone to tell us how to put together a 401K and which mutual fund to choose, not obvious things such as “Pay your bills on time.” (Thanks, My Money Matters!) And the handy “My Money Journal” in the kit is really just a notebook where you write down what you bought and how much it cost. You can get the same thing without the carefully divided columns for $1.69. It’ll even fit into a pocketbook.

–Irina Aleksander

This week I spent an hour of my time on a site called FreeRice.com. In that hour, I donated 730 grains of rice to hunger-stricken areas in underdeveloped countries after answering 73 multiple-choice vocabulary questions correctly.

FreeRice is the brainchild of John Breen, founder of Poverty.com and TheHungerSite.com. The concept here is ridiculously simple:

• You answer multiple choice questions that test your vocabulary
• Advertisers pay FreeRice to place ads on the web pages alongside the questions
• The advertisers’ money pays for the rice
• The more questions you answer—and the more ads you eyeball—the more rice you’re able donate

Unlike most other charities, you don’t have to spend any money in order to help alleviate hunger. All you need is your brilliant vocabulary. (more…)

You have some hard-earned money that you’d like to invest. Who would you feel more comfortable having manage it: the first guy pictured or the second?

I’d go with the more bookish-looking gentleman in the first photo. Turns out, however, the man behind the white shades is actually the same person pictured in the first shot: James Perkins, portfolio manager at Thrasher Funds. That’s not to be confused with Thrasher, the skateboarding magazine. He chose to list the photo on the left alongside his profile on Thrasher’s website; the other one ran with his Thestreet.com column.

Thrasher launched a mutual fund last month — the GendeX Fund – which is being marketed towards, you guessed it, Gen X and Gen Y. A group, that, according to Thrasher, looks something like this:

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Last week, eBay launched MicroPlace—a site for individuals who want to invest in microfinance institutions, which make small loans to shopkeepers and others in developing nations.

MicroPlace is built around the “teach a man to fish” philosophy, rather than the “give a man a fish” approach of charities where you simply give your money away to the needy.

Here’s how it works:

1) You go to Microplace’s web site and pick a microfinance organization – not an individual borrower in a specific region
2) You invest a minimum of $100 in the organization
3) That organization pools money (from you and others) and then lends it to local borrowers. It decides on its own what interest rate to charge the borrowers.
4) The institution collects all loan payments from the borrowers. Once it does, you get a return on your original investment

This type of investment won’t make you rich—the interest rates you can earn currently range from 1.5% to 3%. MicroPlace is likely to appeal to those who can’t afford huge charitable contributions but would like to make an investment that’s also altruistic.

We spent a few hours evaluating the MicroPlace site this week. Our findings after the break.

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Earlier this week, Ezra Mound, FiLife’s systems administrator and resident security expert, sent a few questions to Mint founder Aaron Patzer about how Mint keeps user data safe (click here and scroll down to see our series of posts on Mint’s tool).

Here are Ezra’s (abbreviated) questions with Aaron’s (unabbreviated) answers: (more…)