JoeTaxpayer

The unemployment numbers still not good, and the V-shaped recovery is starting to look like something altogether different.

Joe

Some interesting news  on the mortgage acceleration scam by UFirst Financial.

Tracy Coenen, author on fraud investigation and blogger at Fraud Files, broke the news that UFirst may be looking to cash out and are seeking a buyer.

Tracy published a note that recently went to upper management at U1st Financial:

I know you’ve already met with Sorensen Group, but we still need them to sign the attached NDA. In fact each private equity / venture capital buyer that you talk to needs to sign this NDA.
Any leak to the field that the company is going to be sold will be devastating. We do not want anyone, including potential buyers discussing this.
Thanks.

Rex H. Huang
General Counsel
United First Financial, LLC

Note: NDA means non-disclosure agreement. And I believe this means the beginning of the end. Of course, as Craig Hansen asks, “Where’s the value in UFirst? What would a buyer want? It’s not the technology they’ve developed – that’s crap. I supposed all they have going for them is some ongoing MMA payments, but whoever buys them out would presumably have to keep the MMA servers up and running in order to demand the payments keep coming in. And, they would be associating themselves with UFirst, whose name is now toxic. Who would touch that deal with a 10 foot pole?” Good questions my friend. I’ve been asking this myself.

Joe

My friends at TurboTax just posted Tax Free Days: Back-to-School Savings, a post on two topics, the (sales) tax free holidays in various states, and the deduction for teachers.

Any chance to save a bit shouldn’t be overlooked.

FTC Disclaimer – I am a compensated guest blogger on the TurboTax site. And if you are curious, they did send me that t-shirt I was asking for.

Joe

This week we start with Why You Should Try To Get the Smallest Tax Refund Possible? at my journey to millions. I commented on this, remarking that my goal is to actually to owe a bit on my return, just enough to not owe any penalty. Why lend money to Uncle Sam at zero interest?

Saving to Invest asked Am I Saving Enough Money For Retirement and How Much You Should Be Putting Away in 401K or IRA Accounts? Aside from some technical issues, such as the non-linearity of one’s social security benefit, I found the post to be thought provoking, a heads up for people who are not saving enough.

From my friend B Simple comes the advice Don’t hate yourself for not having a job loss plan, just do it. B helps us understand why the standard 6 month emergency fund is just a start, but the helps explain why you need more, you need a Job Loss Plan. Good reading.

Mike Piper (The Oblivious Investor) guest posted In Defense of the Traditional IRA at Free From Broke. I’ve been trying to get the word out that the Roth may not be right for everyone, and it seems I’m finding some growing agreement out there. Thanks for adding to this discussion, Mike.

With a nod to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People comes a guest post at MoneyNing titled 7 Habits of Highly Frugal People. This is not jut a simple list, the author expands on each of his seven thoughts for an in depth discussion worth your time.

On a frugal note – Ray at Financial Highway offers 8 Money Saving Tips for BBQ. I’m a fan of BBQ, and I’d rather light the grill (or bring the main course to a friend’s house) than go to a restaurant. Ray gives some good tips as to how to do this without breaking the bank.

I’ve looked for the underlying cause of the current economic slowdown for some time, and I found the answer, it’s fellow PF blogger Roshawn Watson’s fault. Read his recent post Economists Blame ME for the Slow Recovery to understand why. And thank you, Shawn, for inspiring my title this week.

Joe