Family: “Anticipating” Your IRS Refund Can Cost You Plenty

“Anticipating” Your IRS Refund Can Cost You Plenty

Written by James H. Dimmitt

While accountants are reaching for aspirin, millions of Americans are reaching for some fast cash this tax season. Unfortunately, those who reach for fast cash in repparttar

form of a “refund anticipation loan” are getting hit with interest rates and fees that are out of this world.

The tempting ads are plastered in newspapers and on television for “fast cash refunds”, “express refunds”, or “instant refunds.” The ads offer to get your refund in a day or two, or in some cases even instantly.

What is a “refund anticipation loan”? It’s a loan that borrows against your anticipated tax refund from repparttar 111253 IRS. Refund anticipation loans, or RAL’s as they are known in repparttar 111254 tax industry, carry annual percentage rates (APR’s) of about 60% to over 700%, a fact that many consumers either don’t realize or simply overlook.

RAL’s are marketed to people who need money repparttar 111255 most such as low and moderate income workers. A report by repparttar 111256 National Consumer Law Center notes that “about 40% of repparttar 111257 12 million refund loan customers in 2000, were families who received repparttar 111258 Earned Income Tax Credit, repparttar 111259 largest federal poverty assistance program.” And since repparttar 111260 RAL’s often use repparttar 111261 term “refund” in their ads, many of those who take repparttar 111262 bait don’t realize that they’re receiving a loan and not their actual refund from repparttar 111263 IRS.

Is Mothering Wearing You Out?

Written by Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

The following article is offered for free use in your ezine, print publication or on your web site, so long as repparttar

author resource box at repparttar 111252

end is included, with hyperlinks. Notification of publication would be appreciated.

Title: Is Mothering Wearing You Out? Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D. E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com Copyright: © 2003 by Margaret Paul Web Address: http://www.innerbonding.com Word Count: 810 Category: Parenting

IS MOTHERING WEARING YOU OUT? By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

I always wanted to have children and I was completely thrilled when I had my first child. Nothing, however, prepares a mother for what it’s like to be responsible for a child 24/7.

Before my son was born, I had time – time to read, to be creative, to spend time with friends, to take long baths, to spend time with my husband, to breathe. Suddenly there was no time for me. And, of course, after two more children, having any time for me became even more challenging.

That’s when I started getting sick. Not sick in repparttar 111253 way you could name it – just sick in repparttar 111254 way of being fatigued all repparttar 111255 time. As much as I loved being a mother as well as continuing my practice as a psychotherapist, I was wearing out. Something had to change.

The real problem was in knowing how to take care of my children and myself, instead of just taking care of my children. I had been brought up to be a caretaker, which meant that everyone’s needs came before mine. That was really what was wearing me out. Not only that, but putting their needs before mine was creating children with entitlement issues – repparttar 111256 more I put myself aside for them, repparttar 111257 more they demanded and felt entitled to my time and attention.

Unfortunately, I didn’t discover this problem until my children were adolescents. By that time I was headed for serious illness. My immune system was shutting down and various doctors said I that if I didn’t change my lifestyle, I would end up with cancer or something equally serious.

It’s not easy to start to attend to yourself when you’ve always put others’ needs before your own. Yet for me it felt like a life-and-death situation. I had always been afraid that if I said “no” to my husband and children, I would discover that they really didn’t care about me. I was afraid to find out that they wouldn’t support me in learning to take care of myself. Yet I finally reached repparttar 111258 point where I was willing to lose them rather than continue to lose myself and my health.

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