Don't
go cheap...and be
careful whenever your Social Security Number's involved in
any type of transaction - especially when it's as sensitive
and critical as your tax returns. And
remember...especially when it comes to tax advice...you
get what you pay for. In fact, you're not gonna believe a
story I heard last week from a post office worker. He told me
that he was dreading the annual onslaught of
last-minute tax filers and how - like clockwork - people
will ask him for tax advice while they're standing
in line. They'll actually hit on a guy working behind
the counter at the post office for complex tax advice! Amazing...
By
the way: If you haven't filed
your return yet, make sure you mail it by Certified Mail,
Return Receipt Requested. You've got to paper your
trail and have proof that you mailed your return on
time. Not
gonna make the deadline? If it looks like you're gonna be
dead meat on Black Tuesday, here's
what you need to know to file an extension and buy yourself
some extra time.
Remember,
haste makes waste. Don't stub your toe by rushing to get
your return turned in, only to create a net set of problems:
Kathy
Kristof will help keep you off the IRS' radar by
avoiding simple mistakes. Read all about it right here...
Don't
go searching for a pair of "Depends" adult diapers
just because you don't have your taxes together:
Relax...and read
all of the resources Ben's put together to make your life a
little easier.
Oh, you don't care about April
15th? Could it be because you haven't filed your taxes
in awhile? You're
not alone; it's estimated there are over 14 million
non-filers flying under IRS radar, folks that have fallen
through the tax cracks because of illness, job loss,
domestic realignment (my fancy term for divorce). It
doesn't matter how you got there, and maybe it's not you,
but someone you know. A son or daughter. A
co-worker. A neighbor. Listen, it's gonna be
easier if you find the IRS rather than they find you;
click
here for all of the scoop you need to test the IRS waters
and get the proper (and affordable) representation.
If
you've traveled overseas-or even to Mexico for that
matter-and you used a Visa or MasterCard on your trip, you
might have some money coming your way soon: Last
week a California Superior Court Judge ruled that
MasterCard
and Visa violated unfair competition laws when they failed
to adequately disclose the currency conversion fees charged
to folks who used their credit cards outside of U.S.
borders.
With this much
money on the table and this many attorneys involved, it
might be a few weeks before you get to cash in on this
little plastic windfall...and
I'm sure you'll hear about it right here or on my
award-winning website first!
The
rules about your privacy, your medical records and your
right to challenge the information contained in your medical
records are about to change in a big way: Beginning
(yesterday) Monday, April 14, 2002, the
unauthorized disclosure of personal medical information can
cost the big mouth that pops off about your most private
medical information 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine!
It's
the first phase of a law passed seven years ago called the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA:
The first sign of change will come at
the hospital or health care facility Registration Desk.
Before you check in you'll be required to sign a bunch of
forms titled "Notice of Privacy Practices." This
"papering up" process will supposedly be the first
step towards protecting us from loose lips in white smocks
or multi-colored scrubs. Ben's
Bottom Line? Here's a
concept...read any/all paperwork [and understand it, of
course] before you
sign it!
Another
benefit of HIPAA reform? Finally, in
the spirit of making sure the information in our medical
records is actually accurate, we're going
to have the chance to actually inspect our secret
files!
Since
we're breathing a little easier thanks to the fall of the
tyrant in a beret (no, not Jacques Chirac!)
and with a long Easter weekend and summer vacations on the
horizon, now's the time to cash in on a soft travel economy
and some great hotel, condo and rental car deals:
United Airlines is on the
financial ropes...and American Airlines is seriously
thinking about filing for bankruptcy this week, so needless
to say the travel industry has seen better times. But
there's a silver lining to this dark cloud. According to
Hotels.com's Bob
Deiner, some terrific deals that are still very
"book-able" for the upcoming holiday weekend.
And if you don't have access to the Internet for future
reservation needs, write down their toll-free number and
book your room the old-fashioned way:
(800) 2-HOTELS
Watch
out for black holes! I'm talking about those
"great deals" that turn out to be cash-sucking
black holes...the kind that pull you and your future down
for the (financial) count: We
all bite on these "deals" that are pushed at us
from just about every conceivable direction, because at the
time, they sound and seem like great deals. (And I'm
just as guilty as your are.) But as NFL referees have been
known to say: "Upon further review" these
deals just aren't so hot after all. Here's MP
Dunvleavey's Top
Ten Ways We Mindlessly Waste Money list; my
personal faves that I think are the most common [according
to my e-mail and own personal experiences] would be numbers
1-3-4-7-9.
Okay
'ya cry-baby: So you're "tapped out" from the big
check you had to write to the IRS this morning. You're
outta cash and outta ideas; what are you going to give
that special someone for their special day (or special
event) coming up? [Take a
deep breath--here comes some self-promotion.]
It's time to be resourceful and share
the wealth! Give 'em
a subscription to the Dose of Dover. You know
it's the most reliable source of insights and no s***
ideas available anywhere on the planet...and it's free!
Sign 'em up
for their weekly Dose
of Dover newsletter
right
here on our award-winning website!
Did
you know the average mailbox gets 18 sales pitches, three
bills and one financial statement every week?
Wait until you hear what our
pals at the U.S. Post Office are cooking up; it's going to
trigger a new tidal wave of junk mail from credit card
giant Capitol One. The
new breed of wheeler-dealers at the U.S. Postal Service are
about to open the flood-gates, cutting deals with the most
aggressive junk mailer on the planet, Capitol One Financial
Corporation.
It's
the first big deal under a new USPS program that the post
office says will help them fade the heat caused by revenues
lost to the popularity of e-mail and electronic bill paying
services. If this deal goes off as expected,
plan
on seeing the post office make thousands of "special
postage pricing deals" just like it in the months and
years ahead. In fact,
I predict that we're gonna see heavy incentives for
companies to mail during slow periods of the year...like the
weeks following the Christmas and New Years' holidays.
By
the way: One of the key
features of this new pricing plan being negotiated with
Capitol One is that the post office won't have to return
millions of envelopes it can't deliver because of bad
addresses. Hmmmmm...I wonder what they'll do with all of
those "addressee unknown" envelopes with our names
on them? Are they going to have to properly destroy them? Stay
tuned...
And if
you'd like to hear the entire, unedited (and politically in-correct) Malcolm
X stamp telephone call I opened up this segment with,
it's
right here on one
of my favorite bad boy website: www.youcanbiteme.com
Just
wanted to remind you that Easter Sunday's coming up this
weekend...and Mother's Day is 26 days away (May
11th): Why not do something
about these two big flower days today? Send some
beautiful flowers that are not only
incredibly-affordable, but will last 2-3 times longer
than the usual junk you send or pick-up at a local store. Of
course I'm talking about amazing flowers, FedExed
direct by our friends at www.tropicalcolors.com
Did
you hear the latest bit of bad press involving our pals at
LAPD? One
of the boys in blue got busted for selling personal and
private information about celebrities to the tabloids.
Okay,
so what if you're not a celebrity? Be
afraid. Be very afraid. Here's why: A
couple of weeks ago a friend-of-a-friend of mine showed me a
postcard she'd received in the mail from LAPD. She'd been
accused by an ex-boyfriend of stealing some cash he'd given
her to pay the rent on her apartment. After she
figured out he was a lying scumbag, she broke up with him
and (surprise!) the scumbag filed a police report on
her, accusing her of theft. The guy's a scam
artist and I'm sure the police/DA's office will figure it
out for themselves, but what amazed me was one of the
apparently acceptable investigative tools used by LAPD.
The
detective investigating the complaint sent this woman a
postcard, a form with information specific to the
case...including a line describing the alleged offense. And
this is where it gets especially dicey: The LAPD cop wrote
on the postcard for everyone to see, that this woman was
being accused of stealing $5,000.
Do
you realize what a horrible violation of your right to
privacy this is? Let me
give you a real life example of how illegal this is
in the civil world: As outlined in a federal law called the
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, it's illegal for a debt
collector to use a postcard to collect a debt. (Read
the law for yourself here; scroll down/locate the following
section: § 804. Acquisition of
location information [15 USC 1692b].)
Why
have our lawmakers outlawed contacting someone by postcard?
Because postcards aren't confidential
forms of communication. They're "out
there" for everyone and anyone to read: From mail
carriers to nosy neighbors or co-workers. The
potential for abuse and embarrassment of the targeted
debtor is obvious.
So
why should the Los Angeles Police Department be allowed
to put any one of us in a similar position of suspicion and
embarrassment? The
reality that a destructive whisper campaign could
be launched by an LAPD-led fishing expedition based
on an accusation is extremely disconcerting.
It's
beyond me how the LAPD
has gotten away with this egregious breach of privacy
protocol - and it's something I'll be pursuing on your
behalf in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned.
There's
a side-benefit of the war in Iraq that's going to directly
affect you and me...and this time the bad guys being
targeted? Those low-lifes of the email direct response world
that jam our e-mail boxes with billions of unsolicited sales
pitches known as SPAM: I
believe the government's gonna come down hard on these
cyber-rogues. Here's why.
The
military - and especially our troops overseas - are tired of
having precious on-line time wasted by spammers filling
up their e-mail boxes with garbage,
from pitches for patriotic-themed crap
like anti-Saddam t-shirts and overpriced
collectors' editions of coins from companies like the
Highland Mint, to
dating and porn websites. Whether they're at sea or
entrenched in a U.S. military camp somewhere in the desert,
they've got a limited amount of on-line time allowed every
day. It's one thing for you and I to wade through a
bunch of spam but in their situation, spam's even more
irritating.
Ben's
Bottom Line? Spam-driven marketing
will continue to thrive as long as you bite on their
offers...and as long as the spammers can get away with this
form of cyber-terrorism. Never
buy anything from anyone advertising their goods or services
through spam...period! Boycott
any company that uses spam and we'll [eventually] see it fall
out of favor. I hope.
It's
the newest (and biggest) trend surfacing in the auto
insurance industry...and it could be setting you up for one
of the biggest conflicts of interest to come along since the
creation of the non-profit
credit counseling service! If
you drive a car, you're gonna be affected!
It's just one more reason why
you can't afford to miss the Easter
Sunday, April 20, 2003 edition of The
Benjamin Dover Show: 5-7am
(Hawaiian Time) 7-9
am (Pacific Time) 8-10
am (Mountain) 9-11
am (Central)
10
am-12 noon (Eastern) 3-5
pm (GMT) 8-10
pm (Baghdad [Saddam who???] time) on
KFI-AM/640,
Los Angeles!
