The following graphic breaks down the most expensive medical procedures by cost and takes a closer look into the rising cost of healthcare in our country. Take a look to learn more.
(Click to enlarge)![IG 024 HealthProcedureCost Final Thumb 002 The Cost of a Cared For Nation [Infographic]](http://carrington.edu/cccblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IG_024_HealthProcedureCost_Final_Thumb_002.jpg "The Cost of a Cared For Nation [Infographic]")
[Via: Carrington College's Health Information Technology Program]
Income taxes are a fact of life and, unfortunately, it can be costly to have them prepared and filed electronically by a tax service or to buy a computer program to assist you in preparing them yourself. The good news is there are services available to help many Americans prepare and file their income taxes for free. Whether you need help preparing your income taxes or prefer to calculate them yourself using an online tax program, there are options available at no cost to you.
In association with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), there are several online tax service companies that offer free use of their online software as well as one free federal e-file. This service is generally available to individuals who earn an adjusted gross income of $58,000 or less and, in most cases, who file simple tax returns. Each company has its own eligibility requirements so it is important to look at each one before choosing a service. This year, TaxAct.com is offering free tax preparation and e-file of federal taxes to everyone no matter your age, income or type of federal tax form you file. You will, however, have to pay an additional fee to prepare and e-file your state tax form. For more information, visit the IRS website at IRS.gov and click on the Free File logo.
Free tax preparation and filing services in locations across the country through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly Program (TCE) are funded by grants from the IRS. VITA offers tax services to those with low to moderate yearly incomes of $49,000 or less. Trained volunteer tax counselors work with you to prepare your federal and state income taxes and, in many cases, file them electronically. Sites are easily accessible in local schools, colleges, shopping malls, community centers or libraries. The TCE Program offers tax preparation and filing services to people age 60 and older. To find a location near you for either VITA or TCE, go to IRS.gov and type the name of the program into the search.
The AARP Tax-Aide Program also offers free tax preparation and filing services to both senior citizens age 60 and older and low to moderate income individuals. Trained and certified volunteers assist in preparing federal and state tax returns as well as filing them electronically in most areas. There are over 7,000 locations across the country that offers this service. For more information and a location in your area, visit AARP.com. You do not need to be a member of AARP in order to use this free service.
VITA, in association with The Armed Forces Tax Council (AFTC) assists military personnel and their families with free tax preparation and filing. This service is available at military installations around the world and the tax counselors are trained in the specific tax needs of military personnel and their families.
Preparing tax returns can be confusing for some people and can also be costly if you use a service. Using one of these free services not only makes it easy but also offers piece of mind that your taxes will be completed by a competent, certified tax counselor.
Shopping for car insurance is not fun, but it is important. If you choose to drive without car insurance, you put yourself, your family and your assets at risk. In addition to those serious risks, driving with car insurance is against the law, and if you are caught you run the risk of losing your drivers license for a long time.
But even though car insurance is a vital purchase, it is not a cheap one. The high cost of car insurance is one of the most common reasons drivers cite for going without this vital protection. Fortunately, there are some things drivers can do to lower the high cost of car insurance and get the protection they need. Putting together your own buying guide before you shop is one of the best ways to get the most comprehensive coverage at the lowest possible price.
Before you start shopping for car insurance, you need to know exactly how much coverage you need. If you already have a policy in place, you can check the details within that policy and use those coverage levels to shop for a new, and hopefully cheaper policy.
If you do not currently have insurance, take a look at the value of the assets you own and buy insurance coverage worth at least that much. Most states have a mandatory minimum amount of coverage drivers must have, but that amount might not be sufficient to cover your potential liability.
You might not realize it, but how well you pay your bills could have a big impact on how much you pay for car insurance. That is because many car insurers consider not only your driving record but your credit record as well. Those companies claim that there is a statistical correlation between an individual’s credit score and their likelihood of having an accident, but no matter what the reason, it pays to be prepared.
Take the time to pull a copy of your credit report and review it carefully. Notify the reporting agency of any inaccuracies and demand that they be removed from your credit report. If your credit truly is bad, seek out companies that base their rates solely on how well you drive.
Collision coverage provides reimbursement for damages to your vehicle caused by an accident, while comprehensive coverage protects you if the car is damaged by a natural disaster, or if it is stolen. If your car is an older model, it might not make sense to carry full comprehensive and collision coverage on the vehicle, since the maximum the insurance would pay is the book value of the vehicle.
To determine if collision and comprehensive coverage still makes sense, find the value of your car and compare it to the cost of that portion of the insurance coverage. If the cost of collision and comprehensive coverage exceeds 10% of the value of the car, you are probably better off dropping that expensive insurance.
Taking these things into account and knowing where you stand can reduce the cost of the car insurance you need without compromising your protection or putting your personal assets at risk. Taking just a few minutes to prepare can allow you to save hundreds, or even thousands of dollars on your car insurance over the course of a year.
Posted by Nhatvi in Career, Miscellaneous, Resources, Review, Social Media on 12 22nd, 2010 | 7 responsesThe number of online scams is huge and growing. The sheer number of scams makes it difficult to catalog them all but there are similarities in the methodologies used by scammers that apply across a broad range of cyber crimes. It is important to recognize these techniques and know how to react when they are being used. Many of the newest scams are not really new, but modified versions of old scams.
Unfortunately, high unemployment and scarce job opportunities have led to a proliferation of scams that take advantage of individuals seeking a way to earn income. There are a number of ways scammers try to take advantage of unsuspecting job seekers.
One scam involves the victim’s participation in illegal money laundering activities. Two variations of this scam entice the job applicant to become part of a criminal operation. These are the payment forwarding or processing scam and the postal forwarding or reshipping scam. In both cases, the victim can be contacted by the scammer as a result of a response to an unsolicited e-mail, a resume posting or the victim sending a resume in response to a rebate or payment processing job.
In the payment forwarding or processing scam, the victim is asked to provide bank account information to the scammer (the new employer) or to open a new account using information supplied by the scammer. The scammer deposits money into the account and asks the victim to wire the money (less a commission) to a third account usually outside the country. There is no processing of rebates or payments, just the illegal laundering of money for a small commission.
In the postal forwarding and reshipping scam, the victim receives shipment of goods and then reships them to a foreign buyer, in return for a commission. This scam involves shipping products to the victim and then having the victim reship those products to another destination, usually another country. A scammer has likely purchased the products with stolen credit cards or other hijacked funds and the victim merely ships the products to another (usually foreign) address, where they will be fenced. This is obviously an illegal activity.
Many job applicants are anxious to secure employment and cyber criminals are more than willing to exploit that anxiety. Applicants post their resumes on a job site and wait to hear from an interested employer. Unfortunately, not all jobs posted are legitimate and criminals troll some job sites looking for unsuspecting victims. In many cases, the scammer has designed professional looking ads that may include links to what appear to be legitimate company websites.
Not all job sites are the same. Some require verification of recruiters to protect the applicants and have clearly defined privacy policies. Others may be more open and have fewer protections. The posting of bogus ads is often simply a ploy to capture the personal information of the unsuspecting applicant. The simplest trick is to include a link to a bogus site and instruct the applicant to click the link where additional information is requested. Other approaches may be a follow up e-mail from the “employer” offering an attractive sounding job and requesting personal information. Often, the excitement of finding a job after a long and frustrating search may cause the applicant to let down their guard and be taken in by the scammer.
Because of this threat, online job applicants should include only work-related information on the posted resume. After gaining credibility with the applicant, the scammer will try to get the applicant to reveal sensitive personal information such as social security number, date of birth, bank account numbers, and home address. A common rationalization is that the company needs the information because employee paychecks must be direct deposited. The applicant should not disclose this information based on an online job offer.
Everyone has heard the expression that you should never pay for a job. Some scammers pose as headhunters or employment agencies that insist that the applicant pay a fee before starting the job. Once the fee is paid, the headhunter and the job disappear. If you want to deal with an employment agency, always thoroughly check them out before making any commitments.
A second type of scam involves trying to trick the applicant into making up front payments for some type of training as part of getting the job. A related scam involves the applicant receiving an advance paycheck for the job that is an overpayment and then the victim is asked to wire the amount of overpayment back to the “employer”. Once wired, the cash is gone and the employer’s check proves worthless, resulting in the victim’s loss of the wired funds.
Common sense is the best defense against employment scams. Examine how well the ad is written and if its language, spelling, grammar and sentence structure are up to standard. If not, the originator may be a foreign scammer. Before providing any personal information, think long and hard about why an employer would need the information. Do they really need your social security, bank account and credit card numbers and do you want to give anyone this information until you are 100% sure of their legitimacy?
Denial of service is a new scam that has been reported in certain areas of the country, particularly the northeast. In this scam, the criminal first gains access to personal information through one of the usual phishing methods such as e-mail, social media, careless telephone conversations or malicious software. Once enough information has been gathered, the criminal launches a denial of service attack. This involves using automated dialing programs and multiple accounts to tie up all of the victim’s means of communications, including phones.
By incapacitating the victim’s communications, the cyber criminal creates a diversion, making it impossible for the bank to verify transactions with the victim. The criminal impersonates the victim either by phone or online and raids the victim’s bank, online trading, or other asset management accounts.
One popular scam is to use official looking communications from Government agencies to trick the victim into giving a scammer sensitive personal information. This may include getting e-mails from Medicare or the Treasury Department asking for information to apply for some type of rebate, refund or stimulus check. Official looking communications may come with the IRS logo asking for information so you can get a tax refund, update your file or some other reason.
If you click on a link to these e-mails, you will likely be communicating with a cyber criminal, not an agency of the US Government. If you provide the personal information requested you are setting yourself up to be a cyber crime victim. Keep in mind that these agencies do not send you e-mails and they do not ask for any personal information in any reply to e-mails. If you receive any of these e-mails seeking to get personal information, notify the appropriate authorities.
Social media scams prey on the sociability of members. Although social media have become a very popular way to keep in contact with friends, relatives, business contacts and former work associates, they also can be a hunting ground for scammers. This risk can be mitigated by limiting the amount of personal information that can be used by scammers on phishing expeditions.
Cyber criminals will hack accounts when possible and use the member’s contacts to send out e-mails to their friends asking for money. Often, the rationale for the money request is that the friend is stranded somewhere and they have been robbed. Without their credit cards, passport and cell phones, they have no way to get home. A new scam, often called “grandparent distress”, has arisen. In this scam, the grandparent is urgently requested to send money because the grandchild is in desperate need of help because of an accident, medical emergency or some other reason.
Other scams may relate to dating. Often, the victim develops a relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend who may or may not be in another country. After the relationship and emotional attachment develop over time through online and telephone communications, the foreign boyfriend or girlfriend wants to come for a meeting so they can deepen the relationship with an in person meeting. At first, the scammer may not ask for any money for the trip to keep from arousing suspicion. Often, just before the trip the friend needs money for the plane ticket, visa or for some medical emergency and requests the funds. If the ploy works, the money is sent and the friend is never heard from again.
The number of advance or upfront payment scams is too numerous to mention. These scams are designed to achieve one goal – trick the victim into making an upfront payment or reveal sensitive personal information in return for a promise of a much larger payment. In addition to the well-known up front payment Nigerian 419 Scam, there are lottery scams, inheritance scams, prize winning scams, real estate and vacation rental scams and many others.
The current real estate market has produced a new scam where the scammer offers to pay an above market price for an advertised property but needs and advance payment for some trumped up reason. A scam commonly called the “mistake scam” involves the scammer issuing a counterfeit check or money order for more than the purchase or rental price and then having the victim reimburse them for the difference with a wire transfer. In the case of the prize-winning scam, the scammer may ask for your bank acct number and PIN to pay for shipping and handling.
- Keep all of your virus protections and computer security features up to date.
- When you receive an unexpected message on your computer, avoid the temptation to act quickly and take your time and think before reacting.
- Online, on the phone and in everyday activities, be aware of the need to keep your personal information protected.
- Never respond to unsolicited e-mails asking for verification of personal information even if the request looks like an official communication and has a familiar look and logo. Call the real company and ask them if they sent you a message.
- Be alert to the dangers of responding to scary messages imploring you to click on a link for a download to fix a problem with your computer or virus protection.
- Never send money or agree to deposit a check from someone you don’t really know and then agree to wire money back to them. Once you wire money, it’s gone. Do not fall for this well-known scam.
- If you receive a job offer online, do the research and make sure the employer is legitimate by thoroughly checking them out with independent third parties.
- Limit online resume postings to job related information. Use job sites that require employer verification to view the resume and have privacy policies.
- Be diligent in reviewing your bills and financial statements, including statements received in the mail and viewed online.
- Use common sense and be very skeptical of any investment recommendation sent to you by e-mail. Remember the popular saying of economists that there is no such thing as a free lunch.
- Watch out for trick sign ups. Know the originator, you may end up with a difficult to cancel subscription or inadvertently download malicious software on to your computer.
Online Activities Require Vigilance
Modern society depends on online communications taking place in a secure environment. Because online communications have become such an integral part of everyday life, caution must be exercised in using these capabilities to their fullest without allowing the criminal element to take advantage of the situation to exploit unsuspecting users. Every user has to take every precaution to protect themselves and others from the threat of cyber crime.
Sources for this article included the FBI’s new e-scams and warnings and the Federal Trade Commission’s On Guard Online website.
Posted by Mark in Career, Job Search, Resources, Review, Social Media on 05 18th, 2010 | 13 responses
Note: If you are interested in writing on Environmental Graffiti please send an email to zero@environmentalgraffiti.com (the site is currently “by invite” only). Be sure to put “applicant.com” as subject and you will be provided with a special invite link (for applicant.com readers) that will allow you access right away. To learn more about the platform please read below.
Environmental Graffiti is the first environmental site in the world to bridge the gap between social media and paid-for journalism. Through a product called the Graffiti Index*, Environmental Graffiti is able to pay users for every page view they generate. If a user writes a popular article, with 100,000 views, they can potentially earn thousands of dollars, a welcome boost in today’s economic climate. Currently the platform pays 25% of all revenue and plans to scale that upto 80% in couple months.
The new site is a hybrid that brings together all the best aspects of social media and online magazines, benchmarking the social features of Facebook, Twitter and Digg, as well combining the editorial quality of National Geographic. The platform is a content democracy: users create the articles and determine which ones hit the front page. Environmental Graffiti edit the articles to ensure a strong focus on quality control.
Features of the Environmental Graffiti community include:
Chris Ingham Brooke, Founder of Environmental Graffiti says
Environmental Graffiti gives you the freedom to express yourself, share your knowledge with millions of people and crucially earn revenue. From extreme sports to bird-watching, you control and create the news, the news does not control you.
Environmental Graffiti was started in May 2007 by Chris Ingham Brooke, then just 19 years old, working from a barn in Oxfordshire, UK. Armed with nothing but its fresh and eclectic take on environmental news, it took the online world by storm, generating 1.5 million unique visitors a month. After receiving requests from over 3,000 people to write articles, the new community enables users’ voices to finally be heard.
This week we talked about why a blog is must for job hunters and how to make the most out of an online job search. Since we have been talking online job search this week, we wanted to create a guide that talks about different platforms and how you can utilize each of them.
Gone are the days when people used to knock on doors to pick up job application forms. More people have started utilizing the power of internet and harnessing the social aspect of it via popular platforms such as twitter, linkedin, facebook etc. Although these platforms are essential to building contacts and reaching out to prospective employers, there are other ways the web can help you land your dream job. In this post we will cover a few of the things that each and every job applicant should keep in mind and apply to make sure there job search online becomes worth the effort. The only thing we all need to keep in mind is that the potential and the results may not be visible right away, but in the long run it can make a lot of difference and help you stand out from others. Read the rest of this entry »
Most of you who have been reading applicant for quite some time know that when it comes to job search, we think the web can’t be ignored, not anymore. Of course, a hand shake and face to face conversation still beats all forms of virtual connections but the use of web for job hunt purposes is of as much importance.
The evolution of the internet has given us tools to connect and facilitate conversation among many other things. These conversation and connections overtime can lead to healthy relationships which can help you land a job. Even if you have a job, having a presence online and following these tips will keep you prepared if you ever become available in the market. That’s when these tips will matter the most. But thinking forward is the best way to tackle things so even if you aren’t looking for a job today, the tips below are crucial and will aide your job search if there ever is a need. Read the rest of this entry »
Today there are very few people that are active on the web and don’t have a blog. Although many people use personal diaries that hide under their pillows, an online diary (blog) has gained popularity in recent years. The popularity and the hype surrounding the notion that every one should have an existence on the web, at least in the form of a blog is quite justified. Blogging gives the writer and other users a platform to build a community which will eventually help in many facets of life including job hunt.
Today I want to focus on how blogging can directly help when it comes to landing a dream job. Whether you are looking for a job after a layoff or simply looking for an alternative way to earn a little extra, I hope these tips will come in handy. Read the rest of this entry »
Dream jobs are one of those things that many dream about. Some dream to be the CEO of an internationally recognized company whereas for some a good paying job is good enough for a dream job. It seems like many people are giving up hopes on their dream jobs due to rising unemployment and hurting economy. Although the current situation may not be as good as we would like it to be, there certainly is hope. And dreams more often than not are conquered when there is hope.
There are few things that every job applicant needs to remember when it comes to landing the job of their dreams. Today we want to explore a few of those things and how it might make you a strong candidate in the eyes of your potential employer. Read the rest of this entry »
When it comes to looking for a job, the first thing that comes to mind is a resume. Usually when we think of resume, we think of something that is clean and contains everything there is to impress an employer. However, not all resumes are the same. Although we have a certain mindset as to what a resume will look like, some people take the concept of resume above and beyond. In the past we have covered creative resumes and once again it’s time to look at some more. Some of these resumes are ones people actually used during a job interview and some are concept only, but they are some of the most creative resume you’ll ever see. Read the rest of this entry »
