Cash Money Life» Personal Finance

Best of Money Carnival

Ryan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:47:52 +0000

I have a special presentation today – the 42nd edition of the Best of Money Carnival. The BoM Carnival is a gathering of personal finance articles submitted by bloggers from around the world. The host site then has the task of reading through the entries and selecting the 10 best to share with his or her readers. This is actually a fun task and not as easy as it sounds because there are usually quite a few great articles. But it is certainly rewarding to be introduced to new websites and bloggers through events such as this.

There were 46 entries this week, so I had the pleasure of reading a wide variety of personal finance articles this weekend.

Something for everyone. We’ve got topics covering college education, careers, retirement planning, estate planning, real estate, investing, making money, money management, charitable gifting, fables and more. There should be something for just about everyone!

Below are the 10 best articles from this week’s entries. The articles I selected were those that offered a unique perspective or idea on personal finance. I tried to include a variety of articles and perspectives. I hope you enjoy them.

Note: the host blog is required to pick a weekly winner, which is not an easy task! I listed my favorite from this week first, then listed the other article in no particular article. They should all offer readers a valuable perspective or bit of information.

Best of Money Carnival – March 15 Edition

Learning Financial Lessons From Aesop’s Fables posted at The Amateur Financier.

The Amateur Financier shares an entry about about some of the useful financial lessons hidden in plain sight in the fables of Aesop.

Sunk Costs and Underwater Mortgages posted at The Oblivious Investor.

Mike Piper writes: If you’re considering selling your house, how should the price you paid for it factor into the decision? (It shouldn’t.)

Dollars Spent posted at Do You Dave Ramsey?

Dave Ozment reminds us that spending money is dynamic and isn’t just a once or twice a month event. Maybe it’s time some of us review our spending patterns.

Easy Money: Good and Not So Great Ways to Get Money Fast posted at PT Money.

PT Money presents: How can you get cash quick if you needed it badly? Let’s say some unfortunate event happened and you needed a large sum of cash immediately (within a day or two). You’ve got no time to actually get a job to earn or make extra money. How could you get some easy money?

Top Tools for Analyzing Your Salary posted at Free Money Finance.

FMF shares some tools to help you find out how much others in your position make so you can potentially ask for a raise.

Great Financial Advice From The In-Flight Safety Handbook posted at Enemy of Debt.

Brad Chaffee shares a post for the person who is always helping others but struggles to get ahead themselves. If they were to read the in-flight safety instructions about how to use the oxygen mask on an airplane, they would learn why they are going about it all wrong. (Hint: Take care of yourself first).

Charitable Gifting Rules for Baby Boomers posted at Consumer Boomer.

Consumer Boomer presents: If you’re considering leaving a legacy to your favorite charity, here’s a rundown of the gifting rules on some of the more popular options.

Financial Retirement Planning For A Life Expectancy of 100 posted at The Digerati Life.

Silicon Valley Blogger asks: How long do you think you’ll live? The real question here is whether we are financially prepared to address our requirements as we age.

How To Make Sure Your IRA Beneficiary Gets Your Money When You Go posted at Wealth Pilgrim.

Wealth Pilgrim helps us prepare: If you make any one of a list of mistakes completing your IRA beneficiary forms, your IRA beneficiary could be very upset…and broke. Here’s how to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Why Parents Shouldn’t Pay For Their Kids’ College Education posted at Studenomics.com.

MD @ Studenomics shares his perspective on why parents shouldn’t pay for their kids college education. There is a good debate in the comments section worth reading.

Thanks for joining us for this edition of the Best of Money Carnival. For more information about the BoM Carnival, visit the Best of Money Carnival home page or the blogcarnival page. Next week’s edition will be held at ErikFolgate.com.

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This article written by Ryan Guina. Ryan is the founder and editor of this site. He is a writer, small business owner, entrepreneur, and professional in the corporate world. He served over 6 years in the USAF and also writes about military money topics at Military Finance Network.

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Options for Homeowners Who Can’t Make the Mortgage

Guest Contributor — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:11:14 +0000

In an earlier post I addressed the moral obligations of making your mortgage payments and not walking away from a home when you can afford the monthly payments. But, I also mentioned that there are people out there who really can’t afford their payments.

There are many homeowners out there who want to stay in their homes, can’t afford the mortgage and don’t know where to turn. While there’s no guarantee of a mortgage modification, there are options out there that many struggling homeowners aren’t aware of.

Housing counseling

Homeowners who can’t make their mortgage payment have options. The first person they should seek out is a housing counselor. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a list of certified housing counselors in every state. These counselors are trained to help homeowners assess their financial situation and explore every option available to help them stay in their home, including working directly with your lender. Plus, the counseling is free.

Government programs are available

There are federal programs to help some homeowners. The most known program is the Making Home Affordable Program, which aims to assist homeowners through refinancing or a mortgage modification. One important benefit of the Making Home Affordable Program is that borrowers do not have to be delinquent on their mortgage to get help. In fact, to get a refinance the borrower cannot be delinquent.

Loans held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac may be eligible for refinancing. Other loan servicers may also participate in this program. A list of participating loan servicers can be found on the program’s web site.

If refinancing isn’t an option, there is also the option of a mortgage modification under the Making Home Affordable Program. The modification options may include the lender lowering the borrower’s interest rate, extending the term of the loan to up to 40 years or deferring the principal of loan.

It is important to note that accepting a mortgage modification could have a negative impact on your FICO credit score and you could end up with a balloon payment due at some point.

In addition to the federal program, some states have programs available to help homeowners who are facing foreclosure. Housing counselors in your state should be aware of these programs.

Work directly with your lender

Just because your loan isn’t held by a service provider that is working with the federal program, that doesn’t mean you don’t have options. You can call your lender’s loss mitigation department on your own; however, working with your lender through their loss mitigation department can be a difficult and frustrating experience. Housing counselors have experience dealing with lenders and navigating the process to get a mortgage modification.

Some mortgage modification options are similar to the federal program options such as stretching the length of the loan or allowing for a deferment of the principal of the loan. In very limited cases, the lender may be willing to forgive a portion of the loan. However, this isn’t very likely, especially if there isn’t a case of extreme hardship.

Get help now

Mortgage modifications are very complicated. There are many variables that factor into whether or not a borrower can get a modification based on each individual’s situation. The biggest thing I can stress – besides getting help from a HUD-certified housing counselor – is to get help as soon as you realize you may not be able to make your mortgage payment. Don’t wait until you’re behind on your payments to get assistance. And, if you are already behind and haven’t talking to a housing counselor, do so immediately. Working with a professional is the best way to ensure that you’ve explored every option to help you stay in your home.

Links to Resources:

Find out if your home loan is held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac

Fannie Mae: (800) 7FANNIE or www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup.
Freddie Mac: (800) FREDDIE or www.Freddiemac.com/mymortgage.

Kristen Doerschner is the public relations coordinator for a non-profit debt relief agency and a freelance writer. Through her writing, Kristen covers a variety of topics, but specializes in issues related to financial education.

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This article written by Guest Contributor. This article was written by a guest author. For more information about this author, please see the bio information listed in the article. If you would like to write an article for Cash Money Life, please visit the guest post requirements page.

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Comparing 15 Year and 30 Year Mortgage Terms

Ryan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:41:51 +0000

A few years ago the real estate market was running wild and real estate brokers and investors did everything they could to get in on the action. That included using exotic mortgages with variable lending terms, interest only loans, and other unique arrangements, such as the commonly referred to “liar’s mortgage” where lenders didn’t actually verify borrower income. All of these exotic financial arrangements helped create a real estate bubble. Mortgage terms adjusted upward, people couldn’t sell their “investment” properties, and the real estate bubble burst, which led to depressed housing prices and hundreds of thousands of foreclosures.

Now we are seeing a return to the basics when it comes to mortgage lending: the 15 and 30 year mortgages. You can often get other terms if you ask, but right now most lenders prefer to offer a fixed rate 15 year or 30 year before offering other options. The purpose of this article is to show you the pros and cons of a 15 year and 30 year mortgage, hopefully giving you the information you need to choose the best loan for your situation.

Shorter terms equals lower interest, but monthly higher payments

Before we run any numbers let’s look at a basic principle of finance. Assuming you are borrowing the same amount of money at the same interest rate, the following will always be true: Longer terms equal lower monthly payments, and shorter terms equal higher monthly payments. But it also means more interest paid on longer terms and less interest paid on shorter terms.

Based on this principle, a 15 year mortgage means you will pay more per month, but you will pay off your loan off with less interest and in less time vs. a 30 year loan which comes with lower monthly payments, but longer terms and more interest paid over the life of the loan.

How much interest will you pay on your mortgage?

One of the first things we need to look at is how much you will spend on your house. Take the total amount borrowed and the interest rate and plug it into a mortgage calculator, such as this one from Bankrate.

This will give you the total monthly payment, excluding property tax and homeowners insurance. Note: Before you sign a loan, your lender is required by the Truth in Lending Act to provide you a statement that shows the total amount if money you will pay over the course of the loan if you make each payment as prescribed by the amortization schedule. (Take a look at how much of your money is going toward interest each month. The final number may be shocking!).

15 year vs. 30 year mortgage – Running the numbers

Looking at the final numbers on the amortization schedule, the 15 year mortgage is a clear winner over a 30 year mortgage. As an example, a $250,000 loan at 5% interest results in total payments of $355,857.13 on a 15 year mortgage and $483,139.46 on a 30 year mortgage – a difference of $127,282.33!

Example 15 year and 30 year mortgage payment comparison:

15 year mortgage ($250,000 borrowed @ 5%):

Monthly payment: $1976.98

Total interest paid: $105,857.13

Total amount paid over life of loan: $355,857.13

30 year mortgage ($250,000 borrowed @ 5%):

Monthly payment: $1,342.05

Total interest paid: $233,139.46

Total amount paid over life of loan: $483,139.46

The 15 year mortgage looks like the best option, however, the difference in the monthly payments is $634.93,which is large enough to make that loan unaffordable for many people. (again, these numbers do not include the property taxes or homeowners insurance, which should be the same, regardless of the duration of the loan).

When a 30 year mortgage beats a 15 year mortgage

In most cases, the interest rates on a 15 year mortgage will be slightly lower that that of a 30 year mortgage, giving yet another reason the 15 year mortgage can be a better option that a 30 year mortgage. But there are times when a 30 year mortgage is better than a 15 year mortgage, and it boils down to one word: flexibility.

A 15 year mortgage locks you into a higher monthly payment than a 30 year mortgage. Even if you can make the larger monthly payments that come with a 15 year mortgage, a longer term may offer your more financial flexibility.

Using the example above, the difference in the payments was $634.93 per month. That difference in cash flow may be enough to cripple you should something happen to your current financial situation – for example, job loss, major home repairs, major medical bills, or other unexpected expenses may arise that could cause short or long term financial difficulties.

The lower payments that come with a 30 year mortgage may increase your cash flow and help you with other financial goals, such as paying down debt, contributing toward retirement, saving for college, or just giving your more month to month financial flexibility.

Remember, you can always pay extra on your mortgage each month, but you can’t always pay less.

Which is better – 15 year or 30 year mortgage term?

If you would have asked me a couple years ago, I would have said that the 15 year mortgage term was better by far. The interest rates are often slightly lower and you end up paying less interest overall because you make fewer payments (sometimes hundreds of thousands less in interest).

But if I were to buy a house today, I would choose a 30 year mortgage and make larger payments if I could afford to pay the difference. That way I get the same effect of a 15 year mortgage and can pay it off in roughly the same amount of time, but I also have the option of scaling back my payments if I need the additional cash flow for other needs. The added flexibility is well worth the longer term and slightly higher interest rates.

What are your thoughts on mortgage terms? Do you prefer 15 or 30 year terms?

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H&R Block At Home Giveaway Winners

Ryan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:08:38 +0000

Last week I held a giveaway for two copies of H&R Block at Home. I held the drawing this weekend and the winners are thriftygal and Night Runner. Congratulations! For more information about H&R Block at Home, check out this H&R Block At Home review.

Ask and Answer Personal Finance questions. Do you financial questions you want answered, or do you have information you would like to share? Then check out FiLife.com, which is community centered on personal finance information. FiLife connects people who have personal finance questions to people who have answers. Users can ask any question related to personal finance topics and other users will respond. There are a wide range of users, including financial professionals, so answers come from a wide range of life experiences and best practices, hopefully giving you the information you need to make good financial decisions.

3 Key Decisions Young Families Need To Make When Preparing a Will

Craig — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:40:21 +0000

Too many young families do not have wills. Actually, too many families in general do not have wills. Dave Ramsey reports that 70% of Americans do not have a will at the time of their death. Why? It is a combination of business and the feeling of invincibility. Young families think that once they get older they will take the time to prepare a will. They think that this time is better spent planning for retirement and other such activities. As a result, preparing a will is a task that is often neglected even though it is extremely important.

Common reasons why young families don’t prepare wills:

People hate thinking about death. They’d rather focus on the positive aspects of life.
Death happens to old people, so most people delay preparing a will until they are older.
Making a will forces people to address their own mortality and some are not emotionally prepared to face the possibility of death.
Some people think they don’t have enough money to make a will.
Preparing a will is too complicated.

Some of these issues are psychological; others are financial. I’ll help you with some of the financial parts and let you work through the psychological parts on your own.

Let me assure you, preparing a will is not complicated, and a will does a lot more than split up your money. A will also tells the courts who you want raising your kids.

Remember: A will is one of the most loving acts a young father and mother can do. In the case of an untimely death, you will leave your family with some direction and assistance.

3 Crucial Will Related Decisions For Young Families

Who will you designate as the guardian?

The guardian is the person who would have custody over your children if both of the parents passed away. If you do not prepare a will or designate a guardian, then by default, you’re giving the court permission to choose a guardian for your children if you and your spouse pass away.

The person you designate as the guardian should be someone who shares your family values and who you know loves your children.

Important: Be sure to ask potential guardians if they are willing. Guardianship is voluntary, so the courts will not require them to keep your children. For this reason you need to know that potential guardians are willing.

What will happen to your estate?

You will need to decide who gets your possessions and when they can access your estate.

In the case of smaller estates, it is not uncustomary to allow the guardians to use your estate to help pay the cost for raising your kids. See this related article regarding how much money to leave your children’s guardians in your will.

If you have a larger estate you will also need to decide when and how your kids will receive their share of the estate. It is recommended that you state your wishes using specific ages and percentages. For example, when Little Johnny turns 18 he has access to 50% of his inheritance and to the other 50% when he turns 21.

When you have additional children you will want to be sure to update your will.

Who will be the executor?

The executor may be the same as the guardian. This could be a good idea if the estate is smaller. It will make things simpler for the guardian/executor.

For most families a personal friend could server as the executor. Look for someone who is trustworthy, has a solid financial foundation, loves details, and is financially organized.

Once again, it is suggested that you confirm that the person is willing to serve as the executor.

With larger estates you may consider a paid professional to serve as the executor.

The simplest way to draft a will:

Once you have made these important decisions, it is time to actually draft the will.

For simpler wills (smaller estates) using some type of will maker service is advisable. I used US Legal Forms to prepare my last state specific will. Once you buy the product they walk you through all the important steps. For larger estates or more complicated estate plans, you may be better off going with a lawyer who specializes in estate planning, trusts, and related areas.

Once the will is completed it should be notarized, registered with the county clerk (depending on the requirements of your home state), and kept in a safe place. Be sure a trusted friend knows where the will is and also holds a copy of the will.

Wills are not fun to prepare, but they are crucial. Most importantly, they are a blessing to your family.

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This article written by Craig Ford. Craig is a fulltime missionary in Papua New Guinea who writes Money Help For Christians and Help Me Travel Cheap, a frugal family travel blog. He is the author of Money Wisdom From Proverbs, has a Masters of Divinity degree, and (most importantly) eats homemade pizza with his family every Friday night.

All content copyright Cash Money Life.

Great Financial Gift Ideas For Kids

Guest Contributor — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:30:32 +0000

No matter how old you are, getting a gift is always an enjoyable time. That is of course if it’s a good gift.

When buying for kids, you usually go down one of two routes. The first route is buying toys, which will make you the favorite uncle, brother, father or pretty much favorite anything. The second route is buying clothes, which makes you the most hated person this kid has ever seen. From my own personal experience, there is no greater reason to cry in your entire life, then to open a sweater on your ninth birthday. Family and friends that do that should be quarantined together on an island, or something comparable.

Financial Money Gifts for Kids

But there’s a third option that a lot of people don’t explore. What if on Johnny’s 10th birthday, you decided to give him something that begins to teach him the importance of finances in his life? Granted, the younger the child, the less likely he or she will understand what you are trying to do here, but there are an ample amount of gift giving ideas that fall into the financial category, and they all have good value.

CASH – The first and most obvious gift that you can give would be cold hard cash. When I had cash as a kid, the world looked different. Possibilities were endless and I was pretty sure I could have purchased any country I wanted for only $20. There’s no heartache and certainly no tummy-ache big enough to bring my mood down from this recent inheritance. The problem with giving cash as a gift is that it really doesn’t do anything to teach children about being responsible with their money. The cash wasn’t really earned so the value it holds isn’t much. While you are certain to be hugged and praised for quite sometime, you can do better.

SAVINGS BONDS – A step up from cash, savings bonds can be absolute torture to a young kid. Having something so close to cash, yet being years away from being able to spend it is a great way to teach patience. (And a great way to be hated as well!) Currently you have two main choices for bonds, the EE and I. Double E-Bonds mature to the value printed on the certificate, whereas the I-Bonds mature to a value greater than that on the certificate. I mistakenly assumed that I was given twice as much money because I always received EE-Bonds. Savings bonds are a good way to teach kids patience, which is a valuable financial lesson.

COINS – Having a family of numismatists, coins were a large part of growing up for me. Each year my family would travel to a coin show or two and teach me about collecting. I learned how to spot forgeries, how to grade a coin’s condition and a lot about American history in the process. To this day, my brother and mother are still avid collectors of domestic gold pieces and have even added paper money to their pursuit. Coins, and hobbies in general, are an excellent way to drive kids to work for what they want. Giving the gift of a rare coin could begin a quest for vast coin collection like no one has ever seen. Just make sure you explain that your gift is worth more than it’s face value, as giving someone a penny for their birthday could be a big letdown.

STOCK – Getting a little more complicated now, stocks are a risky pick for a kid’s gift. There’s no guarantee that the stock will be around long enough for the child to take advantage of the monetary gain, so giving a stock needs to be more about handing over a certificate (Although stock certificates are pretty cool if you ask me). Sit down and explain exactly what a stock is, how it works and how if they want to, they can add to the value of the stock over time. Try and get them to follow the company they are now invested in and hopefully you will find them, one day, watching CNN on their own time.

IRA – Continuing to venture farther and farther away from the conventional, opening up an IRA that friends and family can contribute to is an off-the-wall idea that might just work. There are a few rules to note if you choose this option as (1) the kid must be working and earning a salary because the amount you can contribute is either $5,000 or his entire salary (whichever is smaller) and (2) it can’t be touched until the age of 59.5. It’s a somewhat strange gift to give a teenager but if your looking to teach true patience, making someone wait over 40 years to see your gift is probably the best way to do it!

COLLEGE SAVINGS ACCOUNT – A Coverdell Account is, in essence, a college fund for students to use for anything relating to the expenses of school. Anyone can contribute to a students account and as long as the child is under 17 years of age, they can be signed up for a Coverdell Account. The immediate benefit is that the withdrawals are tax free, again as long as they are used for educational purposes. The contributions however, are not tax deductible. In the instance that the student does not pursue a college education, the funds are assumed as income and are subject to regular income taxes. A 529 College Savings Plan is another way you can help a child save for college. You can compare the two accounts here: Coverdell ESAs compared to 529 Savings Plans.

This guest post comes from Michael, a contributing editor of the Dough Roller, a personal finance and investing blog, and Credit Card Offers IQ, a credit card review site.

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How Much Money Should You Leave Your Children’s Guardians in Your Will

Ryan — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:17:00 +0000

My wife and I finalized our will and estate plan last week, which included naming a guardian for our child and setting aside some money for the guardians to take care of her if we were to pass on. This was the first estate plan we have created together and it was a learning experience for us. Less than a week after signing the paperwork, we realized there were a few things we would have done differently, mostly regarding how much we should leave for the care of our children.

The importance of naming guardians for your children

Until last week, our estate plan was sorely lacking. I didn’t have a will, so my estate would transfer by law, which would be to my wife, then daughter, then other heirs (father would be next in line). My wife had a will that was several years old and predated our daughter. So we felt it important to create a new will that would not only specify that our assets would go to the surviving spouse, then to our daughter, but to also name a legal guardian for her. The last thing we wanted was to have something happen to us and have the rest of our families scrambling to determine who would take care of our little girl. It saves heartache, time, and legal bills for everyone involved.

Choosing the guardians. Choosing the legal guardian for your children is a personal matter, and one I won’t delve into in this article. But please put a lot of thought into it before deciding on someone to raise your children in the event you die. You will want to choose someone you trust implicitly and someone that has similar values (religion, ethics, eduction, money, etc.). You will then need to sit down and talk with them about it, ask and answer questions, etc.

Providing for your children after you die

If my wife and I were to both die before our daughter, she would receive the balance of our estate. But that would go into a trust that she wouldn’t be able to touch until she turned 21 or received special permission from a court to use the funds (college tuition, for example). But you shouldn’t stop there.

One section of the will included a provision for the guardians of our child. These funds are designed to help offset the cost of having another child (or children) to the household and can be used to buy a larger car, make an addition to the home, help with incidental costs, etc.

Factors to consider:

Guardians housing and vehicle situation
Food and clothing
Medical expenses
Education
etc.

How much should you leave for the care of your child(ren)?

The law firm we used recommended leaving at least $20,000 to offset the cost any housing additions or vehicle expenses. So my wife and I looked at each other and said, well if they recommend a minimum of $20,000, how about $50,000?

That was the number we wrote down and left it at that until the night after we signed our wills. Then we discussed that number and some other fun things like how much life insurance we need to buy. (we are currently under-insured, but are shopping for more life insurance – stay tuned for more on that topic).

Now that my wife and I sat down and thought about it a little more, we both feel that $50,000 is woefully inadequate for the long term care of our daughter. Our baby is only a few months old and would require almost 2 decades of guardianship. I can’t help but think the minimum we should have provided would be $100,000, if not more than that.

The topic of estate planning caught us off guard and is something we should have put more thought into. Unfortunately, our paperwork is signed, sealed, and delivered at this point, and redrafting our wills will probably cost a little extra (legal fees for drafting the new will, witnesses, notary public, etc.).

Our plan is to discuss this with our daughter’s chosen guardians and go from there. We also plan to address this the next time we update our will, such as if we move, have another child, or have another major life event. An estate plan can, and should, be modified to fit your needs as they change.

Do you have anything to add?

This is new ground for my wife and I, and we would love to read your responses if you have other ideas regarding how much to leave for your children’s care, or other related estate plan topics.

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Announcing the YNAB 3 Winner

Ryan — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:04:23 +0000

This past week we held a giveaway for a free copy of You Need a Budget 3, which is one of the more popular budgeting software programs currently available. YNAB 3 was recently released and features quite a few enhancements over the previous versions, including enhanced reporting and graphics, an easier to use interface, and the ability to track other assets such as investments. It also runs on Adobe Air, which means it can run on PCs, Macs, and Linux machines. Read a full You Need a Budget 3 review for more information.

You Need a Budget 3 winner

To be eligible, readers had to leave a comment about a topic they would like to see featured here on Cash Money Life. The feedback is helpful to me, and I appreciate everyone chiming in. I will try to cover most topics over the coming weeks, but there are a couple more advanced topics that I will need to leave to the experts.

By far, the most common request was for budgeting and communication, so I will take a look at how to incorporate this into a series of articles about money management, budgeting, and communication. If there are other topics you would like to see here on Cash Money Life, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact me. My goal is to help you better manage your money and I will do what I can to help you achieve your financial goals.

And the winner is… The winner was randomly selected from all eligible entries using the random list generator from Random.org. The winning comment was left by Dante. Congratulations, Dante! I will put you in contact with the folks at YNAB, who graciously sponsored this giveaway.

Tax software giveaway coming soon

I will be giving away some tax software in the near future. Reader feedback has been helpful, so I will most likely use the same rules for the giveaway – leave a topic or topics you would like to see covered on Cash Money Life. In the meantime, check out the recent review of H&R Block At Home (formerly TaxCut). I will try to get a review of TurboTax written soon, so you can compare between the two most popular online tax software programs.