Month: March 2018

There’s not much more to say about tax scammers than has already been published, but taxpayers need to be wary of thieves who want your identity and your money. If it sounds too good to be true, then it’s most likely a scam. At the top of the IRS’s list of scams targeting taxpayers this year are:

• erroneous refunds
• phone calls from the IRS or debt collectors
• phishing and malware schemes (a means of obtaining your personal information by posing as a trustworthy entity)
• bogus emails
• scams which actually target legitimate tax preparers
  

According to FedSmith.com, the average refund paid to taxpayers in 2017 was $2,878.00. Whatever your refund amount is this year, why not put those dollars to work and get ahead?! Here are a few ideas:

• Is credit card debt keeping you awake at night? Why not use that return to help pay down your credit card balance, or pay it off completely. If your current card doesn’t offer benefits, transfer the balance to a card with lots of rewards, low introductory interest rates, and perks just for using your card. Spending money by using this type of card can be fun and economical.

• Reducing the principal on your home mortgage can dramatically affect the life of the loan. Think about using your refund to shave some years off the loan, while saving money in interest. It might seem like a small amount today, but even the smallest amount can make a dramatic difference down the road.
  

Your financial well-being is important to us. VLFCU is committed to providing you with resources to manage your money, and we’re thrilled to introduce a new digital education initiative to power your financial learning. We’re calling it Financial Empowerment. This program offers an engaging learning experience around critical personal finance topics such as building emergency… Continue reading Introducing Financial Empowerment