Balanced Living

April 2006

Kick Butts!

April 5th, 2006 is Kick Butts Day

Every day, about 3,000 U.S. teenagers start smoking. If you’re a parent of a young smoker, you can take steps to help the child quit. But first, it helps to understand why teens light up.

Why kids smoke

Much of cigarette advertising focuses on getting teens to smoke. If asked, most teens say tobacco ads don’t influence them, yet one study showed they generally smoke the three most advertised brands—Camel, Marlboro and Newport. Studies also found that youth smoking increased by 73 percent during the 10 years following the introduction of the Joe Camel cartoon.

The unconscious mind can be conditioned. Advertising and entertainment figures give the impression cigarettes give pleasure and can make you popular—especially with the opposite sex. They think smoking will make them look more grownup.

Smoking reduces stress. Many teens find this an especially appealing factor during the stressful adolescent years. Studies show that nicotine not only reduces stress, but also eases pain and increases mental alertness. Nicotine’s significant drawback as a drug, however, is its extremely addictive quality.

It’s easy to become addicted. When asked why they smoke, teens generally respond, “I just like to smoke,” or “I can quit anytime I want.” In reality, however, studies have shown teens can become addicted to nicotine after smoking as few as three cigarettes. Other studies have shown nicotine addiction is as hard to break as heroin or cocaine addiction, making quitting difficult.

Although you may think that your kids only have ears for what they hear in movies and on TV, parents still have the greatest influence on their adolescents’ lives, experts say.

What you can do

Talk to your kids about the risks of using tobacco. Don’t cover up the fact that a relative or family friend died of a tobacco-related illness.

If you smoke, quit if you can. Don’t smoke around your kids, and don’t leave your cigarettes where they can get to them. Parental smoking is the largest risk factor for kids smoking.

If you have younger children, talk to them as early as age 5 and keep up the talking through high school. Statistics show that many kids who start using tobacco begin by age 11; many are addicted by age 14.

Discuss ways your kids can refuse tobacco from their friends.

Talk about tobacco advertising and how it falsely glamorizes smoking and tobacco use.

How to help them quit

Teens stand the best chance of quitting if they get some help. New studies have found smokers who don’t use any smoking-cessation aids have a 95 percent chance of lighting up again within a year. But smokers who use over-the-counter nicotine patches have a 26 percent success rate after one year. People who use a cessation aid and seek counseling have an even higher likelihood of quitting permanently.

Be sure to talk to your doctor before letting a child use an aid. Confirm it’s age-appropriate and won’t interfere with any medications the child takes.

Support from family and friends also helps. The child should tell people he or she is trying to quit and may be grouchy or edgy for a few days. The child also should ask smokers not to smoke around him or her.

Help your child find positive ways to reduce stress, such as participating in sports or noncompetitive activities such as walking, hiking or yoga.

Finally, be aware that relapses do occur. To prevent discouragement, remind your child that few people successfully quit smoking the first time they try. Rather, most try four or five times before they quit permanently.

For more information:
http://www.kickbuttsday.org
https://fhahelps.personaladvantage.com/smoking

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Piercing the Armor of Alcoholism

April is Alcohol Awareness Month

It’s an alarming statistic: 53 percent of Americans have a spouse or close relative who has a drinking problem, says the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

For the millions of Americans who must watch their loved ones struggle with a dependence on alcohol, they wonder: How can family and friends break through the alcoholic’s psychological defenses—what some experts call the “wall of denial”—so that healing can begin?

An alcoholic can’t be forced to get treatment or help, and challenging an alcoholic’s defenses about his or her drinking is a formidable assignment, the NIAAA says.

The most important thing that friends and family can do for an alcoholic is to stop enabling the addictive behavior. In plain language, stop trying to solve the inevitable personal problems that stem from alcohol abuse.

Here are some additional strategies from the NIAAA and other experts:

• Educate yourself about alcoholism. One resource is Al-Anon, a nationwide organization that offers education and support for families in the same way that AA helps recovering alcoholics.
• Draw up a plan of action. One especially helpful step is to present the alcoholic with a written or verbal contract that calls for attending a treatment program, such as the “12-step” group counseling sessions available everywhere. Or your contract might propose intensive outpatient treatment or an extended stay at a treatment facility.
• Talk to the person shortly after an alcohol-related problem has occurred. Choose a time when the person is sober, and speak to the person in private.
• Be as specific as possible, using examples of how the person’s drinking is causing problems.
• Tell the person what you intend to do if he or she does not get help—moving out, for instance—and be prepared to back up what you say.
• Ask a friend or another family member to speak to the person as you have done. Someone who is a recovering alcoholic can be especially helpful.

With the help of a health care professional, you might consider arranging for several people—including family members and close friends—to confront the alcoholic at once. While a spouse’s warnings about the disease can be dismissed as mere nagging, it’s harder to continue in denial when faced with four or five deeply concerned friends.

For more information:
https://fhahelps.personaladvantage.com/alcohol
http://www.ncadd.org

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Holding Out Hope

April is National Autism Awareness Month

When parents learn that their child is autistic, most wish they could magically make the problem go away. They looked forward to having a baby and watching their child learn and grow. Instead, they must face the fact that they have a child who may not live up to their dreams and will daily challenge their patience. Some families deny the problem or fantasize about an instant cure. They may take the child from one specialist to another, hoping for a different diagnosis. It is important for the family to eventually overcome their pain and deal with the problem, while still cherishing hopes for their child’s future. Most families realize that their lives can move on.

Today, more than ever before, people with autism can be helped. A combination of early intervention, special education, family support, and in some cases, medication, is helping increasing numbers of children with autism to live more normal lives. Special interventions and education programs can expand their capacity to learn, communicate, and relate to others, while reducing the severity and frequency of disruptive behaviors. Medications can be used to help alleviate certain symptoms. So, while a cure may not be in sight, it is possible to greatly improve the day-to-day life of children and adults with autism.

For more information:
http://www.autism-society.org https://fhahelps.personaladvantage.com/content?sub=10000522

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Filing and Paying Taxes Late

April 15th is Tax Day!

What if April 15 rolls by and you haven’t had time to complete your return, or you can’t pay what you owe? The consequences may not be as serious as you fear—if you take some simple steps before the deadline.

Requesting an Extension to File

If you can’t (or don’t want to) file your tax return by April 15, you can get an automatic four-month extension of the filing deadline. About six million taxpayers request extensions each year. Just complete Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and file it with the IRS by April 15. You then have until August 15 to file your return without incurring late filing penalties.

If you still want more time, you can request a second extension by filing Form 2688, Application for Additional Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. You must file it by August 15 and state a good reason—for example, your tax preparer is ill and you need time to find a new one—for your request. If the second extension is granted, you will have until October 15 to file your return.

An automatic extension does not extend your time to pay taxes. If you owe the IRS, include your estimated tax payment with your extension request. If you don’t pay at least 90% of your tax bill by April 15, you’ll get hit with penalties and interest for the underpaid amount when you do file. The penalty starts at 1/2% per month and can go up to 1% per month of the amount you owe.

If You Don’t Request an Extension

If you don’t file your return by April 15 or file a request for an extension, the IRS can impose a penalty of 5% per month of the tax due, up to 25%. The IRS will also charge you interest on the tax owed.

If You Can’t Pay What You Owe

If you can’t pay all you owe, file a return and send what you can. The penalty for not filing is much worse than the penalty for not paying after you file. The penalty for not filing can reach 25%; the penalty for not paying is only 1/2% per month of the tax you owe. Any partial payment will cut down on the penalty amount.

For more information:
http://www.irs.gov

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Paying for Your Dream Home

Shopping for a Mortgage Online

When it comes to researching mortgage options, the Internet offers 24-hour convenience. While most customers still prefer to complete their loan transaction with a “live” mortgage broker or lender, there’s a lot of valuable information online. Here, we explore the benefits and alert you to the potential pitfalls of shopping for your mortgage online. Mortgage websites come in two basic flavors: those sites that don’t offer loans (called “no-loan” sites) and those that do.

Mortgage Information (“No-Loan”) Sites

No-loan sites don’t broker or lend mortgage money, but typically provide mortgage content, information, and news, as well as mortgage rates—just what most mortgage shoppers want and need.

Sites like HSH Homeplans (www.bankrate.com) keep daily tabs on mortgage rates, indexes, and market events that push costs up or down. Visit sites like these to obtain the latest regional average rates on purchase, refinance, equity, and other mortgages.

Offering vast libraries of mortgage information for consumers, these sites are also a great place to examine mortgage programs, learn mortgage lingo, understand underwriting, get questions answered about the loan qualification process, crunch numbers with online mortgage calculators, and more.

No-loan sites are also referred to as “referral” sites because they introduce you to a host of participating lenders, either through advertisements or links embedded in the content. The referrals could be useful, provided you gather enough of them to adequately compare loan costs. That’s a tedious process—and advertised rates are often based on a best-case scenario, and can change overnight.

In the no-loan site category, don’t overlook informative government, quasi-government, and trade sites, including Fannie Mae (www.mbaa.org). These sites offer information about the latest mortgage programs, conforming loan amount changes, and general consumer and industry information.

Mortgage Money Sites

Online mortgage loan sites that offer direct access to loans come in three basic varieties: direct or single lenders, auction sites, and multilender shopping sites.

Direct or single lender sites. Most mortgage websites are direct lender sites. These include mortgage lenders such as Countrywide (www.bankofamerica.com).

If, for whatever reason, you’ve already decided to borrow from a particular lender, you might start with a visit to its website. You’ll soon realize, however, that these lenders rarely provide complete product price information that includes points, fees, lock periods, and the like. For that, you’ll need to call or visit the lender.

Auction sites. Some mortgage sites allow you to complete a loan application, which is then sent to lenders who, in turn, compete for your business. Some of the lenders are sub-prime lenders, making these sites a possible choice for you if your credit is damaged. You won’t get immediate feedback but must wait a day or so for several offers. To compare more loans, you’ll have to repeat the process on each site. Auction sites include RealEstate.com.

Multilender shopping sites. With multilender shopping sites, it’s not necessary to complete an application before you shop for a mortgage, using more variables than some brokers use. You enter the loan amount, property details, and other information, and you’ll get current rates, APR, points, even settlement costs for each loan from dozens of lenders. You can sort loans by each factor. You can also put loans side by side and make apples-to-apples comparisons of interest rate adjustments, margins, life caps, year-by-year payment totals, and interest costs and tax benefits.

If you choose to complete an application, mortgage shopping sites review your application, process the required documentation, and ship your loan to the lender for further review and underwriting. Be warned, however—many consumers report dissatisfaction with multi-lender sites, saying that they get second class treatment from the lender.

Tips for Purchasing a Mortgage Online

Window shopping for online mortgages is a lot easier than actually completing the process electronically. If you have questions, or something goes wrong, the computer can’t sit down with you and work it out. Likewise, if you have bad credit, a loan specialist will have to decide if you can qualify for a more expensive sub-prime loan and, if so, which one. Unfortunately, mortgage websites typically don’t work well for shoppers with less than top-notch credit.

Before you complete an online mortgage application for a purchase, refinance, or equity loan, consider these tips:

• Get briefed on the mortgage process. Attend a mortgage workshop, seminar, or class or sit down with an informative book or traditional mortgage broker.
• Choose an online broker licensed and regulated by your state. Your state’s regulatory agency may be at a loss to handle problems with outside lenders.
• Check out the online lender. The broker finds your loan, but a lender underwrites and finances it. Verify the online lender’s status with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (www.fdic.gov) or look for the familiar FDIC logo or the words “Member FDIC” or “FDIC Insured” on the lender’s website.
• Compare rates. Shop around using online brokers, “click and mortar” brokers (who are both on and off the Web), and traditional “brick and mortar” brokers and lenders. Get the best rate and terms before you apply. Offline lenders know online lenders can be competitive and they will try to offer you a better deal.
• Don’t be taken by the ease of completing applications online. Do your research, complete an application when you’ve found the loan you want—and then stick with it. If, for example, you fill out an application at work but don’t have Internet access at home, you’ll defeat the purpose of the automated online mortgage process.
• Get a rate lock. Online or off, a rate lock—in writing—guarantees you a certain rate and terms for a given period of time.
• Consider security issues. It is possible, but not very likely, that someone might steal your online mortgage application information. But it’s probably a lot easier to break a window at your mortgage broker’s office and ransack the files than it is to hack into a heavily secured online mortgage site.
• Beware of come-ons. Use the same diligence when you shop online as you would shopping elsewhere. The same teaser-rate, bait-and-switch, and small print games that occur offline unfortunately also exist on the Web.

For more information:
https://fhahelps.personaladvantage.com/buying_refinancing_a_house