Is there such a thing as: “FREE” Money?
With the internet promoting anything and everything these days it’s incredibly difficult to know what’s real and what’s completely fluff, misleading or downright fraudulent.
The Government
With that being said, a good place to start looking for free money or money that you might be overlooking is the government. Uncle Sam and most likely your local state government have money for you to claim; but, they keep it mostly to themselves. Electric autos, solar power home conversions, IRA contributions and even in some states new windows or home insulation upgrades may earn you “Free” money.
Anchors Away
The State of New Jersey’s “Anchor” Program was designed to give rebates to property owners for taxes they paid through the year 2019. This program came out in late 2020 and was unknown to most New Jersians. In 2022 the Governor decided to put an end to this rebate and he assigned a final filing date set for January 31, 2023.
Suddenly, the word got around and over night thousands a day were, attempting to access the state’s property tax website to find out how to receive this gift of “Free” money. Sure enough, all hell broke loose and the website struggled. Consequently, thousands of homeowners were frustrated for many anguishing days, weeks and months. The phone calls to Trenton were overwhelming; and, the Governor declared an extension to claim these benefits. The extension was set for February15th, 2023.
Truth is, this only extended the pain and suffering to the many deserving New Jersey homeowners that either never got the information they needed or gave up trying. Others got through the maze, only to find out they needed previous years tax returns to calculate and determine if they were eligible to receive the rebate money.
This kind of “Free” money puts the onus on the receiver to find their way through to the pot of gold.
Where you live Matters
Where you live can earn you “Free” money. There are 13 states that currently do not tax any retirement income and a few others that don’t tax pension income as well. Pennsylvania, would be one such state. No taxes on 401K, IRA or Pension distributions can add up to an awful lot of Free” money.
There are also five states that don’t have income taxes at all. The closest to New Jersey would be Tennessee or New Hampshire. A huge earner in these states has an enormous advantage over many other Americans.
Age also has its Advantages
2023 “Senior Benefits” are available in all states, but can vary in ages to qualify. 50+ is the minimum age required to apply for many of these benefit programs.
The federal government recently created a bill featuring multiple benefits for seniors. Huge monetary benefits for Health Care including: Telehealth, Behavioral and Mental Health provisions. Obviously, the pandemic has seen massive telehealth and urgent care surges. The effects of isolation and confinement created mental health issues more prominent than ever before.
Furthermore, now through 2024 a Medicare provision allows hospital care to treat qualified patients in their homes. This ends up freeing hospital beds to face any future uprising COVID issues.
Social Security and Retirement Savings also saw tremendous government monetary benefits created by this bill. The SSA was allocated over 14 billion, which was nearly 6% more than the previous fiscal year. Most Americans collecting Social Security saw the largest increase in their benefits in over a decade.
Unfortunately, the Social Security administration is still in crisis mode. It’s customer service floundering by virtue of years of underfunding and enormous losses in staff. Compared to a decade ago, it takes an average of 75% longer to get a claim for disability benefits processed.
As far as retirement savings go, new laws have increased the age from 72 to 73 at which time retired individuals must start taking deductions from private retirement accounts such as IRA’s, and 401k’s. There is also a plan to raise that age again in the year 2030 to 75.
In 2027 there will be an additional benefit of $1000.00 for lower to moderate income earners who contribute to qualified retirement plans.
Other benefits include raising limits on catch-up contributions to 401K and 403B accounts for all people ages 60 to 63. Finally, a new law requires employers to offer part-time employees to contribute to retirement plans after two years of employment.
Buy 1 Get 1 Free
Read the “Fine Print”
I love those infomercials that state, at the very end: “today with your order we’re going to add a second one free………..only pay a small fee”. Say WHAT???
The greatest sales pitch ever for “Free” money is: “Buy one get one free.” Now don’t get me wrong, this can be well worth taking advantage of. I’m just saying use some common sense and read the rules of engagement to each and every deal.
If you regularly buy a large pizza for $15.00, but the pizza shop has a special $19.00 pie on Thursday’s, where if you buy one you can get a second one of a lower price free, it’s not really a buy one get one free is it? However, it may just be an additional $4.00 expense that makes sense to some.
Money – Phones – Internet
Free money, phones and internet lead the way of the most common sales hooks, creating a beneficial relationship to the company offering the “Free” whatever.
Banks can offer you “Free” money to open new accounts. These accounts will most certainly have deposit requirements and other demands like monthly direct deposits, minimum monthly balances and time restraints. Make sure you understand that any monetary benefits you gain from a financial establishment of any kind will come with a “1099S” at the end of the fiscal year.
Free phones will undoubtedly come with minimum service requirements and binding or restrictive contractual agreements. All that glitters is not gold.
Many internet offers can be extremely misleading and undeniably, way to complex to successfully interpret. Once again, if it seems to good to be true, it most likely is just that. Always read the fine print and any disclaimers.
Make Government live up to their often understated programs
Yes indeed, free internet may be available through the government. In fact, most states offer free government paid internet if you receive Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, Special Housing Assistance, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline and Tribal or reside in a household of at least two individuals with less than a yearly household income of $36,620. *Phones can also be included for a minimal one time fee.*
Advantage to the Advertiser
Today, with just about any service you need, if you search hard enough, you will find the crew, firm, person or company that will offer you “Free” estimates, reviews, diagnostics or consultations attempting to land you as a client, customer, consumer or even something more.
Law firms are offering “Free” representation with no upfront costs; furthermore, only getting paid when they win a settlement for you.
Free reviews of your will, retirement portfolios, and many more services are being advertised to create new and expanding business for the advertiser.
There are even companies out there that will give you “CASH NOW” for your annuities that you can’t utilize yet, or insurance policies that currently have less of a cash value than they will offer you. These are the “Serpents” of the world preying on the monetary needs of others.
In Conclusion
Looking for “Free” money can be easier said than done. Finding the time and patience to pursue the search is never simple, often frustrating and almost always disappointing.
The truth is, when you read statements like: “apply in minutes from the comfort of your home” or, “just complete and submit the simple enrollment forms”, this may just be the beginning of your troubles. Even worse are those dreaded phone recordings that state: “Stay on the line for the next available agent.” Worse yet: “Leave a call-back number and the next available agent will call you back.”
However, with all that said, all that’s worth pursuing may certainly be worth the pursuit.
____*WARNING*____
Stay centered on your search and don’t give out any information to uninvestigated sites or portals. Never disclose passwords or personal account information without knowing the validity of the request and an appropriate reason to do so. Always properly identify and confirm safe sites. Remember, cyber crime is growing yearly, can be extremely ruthless in design and might even result in undetectable consequences. Keep safety in mind at all times.
