Extension News: Family / Economics / Spending Archives

National program focuses on building wealth, not debt

We invite New Hampshire residents to "save more, reduce debt" by joining with other Americans nationwide in the second annual America Saves--New Hampshire Saves campaign. Register now to become a New Hampshire Saver and be entered in our drawing for a $50 U.S. Savings Bond (there will be two winners).

Your challenge: find a way to save money, then do it.
Unfortunately, the national trend is to borrow more and save less. The nation's personal savings rate has declined to less than one percent for the third year in a row. A recent study commissioned by Consumer Credit Counseling Service, revealed that overall consumer debt increased 38 percent for households at all income levels in recent years.

How do we turn this trend around?
Do what works! A few ideas: save something out of every paycheck, no matter how much or how little. Have the money automatically deposited into a savings account or your 401(k) plan at work if you have one. Save some of your tax refund or part of your next raise.

Our UNH Cooperative Extension family resource management team is dedicated to helping individuals and families increase savings, decrease debt, and increase confidence in managing their finances. Get started by browsing the informative 66 Ways to Save Money.

Commit to saving; make your decision concrete and specific
Then commit to the challenge of becoming a New Hampshire Saver by filling out our online form--a contract with yourself that makes your decision to save concrete and specific.

Anyone who submits a form will receive the quarterly America Saves newsletter and other information from the national program in addition to receiving a "Where To Find The Money You Need Calculator" free (while supplies last).

Save a little; end up with a lot
Some people think they need to win the lottery or receive an inheritance before they will ever be able to save. Can saving $5 or $10 a week really make a difference?

Yes! Imagine a couple buying two coffees each per day because they believe neither one of them can make a decent cup of coffee. Four coffees a day, seven days a week at $1.79 each adds up to more than $2,600 a year. This represents a significant portion of their yearly electrical bill or payment towards an outstanding medical bill.

Cutting their coffee purchases in half by improving their home coffee-brewing skills would free up more than $1,300 in one year this couple could add to their savings. Try this coffee calculator to see how much you might save. To solve a disappearing dollar mystery in your household, download The Disappearing Dollar.

Participants in our Extension money management educational programs often comment on the value of writing a savings goal, and learning how saving a little bit of money goes a long way toward helping them to achieve that goal.

To learn more about how money grows over time and how little you'll need to grow an emergency fund of $5,000 or a nest egg of $100,000 or more, check out The Time Value of Money.

Cooperative Extension has money management info and programs for you
Our Family & Consumer Resources educators offer numerous workshops throughout the year that help individuals and families improve their money management skills. Download Maximizing Your Personal Finances for details.

Visit Managing Money for information on a variety of topics. If you have questions about any of our money management programs, or for printed copies of any of the articles mentioned above, contact the Family & Consumer Resources educator in your county, or call our Family, Home & Garden Information Center Info Line toll free at 1-877-398-4769.

3rd annual Grazing Conference March 8

The daylong event will feature two nationally known grazing experts: Jim Gerrish, author of Management-intensive Grazing and columnist for the Stockman-Grass Farmer, and Sarah Flack, a grazing specialist and organic farmer from Vermont.

Gerrish will deliver the keynote address on the topic of Yeah, but that will never work on my place! also lead two workshops: Stock Density-the Most Powerful Tool in the Grazier's Toolbox and Extending the Grazing Season for More Money in Your Pocket. Flack will conduct a two-part workshop on Getting Started with Managed Intensive Grazing.

The afternoon sessions will focus on marketing grass-fed products. Featured speakers include grass farmers Ridge Shinn, Matt & Beth LeClair, Jim & Adele Hayes, and Ed Jackson.

Conference sponsors: Granite State Graziers, Natural Resources Conservation Service and UNH Cooperative Extension.

Download a brochure containing full conference schedule and speaker bios.

Register for the conference online

A non-profit housing specialist relayed this story about a recent house closing in my community. Buyer and lender were ready to sign on the dotted line when the phone rang and the transaction ceased. The mortgage company had stopped processing mortgages. Both parties were left high and dry.

Scenarios like this reflect the harsh reality of the current mortgage-lending market in New Hampshire and across the nation. Individuals and families wanting to buy a home are finding limited opportunities for funding. Some lenders have gone out of business; many others are unable to get enough resources to lend money to prospective homebuyers. Foreclosure numbers are skyrocketing. The American Dream of home ownership is quickly getting out of reach, even for many middle-income families.

If your credit score is considered "good," also called "Tier 1," you qualify for the best rates and deals. If your credit score reflects past problems, companies take a chance in loaning you money, so it will cost you, the borrower, more to get money for a mortgage. Basically, the more you need the loan, the more it will cost you.

If you get a mortgage that can be insured, perhaps by FHA, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac the company lending the money has a guarantee that if you default on your loan, they still get their money. In the subprime market there are no such guarantees, so lenders take more of a risk. (Subprime mortgages are home loans made to individuals or families who have a credit score of 650 or below.) Therefore it will cost you more to buy a house and failure to pay may mean losing your home and any equity you may have in your house.

Credit guidelines
Consumer groups have been working to reduce the number of loans made in the subprime market. Why? Because buyers with poor credit often realistically can't afford the mortgage.

Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development agency for mortgage loans at 1 percent interest require that your mortgage payment (principle, interest, taxes and insurance) be no more that 29 percent of your total gross income. In addition, your total debt load, including mortgage, should be no more than 41 percent of your total gross income. If your loan rate is closer to the standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at around 6 percent, the rules allow your mortgage payment to rise to 33 percent of your income, but your total debt load should still be no more than 41 percent.

The subprime market has higher thresholds that allow a buyer's total debt load to rise as high as 50 percent of total income. That leaves subprime borrowers with less than 50 percent of their total gross income to cover payroll deductions, food, clothing, heating costs, gasoline and auto maintenance, phone, electricity and other essentials. You can see how families with subprime mortgages can get into financial trouble quickly.

If your mortgage is adjustable, meaning your payment may be tied to an ever-increasing interest rate, you could see your monthly bill rise every six months. That doesn't take into account an increase in the yearly taxes on your property or your homeowner's insurance.

New Hampshire County Register of Deeds offices across the state report that the number of foreclosures has been increasing. Most counties are on pace to exceed the numbers recorded in 2006, with the busy season ahead of them.

Trouble making mortgage payments?
If you're having trouble making your mortgage payments, there are some steps you should follow to help protect your home investment:

• The Federal Reserve Board has identified resources that can help you when you are having difficulty making your mortgage payment.


• Contact your lender immediately when you run into difficulty. Some may let you set up a different payment plan.


• If you have steadily improved your credit score, consider refinancing with a company that offers a fixed mortgage.


• Consider selling your current home and buying a smaller, more affordable place place. You can pay off the first home and you may be eligible for a better mortgage plan than what you currently have.

You can repair your credit by paying your bills on time and using your available credit carefully. The Federal Trade Commission has a publication Credit Repair: Self-Help May Be the Best http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/repair.shtm offers more detailed information.

Get any promises in writing. Check with the consumer protection bureau http://doj.nh.gov/consumer/index.html of the state Department of Justice (1-888-468-4454) to see if complaints have been filed against the company you are contemplating doing business with. Proceed cautiously.

UNH Cooperative Extension Educators in each county offer a variety of money management classes to help you manage your money. In addition, we offer educational publications on a variety of consumer money management topics.

By Deb Maes, Family & Consumer Resources Educator

UNH Cooperative Extension launches statewide program to support "Kinship Caregivers"

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, about six million children across the nation live in households headed by grandparents or other relatives. In New Hampshire, 12,458 children live with such "kinship caregivers," 3,869 of them in households without either parent present.


"Kinship caregivers and the children they care for have needs and concerns that go beyond the usual challenges of childrearing," says Thom Linehan, a UNH Cooperative Extension parent educator. Linehan heads a new Extension initiative called NHRAPP (Relatives as Parents Program), aimed, he says, "at helping connect people, ideas, and information in a fragmented system."

"Many kinship caregivers are older; they have significant medical or financial concerns of their own. They may have health concerns and financial of their own. The kids may have disabilities, mental health needs, attachment disorders, and they're often acting out, engaging in risky behaviors, or suffering attachment disorders. Both the children and the kinship caregivers may find themselves involved in legal difficulties. Each situation is unique.

Supported by a grant from the Brookdale Foundation, "NHRAPP has three components to address this universe of needs." says Linehan, "Our Web site will collect and organize informational resources and create interactive online forums for kinship-care families and the professionals who work with them. We'll also establish a statewide coalition of professionals and families working together to identify the needs and improve the systems that support kinship care families. Third, the project will help incubate new support groups by training new facilitators."

"So many glitches, so many roadblocks, so few places to go for help"
Pauline Smith of Somersworth has cared for two of her 11 grandchildren off and on since 1990--full time since 1995, when it became evident that neither her son nor the children's mother could do so.

"I've spent 50 years as a parent," says Smith, who adds that she's raised her grandchildren as a single parent, working full time managing the Rochester toll plaza until she retired in 2000.

"It's been very painful," Smith admits. "Sometimes people question whether we're even fit to raise our grandchildren."

"The children were four and five when they came to me," she says. "They had no health records, and I couldn't get access to them. Without the health records, I couldn't even enroll the children in school. [Kinship caregivers] have no legal rights--it took six weeks to get legal guardianship."

"There've been so many glitches in the road, so many roadblocks. There were so few places to go for help," says Smith. "Nobody seemed willing to give me information I didn't know enough to ask for; if I had known enough to ask for it, I wouldn't have had to ask."

"I'm so excited about this new program," Smith says. "I've signed up to join the [NHRAPP] Coalition and to be trained as a support- group facilitator."

Energized and ready for action
Smith was among the 34 caregivers and professionals who attended RAPP New Hampshire's first public event, a "community dialogue for kinship caregivers" March 13 in Concord.

"We had a great conversation and got great feedback," says Linehan "It was a chance for people to step back a bit from issues they face every day but rarely have a chance to reflect on or share in a public forum. One important thing we learned was that, while everyone has access to some specific information, there's a lot people don't know.

"For example, we have a lot of professional resources for kinship families here in New Hampshire, but they're distributed through a wide variety of agencies. It's very clear we some means of bringing all the information and all the people who care about these families together.

"People told us they felt the community dialogue was an important first step," says Linehan. "They left energized and ready to take action."

2nd-time winners in financial lifeskills competition move on to nationals in Orlando

For the second time, Sullivan County 4-H has won the state championship in the 2007 New Hampshire Jump$tart Coalition's LifeSmarts financial literacy competition.

The team of five high school students: team captain Allen Abendroth, Rachel Shklar, Amy Barriger, Rebecca Mailhot, and alternate Caroline Mailhot, beat high school teams from Winnacunnet, Raymond, Newfound Regional, Mascoma Valley, and Interlakes Regional.

The Sullivan County team will represent New Hampshire at the LifeSmarts National Competition April 21 to 24 in Orlando, Florida.

National program focuses on building wealth, not debt

We invite New Hampshire residents to act on their "save more, reduce debt" New Year's resolutions by joining with other Americans nationwide in the first annual America Saves - New Hampshire Saves campaign. Register now to become a New Hampshire Saver.

Your challenge: find a way to save money and then do it.

Unfortunately, the national trend is to borrow more and save less. Currently, the nation's personal savings rate is a negative one-half percent, something that hasn't happened since the Great Depression. A recent study commissioned by Consumer Credit Counseling Service, revealed that overall consumer debt increased 38 percent for households at all income levels last year.

We’ve all heard the radio and TV ads that go something like this:

“Reduce your mortgage payment by up to 45 percent. Save hundreds of dollars a month.”

Even the most cynical listener would want to know how to save so much money each month. The ad usually goes on to talk about refinancing, and what you needed to do. Finally the punch line arrives: “Once you’ve refinanced, you only make interest payments on the family mortgage.”

What the ad doesn’t mention is that your mortgage principal balance never goes down. You could be making interest payments for the rest of your life and never reduce the balance of your mortgage. Years later you would still owe the same amount.
           
Predatory tactics
More and more vulnerable borrowers: folks with poor credit, elders, low-income families, and recent immigrants fall prey to a variety of lending practices collectively known as “predatory lending.” The term refers to practices that may include deception, outright fraud, and manipulation that mortgage brokers or other lenders may use to make a loan with terms disadvantageous to the borrower.

Predatory practices may include offers for refinanced mortgages, payday loans, cash advances on credit cards, debt consolidation loans, tax refund anticipation loans, and overdraft loans, among others.

Many residents are surprised to learn that New Hampshire has no specific statutory limits on how much interest can be charged on credit card balances or any other type of debt. Interest rates are not regulated by federal law either. New Hampshire retailers and lending institutions may charge interest rates as high as 400 percent on a consumer debt. All that is required by federal and state laws is that information about the interest rate be provided to the borrower.

“Flipping”
One common predatory lending practices is known as “flipping” , or “repeated financing.” The carrot for the consumer: a reduction in monthly payments, similar to the ad described above. What the lenders don’t tell you is that you will end up paying more over a longer period of time The lender gets all the benefits and the consumer often ends up owing more money
           
Up-front credit insurance
Another predatory lending practice involves bundling a loan with additional products. One that has proved very costly for consumers is the practice of bundling up-front, lump-sum credit insurance with a loan. If you ever chose to refinance the loan, you in essence will also refinance the insurance, and if your next lender also bundles up-front insurance, you end up financing and paying the new lump-sum insurance coverage. This can add thousands of dollars to each loan. It makes more sense to purchase a separate "credit life" policy, paid in installments throughout the life of your loan, which will pay the balance on your loan to your lender if you should die.

Car title loans
Similar to payday loans, car title loans are marketed as small emergency loans. A typical car title loan has a triple-digit annual interest rate, requires repayment within one month, and is made for much less than the value of the car. Title loans are typically made without regard to borrowers' ability to repay. Because the loans are structured to be repaid as a single balloon payment after a very short term, borrowers frequently can’t pay the full amount due on the maturity date and instead find themselves extending or “rolling over” the loan repeatedly. In this way, many borrowers pay fees well in excess of the amount they originally borrowed.

If you fail to keep up with these recurring payments, the lender may repossess your car—an essential asset to most working families, and often a family’s only means of transportation.

 In NH, where the interest rates for car title loans range as high as 366 percent, the original term is one month or less, and the car title is used to secure the loan. This means if the loan is not repaid, the lender may take the car and sell it to get the loan money back. You risk losing a valuable family asset and perhaps your only means of transportation.

Empower yourself!
As a consumer you need to be aware of high-pressure sales tactics, high interest rates, balloon payments (low monthly payments with a big payment due at the end of the loan), and promises to refinance the loan at a lower interest rate in the future.

To avoid falling prey to predatory lending practices, the American Banking Institute suggests asking yourself these questions before you borrow:

• Do I feel pressured?
• Have I shopped around for the best deal?
• Is it too good to be true?
• Can I trust the lender?
• Do I understand the loan terms?

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes a fact sheet of tips to help you avoid predatory lenders. Among them:

• Before you buy a home, attend a homeownership education program. Non-profit housing agencies such as the Concord Area Trust for Community Housing (CATCH) in Concord, and Affordable Housing, Education, And Development (AHEAD) in Littleton offer classes throughout their service areas.
• Hire a properly licensed inspector who will not over-estimate the value of your home, thereby making you eligible for a loan for more than your house is worth.
• Don’t make false statements on your loan application.
• Don’t let anyone convince you to `borrow more money than you can afford to repay. If you get behind on your payments you could lose your home.

           
Don’t get crushed by debt: Cooperative Extension offers money management programs
The best way to avoid getting into trouble with debt: empower yourself. UNH Cooperative Extension offers several money management programs and workshops designed to increase consumer financial skills and confidence, including a new one-hour workshop, Don’t Get Crushed By Debt.

We also offer Credit Check Up, Making Money Work For You and Taking Charge of Your Finances, among others. For more information, go to our Managing Money web page Check for upcoming classes on our Family and Consumer Resources Event Calendar.

Extension Family Resource Management specialist Suzann Enzian Knight and program assistant Katherine Fredette provided information for this article. Family and Consumer Resources educator Deb Maes developed the article’s original structure.

For more information

• Don’t Borrow Trouble® New Hampshire New Hampshire Housing authority’s Program to help prevent predatory lending across the state.

• Predatory Lending in New Hampshire Learn More, file complaints.

• Center for Responsible Lending A wealth of online resources to help you protect yourself from predatory lending practices.

• HUD-Approved Nonprofit Consumer Counseling Services in New Hampshire When you need help with consumer debt.

• Subprime and Predatory Lending in Rural America: Mortgage lending practices that can trap low-income rural people Recent report from the UNH Carsey Institute.
  
  
• US Department of Housing and Urban Development: Don’t be a Victim of Loan Fraud

• Credit: Truth-in-Lending US Department of Justice fact sheet provides a brief summary of the federal Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA), information on relevant state and federal statutes. Discusses balloon payments, payday lending, credit card scams and more.

UNH Cooperative Extension has an array of information to help New Hampshire residents recover from multiple problems caused by this weekend’s floods.

Storm damage can leave behind debris-strewn areas, contaminated water, spoiled food, displaced wildlife and conditions, if not treated properly, may lead to health problems.

With rain totals reaching as high as 11 inches in some areas, and more on the way, residents must assume that all water sources are contaminated until proven safe. Food contaminated by flood waters should be handled carefully and a determination made on what to keep or discard.

Topics include staying safe, recovering from a power outage, restoring storm-damaged buildings, helping children cope with disaster, salvaging water-damaged belongings, financial recovery and more.

To those in the flood areas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) urges residents to do the following immediately:

• If your home, apartment or business has suffered damage, call the insurance company or agent who handles your insurance right away to file a claim.
• Before entering a building, check for structural damage.
• Do not use matches, cigarette lighters or any other open flames once you’ve entered a damaged building, since gas may be trapped inside. Use a flashlight.
• Keep electricity off until an electrician has inspected your system for safety.
• Flood waters pick up sewage and chemicals from road, farms and businesses. If your home has been flooded, start cleaning up as soon as possible. Throw out foods and medicines that may have come in contact with flood waters.
• Boil water for drinking and food preparation vigorously for five minutes before using.

If you have additional questions, please contact your local Extension office. Please click on all our links for further advice.

Have you already started feeling the stress of the approaching holiday season? As the weather turns colder and Halloween comes and goes, many of us will feel the mounting pressure of gifts not purchased and incomplete planning. Although often touted as a season to relax and share special time with family and friends, the holidays have increasingly become an added burden to the ongoing stresses and time demands common in our society today. As a result, more Americans are saying “time out” to the craziness, and looking for ways to better celebrate the true meaning of the season.

In a survey by The Center for a New American Dream, four out of five Americans would like to have a more simplified holiday and fewer than three in ten think it is necessary to spend a lot of money to have a fulfilling and enjoyable holiday.

Nearly two-thirds of us feel that giving and receiving gifts is awarded too much importance during the holidays. The money spent on holidays, including decorations, entertaining, gifts, travel, etc., typically doesn’t come from savings, but from a credit card. Surveys have found that a majority of Americans plan to pay for holiday purchases with a credit card. And when those inevitable bills come in January, it takes consumers an average of four months to pay them off.

Why not choose an alternative this holiday season?
The Center for a New American Dream is committed to helping individuals, families and communities counter the commercialization of our culture and identify ways to conserve natural resources. Instead of “keeping up with the Joneses,” they encourage a shift that reflects our innermost values and human needs. This shift can result in more time for family and friends, and also has a positive impact on individual and family finances.

Within the section on Living Consciously, the Center for a New American Dream  provides some suggestions for making this shift over the holiday season. Entitled Simplify the Holidays, this area of the website provides numerous tips on saving money, decreasing stress, maximizing fun, and increasing time for family and friends during the holiday season. There is information on alternative gifts, creating a community Alternative Gift Fair, and a 20-page downloadable brochure entitled Simplify the Holidays.

This brochure is a great place to start if you are serious about making changes. It includes making a plan for your holiday spending, suggestions on how to talk to your family and friends about the changes you want to make, suggestions for simpler entertaining, and alternative gift ideas, such as the gift of your talents or your time, gifts to charities, homemade gifts and more.

On the Web site, there is also a touching story about a wife who finds the perfect “gift” for her husband, which it transforms their family holiday experience. She says, “It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas—oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it—overspending... the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma—the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.” Does this sound familiar?

You can make changes
Over the last several years, our family of six has intentionally scaled back holiday spending and activities. With two daughters in college and the overall increases in the cost of raising children today, we decided to explore alternatives to those post-holiday bills.

It’s been a wonderful change. For example, all of our children create “coupons” for one another and for us. They have offered to do someone else’s chores for a week, baby-sit younger siblings, make supper one night a month, play their sibling’s favorite game, take a younger sibling out to a movie or other adventure, or mow the lawn for Dad. It has been a huge success, as we all try and figure out what would be the best “gift” for one another.

One of my daughters knitted scarves last year for the whole family, and the youngest child knitted bean bags. We have also used some gift money to plan a special family weekend trip. With older children away at college most of the year, this has provided some unforgettable family time for all of us.

We still buy gifts for our children, but not as many and not as expensive. We have discovered that our children are more interested in additional time with us than more gifts. These changes have created opportunities to talk about our family’s values, and how the experience of the holidays can continue throughout the year. It is not about deprivation; it’s about more time, fewer bills, less stress, and paying attention to the ways we can show those around us how much they truly mean to us. It shouldn’t cost money to do that.

By Karen M. Blass, UNH Cooperative Extension Family & Consumer Resources educator

In 2004, UNH Cooperative Extension specialists Suzann Knight and Valerie Long founded the New Hampshire Earned Income Tax Credit Alliance to bring together the many agencies and coalitions working throughout the state to help families improve their financial stability.

“We developed the Alliance to strengthen EITC-promotion efforts throughout the state,” says Long. “Its aims include encouraging development of volunteer tax preparation sites in areas that don’t yet serve EITC-eligible clientele, establishing collaborations between Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and other free tax preparation sites, promoting best practices, developing a statewide media campaign to inform EITC-eligible residents about where they can go for free tax preparation, and generally support community EITC efforts. The Alliance is unique—extraordinary, really—in that it involves all the key players in the state working to benefit our families in need.”

“But Alliance members soon realized we needed some means of sharing information among ourselves, promoting best practices, and distributing information about the EITC to the general public,” Long says. “We developed the Web site to meet those needs.”

If you struggle to get by from paycheck to paycheck, you should know about the Earned Income Credit (EIC), a special tax benefit for people who work full-time or part-time.

Millions of low wage taxpayers qualify. Even if you are not a U.S. Citizen, you may still qualify for Earned Income Credit.

Information en espanol Crédito por Ingreso del Trabajo(EITC)

What is Earned Income Credit?
The EIC is a special tax benefit for working people who earn low or moderate incomes. If you fall into this category, the EIC can help reduce your taxes and increase your income.

If you qualify for EIC and file a federal tax return, you can get back some or all of the federal tax withheld from your pay during the year. You may also get some cash back from the IRS. Even if you didn't earn enough to pay an income tax, you may qualify for EIC.

Who can get EIC?
If you worked full-time or part-time at some point in 2003, you can qualify for the EIC depending on your family income which must fall below the following income guidelines:

• any child who lived in your household for more than half of 2003,
• is your son, daughter, adopted child, grandchild, great-grandchild, stepchild, or eligible foster child, and who also
• meets one of the following criteria:
• Was younger than age 19 at the end of the tax year, or
• Was a full-time student under age 24, or
• Was permanently and totally disabled at any age during the year

• Workers raising a qualifying child in 2003 must file either Form 1040 or 1040A and must fill out and attach Schedule EIC. Workers with children can't get the EIC if they file Form 1040EZ or do not attach Schedule EIC. Married workers must file a joint return to get the EIC. (See below if you want free help filing your federal tax return.)
  
  
• Workers who didn't raise a qualifying child in their home in 2003 can file any tax form - including the 1040EZ. These workers write "EIC" (or dollar amount of their credit) on the Earned Income Credit line on the tax form. The do not file Schedule EIC.
  
  
• You must provide a correct name and Social Security number for every person listed on the tax return and Schedule EIC. If this information is incorrect or missing, the IRS will delay the refund.
  
  
• Workers don't have to calculate their own EIC; if they choose, the IRS will do it for them.

• IRS Earned Income Tax Credit Questions & Answers
• IRS Tax Topics about Earned Income Tax Credit
• IRS Frequently Asked Questions About "Qualifying Child" rules

The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has money to help New Hampshire farmers and woodland owners with 70 different conservation practices, through the national Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP).

UNH Cooperative Extension and NRCS are working together to see that the conservation goals of the funding are met.

For farmers, EQIP funds nutrient management plans, animal waste storage facility, cover crops, composting facilities, contour farming and feed management practices; WHIP pays for field restoration, brush cutting, release of fruiting trees and shrubs, and other practices that improve wildlife habitat.

For woodland owners, EQIP and WHIP fund forest stewardship plans, access roads, site preparation, tree planting, forest stand improvement, and stabilization of roads, trails and landings.

NRCS State Conservationist Tessa Chadwick says the financial and technical assistance programs can “help farmers and forest landowners address resource concerns on agricultural working lands, promote environmental quality, address challenges in water quality and quantity, protect prime farmland and grazing land, and protect valuable wetland ecosystems and wildlife habitat on private lands.”

The deadline for signing up for the cost-sharing programs is February 17, 2006, though we encourage landowners to apply immediately. If you are interested, contact your local NRCS or UNH Cooperative Extension office today.

By Karen Bennett, UNH Cooperative Extension Forest Resources Specialist

Additional Resources:

• Learn more about federal cost-share programs for landowners

Last year, Keeley G., a 26 year-old Nashua woman sought help with her tax returns from a volunteer at the Nashua Economic Opportunity Center, one of 69 sites across New Hampshire offering free tax preparation.

“When he told me I'd be getting more than $2100 back as an Earned Income Tax Credit, I couldn't believe it,” she said. “I put the money together with some savings to buy a more reliable car. The one I had was an old boat that kept breaking down and wasn't safe. Last winter, I often had to ask for rides.”

In short, the $2,127 EITC check that enabled Keeley to buy a reliable car allows her to function more self-reliantly and maintain a busy schedule that involves getting to work, to school, to her daughter’s day care, to medical appointments, and to visit family in another state.

Two years ago, fleeing an abusive living situation in North Carolina, Keeley returned to her native New Hampshire with her five-month-old daughter in a U-Haul rented with a family member’s credit card.

“I arrived in Nashua homeless, without money, a job, or a car,” she says.

A woman on the move
But today, Keeley is a young woman on the move who not only has a reliable car, but a home, a job, bank accounts, and firm career plans.

She was accepted into Nashua Pastoral Care Center’s transitional living program, and now lives with her daughter in a one bedroom apartment she rents through the Center.

“The transitional housing program requires me to be in school, so I enrolled at New Hampshire Community Technical College here in Nashua to study marketing. I hope eventually to get a job as a marketing rep for a pharmaceutical company,” says Keeley. “I also work part-time as an appointment secretary at a Dartmouth Hitchcock pediatric clinic.”

Keeley lives on a strict budget and maintains savings and checking accounts with a credit union. “I'm also enrolled in a financial literacy program, and I've begun saving to buy my own home through an Individual Development Account,” she says.

“I left home when I was very young, with all these ideas about what I wanted to do, but no idea about where or how to start,” says Keeley. “I didn't know how to ask for help and didn't think I needed any. Becoming a parent changed all that. I've learned to reach out, and I've had a lot of help.”

Do you struggle to get by from paycheck to paycheck? Then you should know about the Earned Income Credit (EITC), a special tax benefit for people who work full-time or part-time. Millions of low-wage taxpayers qualify. Even if you aren’t a U.S. citizen, you may still qualify for the EITC.

More than 58,000 New Hampshire residents collectively received $88 million in EITC in 2005. But, based on 2003 figures, nearly 9000 New Hampshire residents qualified for more than $17 million in EITC that went unclaimed.

What is Earned Income Credit?
The EITC is a special tax benefit for working people who earn low or moderate incomes. If you fall into this category, the EITC can help reduce your taxes and increase your income.

If you qualify for EITC and file a federal tax return, you can get back some or all of the federal tax withheld from your pay during the year. You may also get some cash back from the IRS. Even if you didn’t earn enough to pay an income tax, you may qualify for EITC.

Who can get EITC?
If you worked full-time or part-time at some point in 2005, you can qualify for the EITC depending on your family income which must fall below the following income guidelines:

Source: Internal Revenue Service


How much is it worth?
The chart below shows the maximum EITC a family can earn. Your family income determines the actual amount of EITC you receive.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

Who is a “qualifying child”?
The IRS considers a qualifying child:

• any child who lived in your household for more than half of 2005,
• is your son, daughter, adopted child, grandchild, great-grandchild, stepchild, or eligible foster child, and who also
• meets one of the following criteria:
  1. Was younger than age 19 at the end of the tax year, or  
  2. Was a full-time student  under age 24, or
  3. Was permanently and totally disabled at any age during the year

How do you get the EITC?
Workers raising a qualifying child in 2005 must file either Form 1040 or 1040A and must fill out and attach Schedule EITC. Workers with children can’t get the EITC if they file Form 1040EZ or do not attach Schedule EITC. Married workers must file a joint return to get the EITC.

• Workers who didn’t raise a qualifying child in their home in 2005 can file any tax form - including the 1040EZ. These workers write “EITC” (or dollar amount of their credit) on the Earned Income Credit line on the tax form. The do not file Schedule EITC.

• You must provide a correct name and Social Security number for every person listed on the tax return and Schedule EITC. If this information is incorrect or missing, the IRS will delay the refund.

• Workers don’t have to calculate their own EITC; if they choose, the IRS will do it for them.

Workers raising children can get part of their EITC in their paychecks
Workers raising children can get part of their EITC in their paychecks throughout the year. The rest will come back as a check from the IRS after the worker files a tax return. This is called the Advance EITC payment option.

Learn more about it from the IRS Advance Earned Income Credit Questions and Answers Web page.

Free help filing your tax forms
Many families that apply for EITC pay someone to complete their tax forms. This can cost $55 to $200 or much more. Getting a “quick tax refund” may cost you more than you will get back!

• Low-income workers can get free help with tax preparation through local offices throughout New Hampshire.
• The IRS certifies volunteers to provide free tax help through the Tax-Aide Program of an organization called the AARP.
• To find the Tax-Aide Program location nearest you, go to this Website, or call 1-888-227-7669.
• You can also call the New Hampshire Help Line at 1-800-852-3388 for a referral to a free tax preparation site nearest you.
   
  

Does the EITC affect eligibility for other public benefits? No. The money you receive as EITC doesn't count as income in determining your eligibility for benefits like Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, food stamps, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, supplemental social security (SSI), or public or subsidized housing.

Can immigrant workers get the EITC?
Many legal immigrants can qualify for the EITC, as long as they meet the eligibility requirements. For more information, call 1-800-TAX-1040.

For more information:

• NH Earned Income Tax Credit (information for New Hampshire residents)
• IRS Earned Income Tax Credit Questions & Answers
• IRS Tax Topics about Earned Income Tax Credit
• IRS Frequently Asked Questions about “Qualifying Child” rules
• Information en espanol: Crédito por Ingreso del Trabajo(EITC)

Preserving food at home has long been a New Hampshire tradition. Growing and preserving your own food lets you enjoy delicious, locally grown fruits and vegetables throughout the year.

Even if you don’t have time or land to grow your own food, New Hampshire’s 300 fruit and vegetable growers offer a wide variety of high quality produce at roadside stands, farmers’ markets, and pick-your-own operations.

The advantages of preserving food at home include supporting local agriculture, taking advantage of the abundance of high quality produce, preserving food within hours of picking, and having control over the ingredients. The tradeoff for these advantages is the time and effort to preserve food at home and the cost of equipment.

Main food preservation methods

There are three main methods of preserving food: canning (which includes pickling), freezing, and drying. Which method you choose will depend on the characteristics of the food you want to preserve and whether there is a tested and safe method of preserving it.

For example, you might have a bumper crop of basil this year and want to make and can small jars of pesto as gifts for your family. Even though canned pesto is available commercially, there is no recommended method for canning it at home. Alternatively, you can safely freeze pesto for long term storage.

Even though summer months are usually busy ones and your time may be limited, you can still preserve food at home. Freezing, for example, takes little time and doesn’t require any special processing equipment.

Comparing canning, freezing and drying

Let’s compare the amount of time and equipment needed for each of the three methods of preserving food:

• Canning (includes fruits, vegetables, jellied products, pickled products)
• Equipment needed: water bath or pressure canner, jars and lids
• Preparation time: long
• Processing time: medium
• Freezing
• Equipment needed: freezer and packaging materials
• Preparation time: short to medium
• Processing time: short
• Drying
• Equipment needed: dehydrator
• Preparation time: short to medium
• Processing time: long

Select the method that best fits your schedule and how you’ll use the food. Be flexible. You may start the summer growing season thinking this will be the year you make strawberry jam, but your work schedule turns crazy just when the local berries are ripe. But if you don’t have time to make jam, you can freeze your strawberries, which takes much less time. You may even enjoy berries more than jam (you’ll also find the berries more versatile for meal-planning) next February when it seems as though winter will last forever.

Four steps to success

Whether you consider yourself an expert or novice food preserver, you can save time, effort, and money by following these four important steps as you plan ahead this summer.

1. Plan carefully before you begin to preserve food at home. Time invested before you begin your project will save you time later.
   
2. Use only up-to-date tested recipes and methods (see resources below). This is an important step. Preserving food safely at home is an evolving science. Recipes and methods are constantly updated based on current research.
   
3. Gather all your ingredients and equipment. Make sure you have everything you need on hand so you can work quickly and efficiently. Inspect equipment and replace as needed.
   
4. Follow recipes and directions precisely. Tested recipes are based on precise amounts of ingredients and procedures. For some preservation methods, altering either can affect the quality and safety of the final product.

Resources for tested recipes and methods

• UNH Cooperative Extension Family, Home, and Garden Info Line – 1-877-398-4769, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 2 pm.
  
  Trained volunteers provide resources, fact sheets and answer your food preservation questions.
  
  
• National Center for Home Food Preservation
  This is a comprehensive website featuring research-based information, publications, recipes, methods, and links for most food preservation methods.
  
• Pennsylvania State University – Let’s Preserve Fact Sheets
  The Let’s Preserve Fact Sheet Series includes tested recipes and methods for canning 15 fruits and vegetables.

Preserving food at home is a rewarding way to capture the taste of New Hampshire grown fruits and vegetables to enjoy all year long!

Catherine Violette, Ph.D., R.D., L.D.
UNH Cooperative Extension Professor and Specialist, Food and Nutrition

Last year, New Hampshire residents qualified for $16.5 million in Earned Income Credit that went unclaimed.

What is Earned Income Credit?

The EIC is a special tax benefit for working people who earn low or moderate incomes. If you fall into this category, the EIC can help reduce your taxes and increase your income.

If you qualify for EIC and file a federal tax return, you can get back some or all of the federal tax withheld from your pay during the year. You may also get some cash back from the IRS. Even if you didn’t earn enough to pay an income tax, you may qualify for EIC.

Who can get EIC?

If you worked full-time or part-time at some point in 2004, you can qualify for the EIC depending on your family income which must fall below the following income guidelines:

Source: Internal Revenue Service

How much is it worth?

The chart below shows the maximum EIC a family can earn. Your family income determines the actual amount of EIC you receive.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

Who is a “qualifying child”?

The IRS considers a qualifying child:

• any child who lived in your household for more than half of 2004,
• is your son, daughter, adopted child, grandchild, great-grandchild, stepchild, or eligible foster child, and who also
• meets one of the following criteria:
  • Was younger than age 19 at the end of the tax year, or
  • Was a full-time student under age 24, or
  • Was permanently and totally disabled at any age during the year

How do you get the EIC?

• Workers raising a qualifying child in 2004 must file either Form 1040 or 1040A and must fill out and attach Schedule EIC. Workers with children can’t get the EIC if they file Form 1040EZ or do not attach Schedule EIC. Married workers must file a joint return to get the EIC.

(See below if you want free help filing your federal tax return.)

• Workers who didn’t raise a qualifying child in their home in 2004 can file any tax form - including the 1040EZ. These workers write “EIC” (or dollar amount of their credit) on the Earned Income Credit line on the tax form. The do not file Schedule EIC.
  
  
• You must provide a correct name and Social Security number for every person listed on the tax return and Schedule EIC. If this information is incorrect or missing, the IRS will delay the refund.
  
  
• Workers don’t have to calculate their own EIC; if they choose, the IRS will do it for them.

Workers raising children can get part of their EIC in their paychecks

Workers raising children can get part of their EIC in their paychecks throughout the year. The rest will come back as a check from the IRS after the worker files a tax return. This is called the Advance EIC payment option.

Learn more about it from the IRS Advance Earned Income Credit Questions and Answers page

FREE help filing your tax forms

Many families that apply for EIC pay someone to complete their tax forms. This can cost $55 to $200 or much more. Getting a “quick tax refund” may cost you more than you will get back!

Low-income workers can get free help with tax preparation through local offices throughout New Hampshire .

The IRS certifies volunteers to provide free tax help through the Tax-Aide Program of an organization called the AARP.

To find the Tax-Aide Program location nearest you, go to this Website, or call 1-888-227-7669.

You can also call the New Hampshire Help Line at 1-800-852-3388 for a referral to a free tax preparation site nearest you.

Does the EIC affect eligibility for other public benefits?

No. The money you receive as EIC doesn’t count as income in determining your eligibility for benefits like Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, food stamps, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, supplemental social security (SSI), or public or subsidized housing.

Can immigrant workers get the EIC?

Many legal immigrants can qualify for the EIC, as long as they meet the eligibility requirements. For more information, call 1-800-TAX-1040.

For more information

• IRS Earned Income Tax Credit Questions & Answers
• IRS Tax Topics about Earned Income Tax Credit
• IRS Frequently Asked Questions About “Qualifying Child” rules
• Information en espanol: Crédito por Ingreso del Trabajo(EITC)

Divorce is hard on everyone, but especially children. Getting tangled up in the legal system can be confusing and can lead to wars between parents, where there are “winners” and “losers” of the divorce. What’s really best, however, is when both parents feel they have won, because this promotes better outcomes for children.

The laws that regulate a state’s divorce procedures can contribute to whether or not parents come out feeling like winners or losers. In the best of cases, the state legislature can provide guidelines on how to make divorce less adversarial. The state of New Hampshire recently has done just that. The State’s Task Force on Family Law has revamped the laws that regulate divorce procedures in the state of New Hampshire. The Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act, which will take effect October 1, changes substantially how the state of New Hampshire approaches divorce.

In the best interests of the child
Weighing what is “in the best interests of the child” has served as the foundation of all child custody decisions since the early 1970’s. Most states outline how to determine what is in the best interests of children, and now New Hampshire will as well, using criteria that include:

• The relationship of the child with each parent
• The ability of each parent to provide the child with love, affection and guidance
• The ability of each parent to ensure that the child’s basic needs are met
• The child’s developmental needs and the ability of each parent to meet them
• The ability of each parent to support a relationship between the child and the other parent and to foster frequent and continuing contact with that parent
• The ability of the parents to communicate with each other
• Evidence of family violence or maltreatment

Language
Enter a New Hampshire courtroom in the near future, and you may be surprised by the language being used. Like many other states, New Hampshire has abandoned value-laden terms, such as sole physical custodian, in favor of more neutral terms, such as residential responsibility, when talking about with whom the child lives. Below are the new terms and the old terms they replace:

• Parental rights and responsibilities: This term replaces the old concept of “custody,” setting forth what rights parents enjoy as parents and what responsibilities the state expects them to meet. It specifies the role each parent will have in making decisions about the children and providing financial support for them.
• Decision-making responsibility: This term replaces “legal custody” and refers to who is legally empowered make substantive decisions about the children’s lives.
• Residential responsibility: This term replaces the old phrase “physical custody.” This new term addresses parents’ responsibilities to provide a home for their children.
• Parenting schedule: This term, adopted by other states as well, replaces the word “visitation.” States and court systems usually adopt this new language, because they want to make sure that “fit parents” never become visitors in their children’s lives. This new language suggests that parents are both permitted and expected to remain parents.

Joint decision-making responsibilities
The new law retains the old presumption that, except in cases of family violence or other forms of maltreatment, parents will adopt joint decision-making responsibilities for their children. To read more about shared parenting visit the Web sites of the Children’s Rights Council or the Shared Parenting Information Group. Both of these resources provide fairly gender-neutral information about joint parenting.

Educational seminars for parents
The new law also retains the old mandate that parents who are divorcing and facing child custody or child support issues must attend an educational child impact seminar before their case can be heard in court. This program, called Children First, broadly addresses how divorce and parental separation affects children. For more information about this program and for a scheduling of its offerings around the state, visit the Web site of Behavioral Health Network.

Mediation
Under the new law, if parents can’t come to an agreement about the terms of their divorce, the court can order the divorcing couple to seek assistance from a mediator. The law doesn’t mandate all disputing couples to use mediation, but specifies that each case be handled on a case-by-case basis. Of course, any couple can voluntarily use mediation if they are having trouble coming to a resolution of their divorce agreement.

For more information about mediation, see this recent issue of Bar Journal of the New Hampshire Bar Association or visit the family section of Mediate.com.

Parenting plans
In many states across the nation, parents are being encouraged to develop a detailed plan for the remainder of their children’s childhoods. The recently adopted New Hampshire divorce law encourages, but does not mandate such plans.

Parenting plans outline how parents will co-parent together and who will be responsible for what. Such a plan is much more specific than a traditional divorce decree and typically includes:

• Decision-making responsibility and residential responsibility for each parent
• A plan for communication, that includes how parents will gain access to and share information about their children
• The child’s legal residence (for school mailings, tax notices, medical provider communications, etc.)
• Parenting schedules, meaning when children will see each of their parents
• Responsibility for what transportation and when
• Procedures to be followed if one of the parents relocates out of the immediate area
• Details of how the plan will be modified in the future
• Guidelines for how disputes will be handled and resolved

In a nutshell, parenting plans are intended to head off future problems. The New Hampshire Bar Association offers a link to good information (from the Massachusetts Bar Association) on how to develop a parenting plan.

For more information

• The final report of the New Hampshire Task Force on Family Law
• Parental Rights and Responsibilities Act
• Helping Children Cope with their Parents’ Divorce

By Emily M. Douglas, Ph.D., UNH Cooperative Extension, assistant extension professor and family education & policy specialist

“New Hampshire has been the fastest growing state in New England for the last four decades,” says Frank Mitchell, land and water conservation specialist with UNH Cooperative Extension. “One major consequence of this growth is that the state is losing approximately 20,000 acres of open space to development every year.”

“New Hampshire residents value undeveloped natural areas, agricultural lands and forest lands as the backdrop shaping what we call ‘community character’,” Mitchell says. “These open lands also protect clean water, wetlands, wildlife habitats, agriculture, forests, recreation, and the scenery that draws people here to live and tourists here to visit.”

“But land use economic issues are a key, sometimes overlooked, piece of the land use planning and decision-making process in our towns and cities,” says Mitchell.

“In recent years, more local open space committees, conservation commissions and town planning boards have called us for help with land conservation initiatives. New Hampshire communities concerned about the economic impacts of growth and development have begun conducting studies on the relative costs of land development. We realized other communities could benefit from what they’d learned,” says Mitchell. “So we designed a program to meet this need, using research-based information specific to the state and region.”

“In conjunction with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and the Forest Society’s Center for Land Conservation Assistance, we’ve created a one-hour presentation called The Dollars and Sense of Saving Special Places. The presentation features slides and handouts that conservation commissions, open space committees, town planning boards and other civic organizations can use to build awareness and support locally for land conservation.

“Dollars and Sense covers the effects of growth, the benefits of open space, the economics of land use, and, because communities usually need funds to accomplish conservation goals, the presentation also includes information about a variety funding sources available to support conservation projects, including municipal, federal, state and private sources.”

For more information about The Dollars and Sense of Saving Special Places program and how to arrange a presentation in your community, contact: Frank Mitchell (862-1067) or Amanda Stone (346-5324).

Research on the economics of land use

“Recently, UNH Cooperative Extension, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests , and the Forest Society’s Center for Land Conservation Assistance compiled information from a number of studies that collectively confirm the economic value of open space,” says Mitchell. “The data clearly show that working farms and forests and undeveloped natural areas bring in more revenue to a town than the land requires in services, and that conserving these lands can slow property tax increases in the long run.”

Mitchell cites these examples:

• A 1999 statewide study found that the open space components of agriculture, forestry, recreation, tourism and second homes contribute a total of $8 billion per year or 25 percent of the annual Gross State Product, and 35 percent of local taxes.

• A 1994 study considered tax bills on median-value homes in all 234 N.H. towns. This study found taxes higher in towns with more taxable property, more residents, and more commercial and industrial development. It also found taxes lower in towns with more open space and a higher proportion of vacation homes.

• A 2004 study in the town of Lee looked at 33 residential areas (see Figure 1). In 30 of these areas, tax income did not cover the expenses. Similar studies in Chester and Peterborough have also shown that residential land use rarely pays for itself.
  
  
• In 13 of the 14 New Hampshire towns that have conducted “cost of community services” studies (see Figure 2), residential properties require more in services than they provide in revenues.

New Hampshire communities respond

New Hampshire communities have responded to the rapid growth and loss of open space with an unprecedented willingness to fund land conservation.

“Since 2001, 70 New Hampshire towns and cities have raised and appropriated more than $125 million for land conservation,” Mitchell says. “That’s impressive!”

A survey of voters conducted in 2004 by UNH professors Mark Ducey and Richard England revealed some reasons voters have been approving conservation funding measures:

• 47 percent said open space, historical character and natural beauty were the features they appreciated most about their towns.
• 41percent identified “growth, sprawl and open space” as the biggest issue or problem facing their towns.
• 60 percent felt their town had grown “too fast.”

• More than 75 percent reported they had voted for a land conservation proposal in their town.
• 63 percent felt that land conservation “will assure the present and future quality of drinking water.”

“The appropriation of conservation funding is only part of the story,” says Mitchell. “Communities and conservation groups have also become much more sophisticated in the way they plan and conduct conservation projects. For example, most towns have established criteria for selecting and evaluating land conservation projects, and are using the criteria to focus their efforts on the most important conservation properties in order to get the most conservation value for their investment.”

Conservation links

• Brentwood Open Space Committee
  Includes fiscal impact study data as well as land conservation information.
  
  
• NH Association of Conservation Commissions list - N.H. municipalities that dedicate all or a portion of the Land Use Change Tax to conservation
  
  
• UNH Cooperative Extension’s Community Conservation Assistance Program A team of Extension Educators provides direct assistance to selected community land and water conservation planning projects at no cost to the communities.
  
  
• Society for the Protection of NH Forests
  Includes information on land conservation planning, implementation and funding.
  
  
• New Hampshire 's Changing Landscape 2005: