Here are three of the week's top pieces of financial advice, gathered from around the web:
Prices that wax and wane
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Digital shift at the IRS
"Think reaching a human at the Internal Revenue Service last tax filing season was tough?" asked Suzanne Woolley at Bloomberg. A renewed push at the IRS to upgrade its digital offerings could mean even less telephone and face-to-face customer service in the years to come, a new report warns. The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent office within the IRS, said that the agency's online expansion could leave behind many elderly or poor taxpayers who still seek help the old-fashioned way. Despite efforts to limit the need for taxpayers to phone the agency, calls to the IRS increased 60 percent between 2006 and 2015. The advocate added that the agency's plans, which include online accounts for filers, "could force many to pay tax preparers for advice they used to get for free."
Crossing the mortgage finish line
Even if your last mortgage payment is in sight, you've still got work to do, said Pat Mertz Esswein at Kiplinger. One or two months before you expect to make your last house payment, ask for a payoff quote from your lender or loan servicer. Because mortgages are paid in arrears, "you could owe more than you think." You'll typically need to pay a small fee to the county's real estate recording office to release the mortgage lien from your title. Also, homeowners insurance and property taxes will no longer be paid from an escrow account, so those bills are now your responsibility. Contact your insurers to remove the servicer's name. Finally, you won't hold clear title to your home until the county has recorded the release request. After that, "it's a done deal."
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The battle over the Irish language in Northern IrelandUnder the Radar Popularity is soaring across Northern Ireland, but dual-language sign policies agitate division as unionists accuse nationalists of cultural erosion
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Villa Treville Positano: a glamorous sanctuary on the Amalfi CoastThe Week Recommends Franco Zeffirelli’s former private estate is now one of Italy’s most exclusive hotels
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How roadkill is a surprising boon to scientific researchUnder the radar We can learn from animals without trapping and capturing them
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Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
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China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
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Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
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Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
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Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
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US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
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How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
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Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
