Things To Do In SW Florida

By Anna-Louise Jackson, Bankrate.com

It’s now the norm for Americans to file their taxes online — the IRS reports that more than 90% of individual tax returns were e-filed in 2023, the most recent data available. Even most professional tax preparers are required to electronically file returns on behalf of their clients.

By KELVIN CHAN

LONDON (AP) — Should I stay or should I go — from Meta’s social media platforms?

That’s what some Facebook, Instagram and Threads users are wondering after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement this month that the company is relaxing rules on harmful content such as hate speech and abandoning its fact checking program and replacing it with crowdsourced notes.

The changes have renewed interest among some users about deleting their Meta social media accounts. If you want to stop using platforms owned by Meta, here are some pointers:

Save your data

Before deleting your Facebook account, you should download a copy of all your personal information, which includes details about your activity on the platform, things you’ve shared and data that the company has collected about you.

You’ll have to go to your settings or the accounts center — the master control panel for all your Meta accounts — where you can choose to download everything or just items such as your profile, posts, messages, comments and reactions, and list of friends, even the ads you’ve clicked on and IP addresses you’ve used to connect to Facebook. read more

Citizens windstorm insurance for all. Closing loopholes for a “bad-faith” insurance claim. Creation of an insurance advisory council. Requiring mediation before policyholders can sue their insurer.

They are among proposed insurance law changes that will face scrutiny in the Florida Legislature this spring. More are likely to follow with five weeks left before the session’s scheduled March 4 start.

So far, no insurance-related bills have been filed for the special session that’s slated to begin on Monday. Condominium safety is one of the subjects that Gov. DeSantis has said he wants addressed.

The biggest proposed insurance change so far, and likely toughest to get passed, would make state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. the provider of all windstorm insurance sold to homeowners in the state.

First proposed last year, the bill would end Citizen’s status as “the insurer of last resort” that provides multiperil coverage to customers who cannot obtain it affordably from the private market. read more

If you are buying a home or for the first time, it is very important to understand the necessary costs of being a homeowner beyond the down payment and mortgage costs.

You have to understand the costs of home insurance, property taxes, maintenance, utilities, association expenses and other costs you might not anticipate.

Home insurance

When you are looking to buy a house or condo, be sure to obtain actual insurance quotes for properties you are considering. A ballpark estimate of annual insurance cost of insurance is 0.5% of the value of a home. But get actual costs, not an estimate.

Take into consideration whether the area you are considering is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes or wildfires. The annual cost of home insurance in areas prone to natural disasters could be three times, or more than the national average.

You should also consider that in subsequent years, because of inflation, the costs are likely to increase, not decrease.

Maintenance

According to a Zillow and Thumbtacks report of 2023, routine home maintenance averages about $500 per month. If you are purchasing an older home, you should estimate the cost to be higher. These estimates refer to appliance repairs and lawn care. The cost of a new roof, air conditioning, water heaters and the like would be more expensive, so you should take into consideration the age of those items. Many experts recommend estimating a budget of 1% per year to cover large items. You can review real estate websites for additional estimates. read more