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Somekindsofinsur- ance are necessary. The following, however, may not only be unnec- essary but downright ridiculous. ACCIDEN- TAL DEATH INSURANCE Why pay extra for this kind of insurance? Statistically, it is highly unlikely you will die in an accident and even if you do the basic life insurance you carry should be sufficient. CHILD LIFE INSURANCE Life insurance should be carried only to the ex- tent that others depend upon the income of the insured, whose early de- mise will leave those peo- ple financially destitute. Children don't fall into this category unless, of course, your kid is Grif- fin Gluck. Insuring the lives of children is unnec- essary and does not guar- antee insurability when the child reaches adult- hood as some agents would like you to believe. Actuarially speaking, the chances that your child will die in childhood, leaving you with big burial costs are so small, they're barely worth talk- ing about and a risk par- ents should agree to self- insure TRAVEL INSURANCE Never purchase this kind of insurance before tak- ing a trip. If in the un- likely event the plane crashes or ship sinks, your family is going to sue. This kind of last- minute insurance is costly and a major rip-off. Ditto for trip cancellation insurance. MORTGAGE INSURANCE Typically overpriced, mortgage insurance (not to be confused with pri- vate mortgage insurance, see below) pays off your remaining mortgage bal- ance in the case of your demise. But who says your spouse or heirs will even want to apply in- surance proceeds in that way, if such a thing hap- pens? If you have this type of coverage, they'll have no choice. Far better to buy regular term life insurance if you feel you need additional coverage. Besides, while your pre- mium on mortgage insur- ance remains the same, the potential benefit is decreasing every month as you pay down the prin- cipal. PRIVATE MORTGAGE IN- SURANCE Also referred to as PMI, this is often re- quired by the lender in a mortgage transaction, to be paid for each month by the borrower. How- ever, the moment it can be canceled (typically once the equity reaches 20 percent) it can and should be canceled. Pri- vate mortgage insurance offers no benefit at all for the borrower in a mort- gage transaction, even though the borrower must pay the premiums. EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERAGE What a waste of money. Mod- ern day appliances are of a quality that the chances of needing re- pair is remote. And if the item does fail, sta- tistically it will fail dur- ing the initial period un- der the manufacturer's warranty. Taking your chances is more advis- able and cheaper. This is the kind of insurance you should be "self-in- suring." That means in- stead of buying the cov- erage, you put that same amount of money into a special holding account (just open a savings ac- count in credit union or bank) to either replace or repair that asset. Then when you have no issues with the item purchased, that money is yours — not lining the pockets of an insurance provider. Extended warranty cov- erage is a colossal rip-off. MaryHuntisthefounder of www.DebtProofLiving. com, a personal finance member website. You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE Insurance coverage you absolutely don't need Mary Hunt IT only T A K E S A S P A R K . O N L Y Y O U C A N P R E V E N T W I L D F I R E S . s m o k e y b e a r . c o m Please The Tehama Country Visitor Center is proud to host the Tehama County Photo Club's display of Round-Up re- lated photos, opening Wednesday. Visitor center hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. week- days, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sundays at 250 Antelope Blvd. in Red Bluff. The club was organized in June 2005 with nine lo- cal photographers meet- ing in a member's living room. By November, the group, having grown to more than 20 members, began meet- ing at the Family Resource Center on Sycamore Street, where it continued to meet until 2013. The group meets at 6 p.m. the second Tues- day of each month at the Red Bluff Commu- nity Center. Originally, the group consensus was that mem- bers value the group's infor- mal, unstructured nature, especially through advice, demonstrations, member- led workshops, and shar- ing of equipment and tech- niques. This has expanded to in- clude more group shows and exhibits, field trips and workshops given by non- members. In 2010 the club started the Images from a Glass Eye International Photog- raphy Contest with found- ing members Bob Grace and Barbara Luzzadder, along with Bob McConnell, serving as the steering com- mittee. From the beginning, membership has been open to anyone regardless of skill level, and member- ship has included people from surrounding coun- ties. More than 100 photogra- phy enthusiasts are on the club's mailing list. PHOTOGRAPHY Round-Uponexhibitatvisitorcenter If you can't pay your taxes in full, the IRS will work with you. But you should know that back taxes or certain past due debts can reduce your federal tax re- fund. The Treasury Offset Pro- gram can use all or part of your federal refund to set- tle certain unpaid federal or state debts. Here are five facts to know about tax re- fund offsets. 1. Bureau of the Fiscal Service: The Department of Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service, or BFS, runs the Treasury Offset Pro- gram. 2. Offsets to Pay Certain Debts: Past due federal tax debt may reduce your tax refund. The BFS may also use part or all of your tax refund to pay certain other debts such as past-due child and parent support; federal agency non-tax debts, such as a delinquent student loan; state income tax obli- gations; certain unemploy- ment compensation debts owed to a state. 3. Notified by Mail: The BFS will mail you a notice if it offsets any part of your re- fund to pay your debt. The notice will list the original refund and offset amount. It will also include the agency that received the offset pay- ment. It will also give their contact information. 4. How to Dispute Offset: If you wish to dispute the offset, you should contact the agency that received the offset payment. Do not con- tact the IRS. 5. Injured Spouse Alloca- tion: You may be entitled to part or all of the offset if you filed a joint tax return with your spouse. This rule ap- plies if your spouse is solely responsible for the debt. To get your part of the refund, file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation. You can view, download or print tax forms on IRS.gov/forms at any time. The law prohibits the IRS from using liens or lev- ies to collect any individ- ual shared responsibility payment. However, if you owe a shared responsibil- ity payment, the IRS may offset that liability against any tax refund that may be due to you. TAX TIP Your tax refund and offsets to pay your unpaid debts The following Altacal Audubon program and field trip activities are planned for April. All programs and activities are free of cost unless otherwise indicated and are open to the public. Program Using Bird Focal Species to Describe Land Health Presented by Navit Reid — 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, Chico Creek Nature Center. Point Blue Conservation Science recently launched the Rangeland Watershed Initiative to enhance wa- ter and wildlife in Califor- nia's Great Central Valley and coastal foothills. Using bird focal species, they are working with private land- owners to connect ecologi- cal health on rangelands to on the ground land man- agement decisions. Join Navit Reid as she gives a brief overview of the program and dis- cusses the oak woodland, grassland and mountain meadow bird species that are uniquely suited to guid- ing the work. Reid is a Partner Biol- ogist for the Natural Re- sources Conservation Ser- vice and Point Blue Con- servation Science. She has worked as a field biologist for many non-profit orga- nizations, federal and state agencies throughout the U.S. and world for the past 5 years. A native of the Great Plains, she has lived in Cal- ifornia since 2011 and has recently become involved with Altacal events. Field trip Yahi Trail in Upper Bidwell Park Bird Walk: Sunday, April 19 — Meet in Upper Bidwell Park at the parking area on the east end of Horseshoe Lake at 8 a.m. The group will take a stroll on the Yahi Trail which follows along Big Chico Creek to find the lo- cal resident birds, and see which migrants have re- turned for the breeding season. Bring binoculars, sturdy shoes and water. The group will proba- bly walk up to Bear Hole before turning around to head back, depending on what the group wants to do. Rain cancels. Contact Mary Muchowski at 228- 0625 or mmuchowski@ earthlink.net. ALTACAL Audubon events for April include program, bird walk COURTESYPHOTO The Tehama Country Visitor Center will host Tehama County Photo Club members' photos from the Red Bluff Round-Up starting Wednesday. 1921 ~ 2015 94 TH APRIL17,18,19,2015 Friday Family Packs $ 35 RODEO AMERICA'S ORIGINAL EXTREME SPORT! LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, April 14, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5