Trip report: Can a 65-year-old woman survive Peru's Inca Trail? Yes, with a guide and a few good pharmaceuticals

The fourth morning of our journey on Peru's Inca Trail, the guide woke us well before daybreak. We struggled out of our slightly damp sleep bags, pulled on our boots and crawled outside while the porters scurried to brake down our tents behind us. I'd been sleeping in all my clothes for the prior two nights to ward of the damp cold, so getting the hiking boots on was the only "dressing" I did.
In a few minutes, we had thrown down some hot tea and cake for breakfast and were on the trail. The first dim shadows of dawn began to outline our path. The goal: Arrive at the mountain-top Inca ruins of Machu Picchu at sunrise.We, along with a couple of hundred other trekkers, had the same mission.
Getting to Machu Picchu on the trail would be a physical triumph for me after four demanding days that took us from 9,000-feet to 13,800-feet elevation then back to 8,000 feet. At 65 but in pretty good shape, I still knew it would be tough. Twenty-five years earlier I'd climbed Oregon's Mount Hood at just over 11,000-feet. I remembered how hard the last 500 feet of that climb had been. Ten years earlier, I'd climbed Idaho's highest peak, Mount Borah at 12,000-plus feet. That was nine hours of hard hard work but I was better adjusted to the elevation.
With a good guide and some specialized pharmaceuticals, I was making it to Machu Picchu.
There was the afternoon on Day Three when Victor, our guide, had given me a flying piggyback ride down part of the 2,100-stone step descent then had hiked next to me for another portion near the bottom in order to get me to camp before dark.
In all, our group hiked more than 32 hours over four days, covering 26 miles at high altitude. That's way more hiking per day that the tour company had outlined.
That last morning, as we approached Machu Picchu's Sun Gate entrance, we faced one last physical test - a near vertical set of stone stairs that demanded three-point climbing. I found myself in a race to the top with a petite silver-haired woman, a Canadian hiking club member who wasn't going to let me be first. Tens of others we're climbing behind us, so I let her prove herself to herself. She sure wasn't proving anything to me. I was just glad to make it under my own steam.
Looking down on Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate was a pure emotional moment. After a week of exploration out of Cusco into the Inca's Sacred Valley, after days of cultural immersion, after meeting the Quecawa (Keh-chu-wah) highland people and spending four days on the trail with its jaw-dropping vistas, all I could say to myself was, "wow, am I really here, is this really happening?"
Yes, I am glad I signed up for the Inca Trail. Would I do it again? Nope.
Multi-generational family group
Age really does make a difference. In our three-generation family group, the 14-year-old had no problem. The 40-year-olds did fine except for the evening when dehydration caught up with one of them. We 65-year-olds definitely found it hard going although we were not the oldest people on the trail. We met a mother in her 70s and her 50ish daughter who were slower than we were but made it. There was the Canadian hiking club with some members looking 50ish, if not 60ish and a bit out of shape. But younger is better on the Inca Trail. I can proudly say I explored the limits of my physical and mental self and didn't quit. Things got a bit more challenging when the altitude or "bad" water, or both, began to play havoc with our intestinal tracts.
Why do the trail? If you want to understand the Incas and what they accomplished, there is no better way than on the trail, which takes you near several of their high-mountain city sites with terraces and central building complexes. With every step, you literally will appreciate their love of stone. The Incas built stone trails, stone steps, stone buildings and obviously thought nothing of arranging stone terraces for growing corn and potatoes. All required huge amounts of physical effort. The beauty of their stonework is remarkable. They had an eye for layout and made their settlements look like they belonged on the steep slopes...always facing the rising sun to the east.
We were lucky to have Victor as our guide (arranged through our Cusco-based tour company, Inca Explorers) because he spoke very good English, along with Spanish and Quecawa. He could give us the name of an avocado in all three languages. Quecawa is interesting to hear because it uses a distinctive guttural k-sound in certain words.
Victor was good at spotting many of Peru's 35 highland hummingbird varieties that flitted from one flowering plant to the next. He pointed out wild orchids, wild tobacco and yucca plants that looked like trees in the misty and lush "cloud" forest.

He also managed a group of eight porters and two cooks who packed our tents, sleeping bags, dinner ware, food and cooking equipment up the trail. We still had to use our own backpacks for essentials such as rain coats, water and fleece outerwear.
A pleasant aspect of the hike is that you are rarely away from running water. While the larger rivers fade from view as you climb farther upward and into the mountain peaks, fresh spring water rushes along the trail at nearly every point. Some of this water comes from ancient stone ditches and fountains built by the Inca.
Temperatures in the 60s during the day were perfect for hard and steady climbing. At night, it cooled into the 30s. We were lucky in that we'd planned our trip to start at the beginning of Peru's winter "dry" season. Rain caught us only on one day.
Initially, I thought walking sticks were for wimps but quickly changed my mind after finding that I could take weight off my knees using them on descending stone stairs, which the Incas built for miles. It also helped that Victor carried my pack in his pack part of the time.
Lunch and dinner...meals on the trailOur cook prepared great meals...lunch and dinner. Fish, rice, vegetables, soup, bread, tea and dessert. Touches of altitude sickness suppressed our appetites, which made it hard to choke down all the food. Popcorn was my favorite pre-dinner snack. It settled my gurgling stomach and also replenished salt that my body was casting off in the form of sweat.
There were so many variables in terms of what might be affecting our bodies that it was difficult to determine treatment. Altitude sickness and altitude sickness medicine can create similar symptoms. Bad water, dehydration...same thing. For me, the ultimate treatment was aspirin, which I popped going down hill to kill the pain in my knees. Altitude sickness medicine seemed to prevent headaches, but not much else. Never mind all that.
I'd be lying if I said there wasn't deep satisfaction in sitting on a grassy, sunny outcrop above Machu Picchu that last morning looking down on the magnificent ruins and the swarming tourists below with their shorts, T-shirts and tennis shoes. They had come by train.
I had experienced so much more than they.
Criteria for the trail:
- You are fit, have done some mountain backpacking and tent camping.
- You're ready for long days of demanding hiking at elevations near 11,000 feet.
- You can handle a squat pit latrine. You have your own toilet paper.
- You're curious about people, their manners, customs and courtesies.
- You are a student of history, enjoy nature and have a good, but portable camera.
For more:
Train to Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes, click here.
Books: "The Last Days of the Incas," by Kim MacQuarrie.
Travel books: Moon Handbooks, Cusco & Machu Picchu.
Textiles of Peru, click here.Cusco, a city at 11,000-feet, click here.
Peru bird watching, click here.     
What to take, click here.

Downsizing for baby boomers: How to use an Estate Sale Service

Dear sixtyandsingle readers,
In many conversations with women my age, we all ask ourselves what are we going to do with our "stuff?" That stuff might be everything from great-great grandmother's handmade bed spreads from the 1800s to the Gorham silver service that our mothers "started" for us when we were still babies. Over the years I've collected blue medicine bottles, toy tin motorcycles, Western dinnerware and table clothes. Lots of fun.
Turns out that most of our children are not interested. There's no sentimental connection to the quilts. The silverware is too fancy for Millennial tastes. Besides it needs polishing!
So what to do with our stuff? I've talked recently with several women who work in the estate sale services business. They've seen it all from the siblings who were so mad over how things were being divided up that they could be in the same room at the same time when sorting through mom's stuff. They've seen hoarding old ladies who were hiding cash and valuables in empty pizza boxes. Let's hope we can avoid those situations.
Below is my report on estate sale services and how to get the most for your money when you use one. I key the report to the Portland-Vancouver, (Wash.) metro area where I live but the advice applies to most other regions of the country. To me an estate sale sounds like it might be efficient, fun and worth the effort. But the industry offers a few warnings on how to hire and contract with the right estate sale service.
Cheers,
Julia

Tips for a Successful Estate Sale
1. Trust the estate sale appraisal price. These people know the market.
2. Stay away from the sale. Buyers don’t want to hear about grandma’s tea set.
3. Don’t throw anything away. Old wallpaper is collectible. Same for dusty napkins.
4. Give the kids and your family their shot. Get family and the items they want out of the way before bringing in the estate sale service.

What to ask when hiring an estate sale service:1. Can you provide references from the past six months?
2. Are you bonded and insured?
3. Will you provide a written statement of services?
4. How are you paid: commission or fee?
5. If commission, what percentage of sales will you charge?
6. How long do you take to prepare and conduct the sale?
7. Will you write receipts for all sold items?
8. What other services do you offer: Boxing, bagging, clearing out leftovers, readying a home for sale?
9. How soon after the sale will I be paid the money owed me?
10. Do you prepare a written final accounting with receipts and inventory of items sold?
Source: www.graceful-exits.com.
BY JULIA ANDERSON
Patsy Rushing is never sure what she might find when she meets with a client who wants her services for an estate sale.
“It could be a family that’s cleaning out the home of a favorite aunt who is downsizing to assisted living or a baby boomer couple going to a smaller home,” said Rushing, who owns and operates Always P&P Estate Sales in Vancouver, Wash.
Whatever the circumstances, Rushing advises those thinking of holding an estate sale to “not throw anything out.” That’s because what may be one person’s junk is another’s treasure. Old wall paper rolls, for instance. Or Christmas wrapping paper and magazines from the ‘40s.
“Just because something is old and dusty doesn’t mean it might not have value,” Rushing said. Her “don’t toss” tip is one of many that professionals in the estate sale business offer to those who want to downsize.
Even though the housing slump has caused many to stay put in their homes rather than move to smaller quarters, there’s plenty of demand for estate sale services in the Portland-Vancouver market and throughout the nation. In Portland, the Web site www.estatesale-finder.com lists more than 50 upcoming sales in the metro area scheduled over the next several months. Similar Web sites throughout the country do the same thing.
Karen Rhinehart, Gaston, Ore., who has operated the Portland area Web site for the past seven years, said that typically there are as many as 25 sales on any given weekend.
“People are kind of fanatically about estate sales and garage sales here,” Rhinehart said. “There are lots of eBayers looking for re-sale items, second-hand books are a strong seller because of our book stores and we’re kind of an artsy town.”
As many as 100 or 200 people might be lined up to get into a “good” sale on the first morning, she said.
Like Rushing, Rhinehart also advises those holding the sale to not toss out anything before the estate sale appraiser has had time to look around.
If you’re cleaning out the house of a dotty old aunt, make sure you check all containers (even old pizza boxes) before discarding them, said Beverly Amundson, who has operated Amundson Estate Sales & Auctions in Brush Prairie, Wash. for nearly 30 years.
“One old lady was eating out of cottage cheese containers and begging her nieces for money,” Amundson remembers. “Turns out she had $30,000 in savings bonds and cash hidden in sock drawers and a pizza box. She was living like a pauper…her nieces were sending her money because they thought she was broke.”
How estate sales work BUSTER
Typically, estate sale services such as those run by Rushing and Amundson will be conducted over several days. But it may take two weeks or longer to set up a sale with good display, items well-priced, labeled and advertised.
Services will price items to sell and prefer to have you off the premises during sale hours.
That’s because buyers really don’t want to hear your story about grandma’s tea set. They may feel constrained from making a purchase when the owner is standing around or hovering over the estate sale manager.
“If you have family treasures such as hand-made quilts from the 1800s or sterling silverware, find a family member who will appreciate the items as a gift,” Amundson said. “A 75-year-old woman I know is doing her family a favor by giving these things to them, now. It’s best to have family out of the picture or let them have first opportunity to buy before the actual sale starts,” she said.
Most estate sale services charge a commission in the range of 25 to 35 percent of the gross revenue generated from the sale. Estate agents should be willing to provide a written contract, references from recent sales and guarantee receipts for all items sold with a list. Some services will box or bag unsold items and take them to a donation center. Some will clean the house, readying it for sale or rent, all for extra fees.
What to ask when hiring an estate sale service:
1. Can you provide references from the past six months?
2. Are you bonded and insured?
3. Will you provide a written statement of services?
4. How are you paid: commission or fee?
5. If commission, what percentage of sales will you charge?
6. How long do you take to prepare and conduct the sale?
7. Will you write receipts for all sold items?
8. What other services do you offer: Boxing, bagging, clearing out leftovers, readying a home for sale?
9. How soon after the sale will I be paid the money owed me?
10. Do you prepare a written final accounting with receipts and inventory of items sold?Source: www.graceful-exits.com.
Establish fees with a contractMost services will not take on a sale unless it will produce a minimum of $1,500 to $3,000.
To generate buyer interest, most estate sale services in the Portland-Vancouver metro area use Karen Rhinehart’s www.estatesales-finder.com Web site where they post up to 20 photos of the most interesting items in the sale. The sale and the photos can be posted well in advance but the address won’t go up until the night before the sale to prevent “early birds” from knocking on your door.
Newspaper advertising most often allows for both a print ad and an online posting on the paper’s local Web site for double-coverage advertising.
A new generation
Chris Palmer of Palmer/Wirfs & Associates, which produces three huge Collectible & Antique Shows at the Portland Expo Center and another in Clark County every year, notes at her Web site that the growing number of collecting-based reality TV shows such as Pawnstars, American Pickers, Auction Kings and even Antiques Road Show have generated renewed interest among younger people in collecting and buying vintage items.
What’s hot among this crowd? Mid-century appliances from the 1950s and ‘60s, colorful ‘50s table clothes, items such as paper napkins with strawberry shortcake images around the edges or even old men’s shoes from the ‘40s and ‘50s. Kids like the vintage look.
“The small things that are ‘memory triggers’ or are collectible, you can ask a little bit more for,” said Patsy Rushing. “They may sell for $2 or under, but they sell better than say the newer slow cooker that you paid $130 for five years ago. If I can get $300 for a newer living room sofa, I’m on my knees with thanks,” she said.
Reality TV isn't necessarily realityUnfortunately Antiques Road Show and other TV reality shows, while generating interest, can also create problems for estate sale people because sellers often have unrealistic expectations of value.
“The Road Show is great entertainment, but it is fairy land when it comes to price,” Rushing said. “Most often what someone thinks they have is not worth what they saw on Road Show.
No matter what route you go to downsize, take time to research the value of what you are selling, say the experts. Do a search at online sites for similar items for sale, check the price of recently sold items in the same category.
You can always go the garage sale route but that means you do all the work yourself and you have to haul off all the unsold items. Who has time for that?
HELPFUL WEB SITES:
www.estatesales-finder.com
www.freefromclutter.com
www.estatesales.org
www.graceful-exits.com
http://www.foursales.biz

5 Steps to a Successful Retirement: Wednesday, April 11 in Camas

SPECIAL ALERT:  "WOMEN & RETIREMENT" WORKSHOP from Julia Anderson

Sixtyandsingle.com readers in the Portland-Vancouver metro area are invited to attend a FREE Women & Retirement workshop hosted by the Camas Public Library on Wednesday, April 11 starting a 7 p.m. I will be presenting my 5 Steps to a Successful Retirement workshop. There will be plenty of opportunities for questions and answers during the 90-minute session.
My five steps to retirement:
No. 1  Know the facts about women and retirement. Will you be on your own?
No. 2  Plan for the long-term. Who can you trust to help with financial planning?
No. 3  Look at the big picture. Where will your retirement income come from?
No. 4  Make a retirement budget. What will change when you retire?
No. 5  Bridge the gap. What will it take to get your living expenses in line with your retirement income? Does it have to be all or nothing?
There will be plenty of hand-outs including the Social Security Administration pamphlet "What Every Women Should Know."
Please call and SIGN UP for this FREE Workshop.

EVENT:
5 Steps to a Successful Retirement from Julia Anderson, founder of sixtyandsingle.com.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 11 beginning at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Camas Public Library, 625 N.E. Fourth Avenue, downtown Camas.
TO REGISTER: Call 360-834-4692, press ext. 1.

Hosting these workshops is very rewarding for me as part of my ongoing mission to help women plan and save for retirement. Whether or not you use a financial adviser, I believe that you need to have confidence about investing and managing your money. The mistakes are yours, the gains are yours!
What will I be covering?
How much money will you need in retirement? Where will that money come from? How much will I collect in Social Security benefits? How do I make a retirement budget? Will I need to join a commune to keep a roof over my head?
My 5 Steps to Retirement will give you answers to many of these questions or at least show  you how to make a plan. But, of course, if you're really serious about retirement that planning should start well before you're 50. This message is for our daughters, too!
And MEN are welcome at this event as well.
According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau information there are more than 40 million Americans already 65 and older with 10,000 more turning 65 every day. That total is up 15 percent in the past 10 years.
There are nearly 5.5 million people 85 and older in this country. That number is up nearly 30 percent in the past 10 years. Many of those 80-year-olds will be women living on their own.
Cheers,
Julia

What the Census Bureau numbers tell us about ourselves: $36,931 in annual earnings

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, March is Women’s History Month.
The roots of a national women's history month, surprisingly go back to 1857, when women in New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions. International Women’s Day was first observed in 1909, but it wasn’t until 1981 that Congress established National Women’s History Week, set for the second week in March. Later, Congress expanded the week to a month.Here's what the Census Bureau can tell us about ourselves.
- There are 157.0 million women living in the U.S. according to the 2010 census. That compares with 151.8 million males. However, at 85 and older, there were more than twice as many women as men.
Marriage and motherhood
- Many of us are mothers with an estimated 85.4 million women who were mothers as of 2009.
otherhood We produce an average of 2.3 children, down from 3.4 children in 1976, the year the Census Bureau began keeping such data. The percentage of women giving birth was 81 percent in 2010, down from 90 percent in 1976.
- Last year there were 64.9 million women 18 and older who were married. The number includes those who were separated or had an absent spouse).
- Number of stay-at-home mothers nationwide in 2010? Five million.
Education
- In 2010, there were 30.7 million women age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or more, higher than the corresponding number for men (29.2 million). Women had a larger share of high school diplomas (including equivalents), as well as associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. More men than women had a professional or doctoral degree. In the fall of 2010, 11.3 million women were enrolled in college.
On the job
About 71.9 million owmen 16 and older were participating in the labor force, representing about 58.6 percent of the total 16-and-over female population. Of those women 15 and older who worked year-round, full-time in 2010, their annual earnings totaled $36,931. That was unchanged from 2009.
Women-owned businessesThere were 7.8 million women-owned businesses in the U.S. in 2007, according to the Census Bureau generating $1.2 trillion in revneue. Those businesses employed 7.5 million workers. Top business categories included repair and maintenance businesses, personal and laundry services, health care and social assitance. Women-owned businesses accounted for 52 percent of all businesses operating in the health care and social assistance sector.
There were four states with at least 500,000 women-owned businesses in 2007. They were California, Texas, New York and Florida. California had 1 million women-owned businesses, Texas had 609,947 or 7.8 percent of all women-owned businesses in the United States, New York had 594,517 or 7.6 percent, and Florida had 581,045, or 7.4 percent.
Who votes?
Only 46.2 percent of all eligible women 18 and older voted in the last Congressional election. Forty-five percent of their male counterparts cast a ballot. Sixty-six percent of female citizens said they were registered voters.
Serving our country
In 2010, a total of 205,500 women were on active duty in some branch of the U.S. militry. Of those, 38,700 were officers and 166,800 were enlisted.
Here's to all the women who are making a difference in the world through their skills and intelligence as mothers, business owners, community leaders, employees and military personnel.
I believe that when women are involved, problems get solved, issues are resolved and people work harder to get along with each other. - Julia                                                                                               

Update at sixtyandsingle.com. I'm running for office!

Dear Sixtyandsingle.com readers,
We are very busy here at www.sixtyandsingle.com. Here's run down:
- As part of a Life After 50 series of presentations, I will be leading a Women & Retirement seminar at the Camas Public Library on April 11 at 7 p.m. This will be an updated version of my "5 Steps to a Successful Retirement for Women." Men, of cource, also are welcome because retirement planning most often is a team effort.
- In two weeks, I will be working with Vancouver-based Partners in Careers to lead two focus groups about hiring the older worker. One groups will be over-50 people looking for work. The other will be employers who may want to hire older workers. The feedback should help PIC in assisting people over 50 who need jobs. I appreciate the opportunity to help with this project.
- Today, I leave for Idaho to help my mother celebrate her 97th birthday. A guardianship hearing was also scheduled but that (to my relief) has been cancelled. More about all that at another time.
- And finally, I am running for public office. My campaign for Clark Public Utilities Commissioner started last week with press announcements, meetings and a rush of sign-printing and other campaign materials production. This bipartisan post brings together all my skills and knowledge about the economy, business development and energy issues. Please visit my separate blog....ElectJuliaAnderson.com at electjulianderson.blogspot.com
Now I think I'm finally busy enough in my semi-retirement.
That's it for now.
Back soon.
Julia
See my candidacy press release below:

AMBOY, Wa. – Former Columbian business news editor, Julia Anderson, has announced that she will run for Clark Public Utilities Commissioner, District No 1.
Anderson, a north Clark County property owner and self-employed small business person, said that she will bring her passion for public service to the job on behalf of Clark County working families facing tight household budgets. She also will work on behalf of employers who need affordable power to sustain jobs and add jobs.
“Low-cost power is our ace in the hole,” Anderson said. “We must preserve affordable power for the long-term well-being of our children.” Anderson said her 30 years in journalism has given her a first-hand understanding of the economic challenges facing workers and small business owners, as well as those who lead the region’s largest employers.
“Everyone has concerns about the cost of energy at home and at work,” Anderson said. “I will do my best to serve working families, employers and those people on fixed incomes, all who are Clark Public Utilities ratepayers.”
Since leaving her full-time newspaper job in 2010, Anderson has served as a regional board member of Umpqua Bank, as a business news commentator on KXL 101.1 FM radio and as a freelance business journalist covering business news, energy, conservation and personal finance. She is a strong advocate of financial literacy for women. Anderson was named a “Woman of Distinction” by WSU Vancouver in 2009.
A graduate of the University of Idaho, Anderson earned numerous professional awards for her business column writing. She received national recognition for the business section that she managed and edited. Anderson has been writing the Energy Adviser column for Clark Public Utilities but has taken a leave of absence to work full-time on her campaign for utility commissioner. “Doing that column has given me tremendous insight into conservation issues, energy trends and the range of customer services and information provided by our utility,” she said.
Anderson is a member of the Washington/Clark County Farm Forestry Association, Rotary International (Vancouver), the Clark County Historical Museum and the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce. She is a former board member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Anderson and husband, Ken Giles, share five children and five grandchildren. In their spare time they are restoring a historic 1920s barn on their timber property.

IRS issues 2012 tax scams warning. Make sure you don't get ripped-off

The topic of my business news interview with Steve Leader at KXL-101.1 FM radio in Portland this week is tax scams. Many of us are working right now on our 2011 tax returns with the deadline coming up in April. And many of us look for help in getting those taxes done.The IRS is keeping an eye out for tax scams where legitimate taxpayers can get ripped off. "Scam artists," said the IRS "will tempt people in-person, on-line and by e-mail with misleading promises about lost refunds and free money." Here are scams to be most wary of this year:
1. Identity theft: A growing number of identity thieves are using other taxpayer's personal information to file fraudulent tax returns and claim undeserved refunds, the IRS warns. In 2011, the agency stopped more than $1.4 billion in refunds from getting into the wrong hands, and it plans to weed out more identity thieves this year.
If you believe someone stole your personal information for tax purposes, call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490 or go to IRS.gov/identitytheft.
2. Phishing: Scammers can steal your personal information from e-mails, phone calls, text messages or social media like your Facebook page. Some fake Web sites are also set up to dupe potential victims into giving out their information. If you see anything suspicious or receive a message from someone claiming to be from the IRS, don't open any attachments or click on links included in the e-mail. Instead, forward the message to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
3.Beware of trust transfers. Beware of anyone who tries to convince you to transfer money into a trust in order to reduce your taxable income, deductions for personal expenses and/or estate taxes. The IRS has seen an increase in the number of taxpayers improperly using trusts -- especially private annuity trusts and foreign trusts -- to skip out on tax liabilities.
"While there are legitimate uses of trusts in tax and estate planning, some highly questionable transactions promise big reductions of income subject to tax," said the IRS. " Such trusts rarely deliver the tax benefits promised and are used primarily as a means of avoiding income tax liability and hiding assets from creditors, including the IRS. You could get nailed."
4. Sketchy tax preparers: With about 60 percent of taxpayers expected to use professionals to prepare and submit their taxes this year, be careful about whom you entrust with personal information. There are many preparers out there who will take a portion of a client's refunds, charge more than they should for services and lure taxpayers to their offices by promising unattainable refunds. According to the IRS, federal courts have issued hundreds of injunctions ordering tax professionals engaging in these scams to stop preparing returns, and the Department of Justice has issued many complaints against preparers as well.
The good news: This year, all paid preparers are required to have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) so customers can verify that they are legitimate. Be wary if your preparer doesn't sign the return or put their PTIN on it, doesn't give you a copy of your return, promises unusually large refunds, charges a percentage of the refund amount as a fee, adds forms to the return you've never filed before, or encourages you to include false information on your return, the IRS says.

Do you have a 'sell' strategy? Here's some advice

Investment guru and retired Princeton University economics professor Burton G. Malkiel points out in his classic "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," that "the past history of stock prices cannot be used to predict the future in any meaningful way."
In other words, luck is a factor in any investor's buying and selling decisions. My personal experience is that I'm an OK stock picker but selling at the right time is much more difficult. In fact, even now I ask myself, do I have a "sell" strategy?
Malkiel is of the opinion that you buy and hold your investments for the long term. Let the dividends reinvest. Build a diverse portfolio with a mix of quality investments and get a good night's sleep every night. That can be tough for many of us who fret when there's sell-off like the one we experienced in the third quarter of 2011. It can be tough when you look at a loser in your portfolio that needs to be jettisoned. Instead you hold on until it at least breaks even, right? I wasted a bunch of upside earnings doing that in the past five years.
So what rules can help you sell at the right time?
It may be easier, if you stick to some sort of self-imposed formula rather than trying to guess when a stock tops out and begins to show weakness. Rebalancing may be the best strategy. In other words, if your investment portfolio is 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds, but stocks shoot higher to a mix is 70-30, then sell off some of the stocks and put the money back into bonds, rebalancing the mix. The same strategy can be applied to individual stocks that become too big in your portfolio.
The people a Morningstar Information Service, which evaluates and ranks mutual funds, suggest that if you are poised to sell a stock, ask yourself why you bought the stock in the first place?
Did you love the company's fundamentals, they ask.
"Then you should know when they are changing for the worse. Was the company the industry leader? Then you should keep a close eye on the competition, and know when it is catching up to your company. Did you love the industry? Then you need to watch for an industry downturn. Did you buy the stock because it was undervalued? Then you should have a firm idea of what you think fair value is."
All of this requires that you at least once a year, evaluate your holdings in light of what's changed and why those changes have occurred.
My mother has been a very good stock picker. Over the years, she bought Exxon, GE, several large drug companies, 3M and Idaho Power, among others. Most everything has done well. Her banker now wants her to sell some of her Exxon to "rebalance" her portfolio. Fiftween percent in one stock is too much, she said. My mother is resisting.
Deciding to buy a stock is usually the result of some serious research but selling can get more emotional. I've tended to sell when I get disgusted with as stock's performance or with markets in general. That's always been a mistake. In many cases, it does no good to sell after the stock price has fallen. So again, why does my mother own Exxon? She likes oil as a basic commodity that's in demand around the globe. She sees little down side unless there's a big oil spill and the company gets sued.(BP for instance).
But if the reasons for owning a stock are still intact, the Morningstar advisers say, "then the rational approach may be to buy more of it at a lower price."
That strategy would have worked for me 99 percent of the time...except for the mortgage insurance company that finally filed for bankruptcy last year.
"Investing for Beginners" at About.com suggests that it would be nice if we could recognize an investment mistake before the stock takes a big hit.
If you are no longer confident in the company's prospects, "be willing to cut your losses and sell the stock. There is no law that says you have to hold onto a loser until you break even. Selling at a loss can also help offset capital gains tax consequences elsewhere in your portfolio," they point out.
When to sell according to About.com: - When earnings were not properly stated. Let's use Enron as an example of lying and cheating.
 - Debt is growing too rapidly.
 - New competition is likely to seriously harm the firm’s profitability or competitive position in the market place. 
 - Management’s ethics are questionable.
 - The industry as a whole is doomed due to a commoditization of the product line.
 - The market price of the stock has risen far faster than the underlying diluted earnings per share. Over time, this situation is not sustainable.
 - You need the money in the near future – a few years or less.
 - You don’t understand the business, what it does, or how it makes money.
While I generally agree with these reasons for selling, I also know that you don't make money by sitting on the sidelines with your money in a money market account that pays $113 of interest a year on $30,000. That $30,000 should do far better in some sort of mutual fund or stock with a 3 to 5 percent dividend, plus the potential for price growth.
So, yes, it's OK to sell, to rebalance, but be ready to get back in there, reinvest in something that you've investigated, understand and like as a new way to sweeten up your portfolio. Just keep your holdings consistent with your tolerance for risk.
And keep in mind what Professor Burton Malkiel said at the end of his book: "The game of investing is like lovemaking. It's much too much fun to give up. If you have the talent to recognize stocks that have good value, and the art to recognize a story that will catch the fancy of others, it's a great feeling to see the market vindicate you." Read his outlook for 2012 in the Wall Street Journal.
So sell the dogs and find some winners.