[Poppy Harlow, Cnn:] Well, good morning everyone, welcome to YOUR BOTTOM LINE, I'm Poppy Harlow. We have a lot ahead this morning including a man that "Time" magazine called one of the world's most powerful people and influential people. John Bogle will be here today to talk about investing today for tomorrow. Very important stuff. And we'll help you slash your energy bill with one of our favorite home improvement experts. And a visit to the supermarket. Why not? With the Coupon Mom. We'll show you how to slash your grocery bill possibly by hundreds of dollars. It's the show that saves you money and it starts right now. Well, for many of you out there, your home is top of mind right now if you're underwater on your mortgage or about to file for foreclosure, this could help you out. A new government program actually paying people to walk away from their home if they just can't pay the mortgage. So, who qualifies for this program? Here with the important details is Greg McBride. He's the senior financial analyst for BankRate.com. Thanks for being here, Greg. Let's talk about the first issue here is that it starts soon. It starts April 5 and it allows homeowners to do a short sale on their home, essentially sell it for less than they owe on the home and the government is going to give folks $1,500 to help them relocate. Who's going to qualify for this program? Who should be listening?
[Greg Mcbride, Bankrate.com:] That's the thing. Not everybody's going to qualify. You have to have a demonstrated financial hardship. You have to otherwise qualify for the modification program and so this is designed for people who would otherwise qualify for the modification program, but couldn't or won't make the payments and say in that program.
[Harlow:] Is this, bottom line, going to help the people that need it most or is this going to possibly turn into another bureaucratic nightmare of too much paperwork and not a lot of action, not a lot of results?
[Mcbride:] I do think we have to be patient. These government programs, as history has been our guide, Poppy, they take a while to ramp up. So, it's going to take a while, but I think the design of this is good in the sense that it is geared toward helping the people that do need it the most. Those that otherwise fell out of the modification program, that couldn't swing the lower monthly payments and that otherwise go into foreclosure, it's given the short circuit, but otherwise...
[Harlow:] It's also a shift in government tactic, here. We've seen the government take so many steps to keep people in their homes. Now, it seems like they're admitting, all right, we know that's not realistic, we're going to help some people who just can't make the mortgage and have to walk away.
[Mcbride:] And that's exactly right because the modifications are not realistic. Not everybody's going to be able to swing those lower monthly payments. Not everybody wants to swing those lower monthly payment, particularly if they're upside-down and this helps that.
[Harlow:] And just so people know what a short sale is, you're selling your home at a price that is less than you owe on it because you can't pay what it's worth. The bank's going to lose money on this, in a short sale, but they're better off than if people just aren't paying a mortgage month after month after month. Right? So banks will partake in this?
[Mcbride:] They will, there's also an incentive for the loan servicer, a thousand dollars for them to facilitate in this progress and they lose less on a short sale than they do on a foreclosure. So, you know, there's an incentive from the lender's side, as well.
[Harlow:] And also for your credit score, you're going to be hurt in this regard, but a little bit less so than if you foreclose on your home?
[Mcbride:] It's the lesser of two evils in terms of the impact on your credit score.
[Harlow:] So, that's a good way to look at it. In terms of how many people you think this could help, any estimates right now?
[Mcbride:] I have no idea, I mean, a lot of the estimates we've seen initially with some of these previous government programs turn out to be pie in the sky and the programs actually fell well short of that. So, I think that time will tell. And again, we're going to have to be patient because these programs do take a while to ramp up and really become effective.
[Harlow:] And it's good at least to see the government taking action here, continually to help people in this beleaguered housing market, that continues to be a huge issue even as the economy recovers. We'll see. Greg McBride, thanks so much, we appreciate it.
[Mcbride:] Thanks, Poppy.
[Harlow:] And it's almost here. Tax day. Oh, we all love that day. It's just one month away and we are of course all over the rules, the refunds and the rest of the details you need to know when it comes to filing. If you were looking for a job in 2009, listen up. There are tax deductions for job seekers. You can write off a lot of things like your resume expenses, employment agency fees, your travel expenses to and from interviews. But be careful, here. Don't write off too much, you can't write off that new suit that you brought for the interview or that new laptop that you used to hunt for jobs. Also, you need to know who's eligible. Anyone who's looking for work in their current field, they're eligible. If you're switching careers or you're a first-time job seeker, you're not going to qualify. And also, if you've been out of work for a long time, the long time unemployed, unfortunately they don't qualify, as well. But here's what you will get. More help from us about how to save on your taxes up until that April 15 deadline. And if you've got a question you want answered, please e-mail us here at YOUR BOTTOM LINE at cnn.com. We're going to do our best to answer your questions right here next Saturday morning. And coming up next, investment giant John Bogle joins us for a candid conversation on investing.