COVID19- How is your livelihood impacted?
We are all making every effort to adjust to our new semblance of normalcy in addition to setting ourselves up to work from home, manage child or parental care, whilst simultaneously hanging on to our sanity by a thread. The daunting questions of how to manage your finances may be looming in the back of your mind. Don’t trip! We’re all in this together. Granted, there are about 3.3 Million people who are currently filing for unemployment, the largest number of unemployed participants in any economic recession to U.S. history. That does not mean it is all doom and gloom! I couldn’t think of a more opportune time than now to hone in our personal skills and craft them into marketable skill.
Are you a savvy techie? Chef? Blogger? Trainer? Teacher? Entertainer? With most stuck in doors there is certainly an opportunity to create a program to be live streamed, uploaded and/or formatted for someone else’s use. If you are fortunate enough to maintain employment during these tumultuous times of uncertainty, in addition to thanking whomever or whatever you believe in now is the time to tighten up those belts (figuratively) and budget. Strategize between your needs versus wants, many options to recklessly blow money have been removed (thanks to the government induced stay at home orders) which means there should be a bit more wiggle room in your monthly budget to tackle some debt, create or sustain a rainy day savings fund, refinance existing debt or create a long-term savings goal(s). By now, I’m sure you’re probably like enough with the long-winded response where do I get started? I got you boo!
First things first; Am I eligible for that good ole stimulus payment?
Yes! Wellll maybe….
Here’s the deal: The stimulus payment will be automatically distributed over the next three weeks contingent upon your 2019 tax return. If you have yet to file the IRS had issued an extension through July 15th, 2020 if you owe the IRS payments have also been extended through July. IRA contributions have also been extended through July as well, if you have a few extra $$$ to throw at your retirement, there isn’t a more opportune time than now! 401 (k) penalties will also be forgiven, in the event that you are in dire need of a hardship withdrawal. Getting back to the stimulus payment… your 2018 returns maybe used to ascertain your ability to receive payment. If you elected to have your funds directly deposited from your tax return, the stimulus supplement will be directly deposited utilizing the same information. In the even that you receive SSI benefits and have not filed a return visit IRS.gov and file a simple tax return to ensure that your funds are allocated appropriately.
How much money am I eligible for?
Here’s’ where things begin to get tricky… Tax filers with an adjusted gross income of up to $75,000 are eligible for the $1,200 stimulus. Married couples filing jointly with an adjusted gross income of $150,000.00 are eligible for the full $1,200.00 stimulus payment per individual for a total of $2,400. Earnings over $75,000.00 will be deducted $5 for every $100 earned above the threshold, while single filers without children whose income exceeds $99,000.00 and joint filers exceeding $198,000.00 are completely ineligible. Parents will receive an additional $500 for each qualifying child.
What if I did not receive a direct deposit for my tax return, how will I receive my funds?
The IRS is building a portal on their website which will enable users the ability to enter their preferred banking information. It is not operational as of yet, but will be fully operational within the next several weeks.
For more detailed information please check https://www.irs.gov/coronavirusfor updates as they seem to be evolving daily.
This week’s blog is certainly a considerable amount of information to digest! Tune in next week Friday for more Finance Fri-YAY! Money Management tips.
Leave a comment; let me know your thoughts, tell me how you’re managing finances during this new economic era. Let’s discuss!