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Stimulus Deposits Start Showing Up

March 17, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

There has been some grumbling about the way banks handled the new $1,400 stimulus payments, but the reality is that the treasury did not fund those deposits until today (Wednesday). We can talk all you want about how guaranteed the money was, and that big banks like Wells Fargo and Chase Bank could have easily floated their customers the $1400, but that is never how full-size grown up banks work. Some smaller banks use faster deposits, or even pre-deposits as a way to distinguish them from bigger banks. One article noted that mobile-only, startup, Current put the stimulus payments in their customer’s accounts early. Of course, that’s one of Current’s offers, “Get paid up to 2 days faster.” Doing so requires the bank to use it’s own money to cover the payment until it actually shows up. You can see why big “safe” banks don’t play that. For the record, the ACH deposits into accounts were funded by the IRS as of Wednesday, March, 17, 2021. That means that if your bank put the money in your account before then, they used their own money to do that, then paid themselves back when the IRS money showed up. If your …

Stock Buying Opportunities – New on Finance Gourmet

March 12, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

I’m going to be changing my long-standing policy on Finance Gourmet on not recommending specific investments. Stock buying opportunities require more knowledge than most would-be investors are willing to acquire, but for those willing to learn, there is gold in them thar stock markets. Instead of babying my readers, I’m going to go all out. I think we both can handle it. Investing Recommendations from Finance Gourmet For years, I’ve kept my mouth shut when I see good opportunities for a few reasons. Most people don’t properly understand how and when to invest in individual stocks. — This is still true, but this is my job. I’ll be cranking out investment articles as fast as I can to educate readers how and when buying stocks and other investments is appropriate. (I have sort-of, partially, noted here where I need future investing strategy and knowledge articles to fill in a smart investing opportunity curriculum, but there are many, many more. – I need to get my email list up and running so I can keep you notified when I get them written up. For now, keep checking back.) Until recently the costs associated with buying and selling small amounts of stock …

My Second Stimulus Check

March 9, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

Taxpayers may be getting notifications about their second stimulus check deposit from the government. With all of the news talk about the Democrat’s latest stimulus bill, it can be easy to forget that a second stimulus check was authorized at the end of last year (2020), and that these second stimulus checks have nothing to do with the newest $1,400 stimulus checks that Democrats are currently passing in March 2021. How Many Stimulus Checks Are There? I just got my notification from the IRS about Your Second Economic Impact Payment, aka EIP2. It says it was issued by direct deposit back in January. So, why am I getting this letter now? The IRS loves records, you should keep this letter from the IRS with the rest of your tax records. (I recommend scanning your receipts and other records such as this letter.) Time flies, especially during Covid, but at the end of last year, the U.S. government authorized one-time payments of $600 per taxpayer for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income below $75,000 if filing as individual, and $150,000 for married filing jointly. Those with higher incomes will see their payments reduced or eliminated. This represents the second stimulus payment. …

Capital Loss Tax Deduction

March 1, 2023March 1, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

When you sell certain assets or investments that have appreciated in value, you may owe taxes on the increased value. The difference between what you paid for the investment and the amount you sold the investment is a capital gain and it is subject to capital gains taxes. However, if you lose money on an investment, you can deduct the capital loss. Capital Loss Deduction When it comes to taxes, the more tax deductions the better. And, when you lose money on an investment, a tax deduction can take out a little of the sting. However, deducting capital losses can be tricky. Get the rules straight to save on taxes and avoid making mistakes taking your investment loss tax deduction. Just like with capital gains, there are two kinds of capital losses, short-term capital loss and long-term capital loss. Generally, a long-term capital loss occurs when you have a loss on an investment that you have held for at least one year. Conversely, a short-term capital loss occurs when there is a loss on an investment held for less than a full year. The tax deduction for capital losses is limited to $3,000 per year against your regular income. That …

What Is The Difference Between FSA and HSA?

April 28, 2021February 26, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

There is a lot of confusion around the difference between an HSA and a FSA. HSA stands for Health Savings Account. FSA stands for Flexible Spending Account, or sometimes, Flexible Spending Arrangement. Both types of medical savings accounts are tax-advantaged ways to save and pay for various medical expenses, but there are some very big differences. These accounts are very important for tax planning because otherwise, there is a very high threshold before you can deduct any medical expenses you might have. For many people, an HSA will be better than a Flexible Spending Account, but only if your health insurance plan qualifies. What Is a Flexible Spending Account or FSA? The FSA has been around longer, and so most people are more familiar with it. A flexible spending account is a benefit offered by your employer. You defer a certain amount of your paycheck into the FSA. Any funds contributed to an FSA are pre-tax contributions, just like a 401(k) contribution, which means you not only don’t pay taxes on that money, it doesn’t count as income for things like IRA contribution thresholds, or the child tax credit, or deducting student loan interest. That makes these contributions a very …

New Home Sales and Post Covid Life

February 24, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

Here is a quick bit of news to inform how you look at investing and personal finance moving into a post-Covid world. New Home Sales Rise New home sales were up 19% annually. That is much more than predicted by analysts. There are few trends pushing the higher home sales and those same trends are worth noting across your investing. Covid knocked down the home buying market to basically zero, as showings were banned. Covid also made people more conservative and protective of their finances. Staying put seemed easier and less risky than trying to move. But… Now, as things move toward a post Covid mindset, buyers are looking for new homes. However, there is a very low supply of existing homes on the market, so one of the easy ways to buy a house is to buy new. That means that what existing homes do go on the market are selling for asking price or higher, and selling quickly because of all the demand. This is good news because that experience will lead others out of their cocoon to sell. This news obviously helps home builders, although that still remains a very risky investment. See Is Zelle Safe on …

New Biden Covid Student Loan Help

February 16, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

A whole lot of Covid financial relief protections were scheduled to end in December. As expected, some of those money helping tweaks have been extended in 2021. For example, the Biden administration recently extended the mortgage foreclosure moratorium and forbearance protections. Student Loan Relief Flexibility On January 20, 2021, various student loan relief measures were extended through September 30, 2021. Student Loan Interest Rate Set to Zero Most federally owned student loans have had their interest rate set to zero percent during the pandemic. This continues through September 30, 2021. The zero percent interest rate is pared with student loan payment suspension. Technically called administrative forbearance, student loan payment suspension allows borrowers to skip student loan payments without late payment penalties, or any other negative effects. If you have lost your job, or are having other financial difficulties during the Covid pandemic, then this is a useful way to help save some money for use toward other things. Is Acorns safe? However, if you are not having financial difficulties, and are still getting your normal paycheck from your job, this is an excellent opportunity to improve your overall financial health. Although your loan administrator will automatically place your student loans …

What Is Education Tax Credit

February 3, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

What is education tax credit on taxes? How to qualify for education tax credit? What are the income limits for the education tax credit? Claiming the education tax credit is easy, as long as you are one of the people who qualifies for education tax credit. Education Tax Credit Taxes The 2020 Education Tax Credit is the name for two separate education tax credits, the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) and the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). American Opportunity Tax Credit 2020 The American Opportunity Tax Credit for 2020 is $2,500 maximum. The American Opportunity Tax Credit allows you to claim all of the first $2,000 you spent on tuition, fees and equipment. Most full-time students hit $2,000 on tuition and fees alone. You also get to claim 25% of the next $2,000. That means you need to spend $4,000 to get the full credit. You get $2,000 credit for the first $2,000 and then $500 (25% of $2,000) for the next $2,000. Again, many full-time students will hit the $4,000 just with their bill from the university. You cannot claim living expenses like dorm room fees, but you can claim equipment you buy including laptop computers, tablets, and iPads that …

Uber Buys Drizly, Proves It Has No Real Value

February 17, 2021February 2, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

Uber Buys Drizly for $1.1 Billion Once upon a time, people believed that Uber had some form of value. Its app was revolutionary. Its concept of using ordinary people using their own cars to provide rides was revolutionary. But, it turns out that it wasn’t so much revolutionary, as just the first in an easily replicable line of use-your-own-car apps. Drizly Is Just GrubHub for Alcohol, Which Is Just Uber for Food Uber is paying Drizly $1.1 billion in a desperate grab for any shot at profitability and sustainability. Uber’s acquisition of Drizly proves that there is nothing special about Uber. A handful of engineers, a couple of months, and a few million of funding and anyone can copy Uber well enough. After that, the “special” comes from good old fashioned sales. Building Drizly was a lot less about building an app, and a lot more about signing up liquor stores, and then convincing people that it was worth shelling out $5 to stay on their couch instead of heading down to their favorite liquor store. This was a tough sale pre-Covid. Why pay $5 plus tip for a liquor delivery when you could just swing by your favorite liquor …

Robinhood Becomes Nannyhood

January 29, 2021January 28, 2021 by Finance Gourmet

I’m not going to get into the Gamestop thing. There are plenty of other places you can read about it. Finance Gourmet isn’t really about day-trading or riding trends like this. What Finance Gourmet IS about is providing financial information and data to investors. I didn’t even get a chance to finish updating my Robinhood vs Stash vs Acorn post before Robinhood changed its reputation forever. (This is why I chose to just publish the mega post and keep editing it rather than waiting to fill in all the blanks) Robinhood Halts Trades to “Protect” Traders Robinhood today halted BUYS ONLY on several stocks that were being pushed higher by internet-based trading groups. In other words, you are welcome to sell and relieve the price pressure that is hurting hedge funds, but you can’t buy, because Robinhood is protecting you from yourself. Robinhood is the same platform that allowed a trader to rack up millions in debt over dubious trades until he killed himself. It claims to democratize trading by offering trading to the masses, so long as those masses don’t make a mess, apparently. But, this Gamestop thing is making its hedge fund masters uncomfortable, and well… now it …