Economic Stimulus

My Second Stimulus Check

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irs stimulus check

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. …

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What Else Is In New Covid Stimulus Bill

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new covid stimulus bill details

If you are interested in financial independence, you know you need to watch and manage your money beyond a new $600 stimulus check. You need to know what else is in the new Covid stimulus bill. Here are the new Covid stimulus bill details you need to manage your money. New Covid Stimulus Bill Breakdown New Covid Stimulus Checks By now, you have probably heard about the new $600 stimulus checks, and the fight over whether or not to get $2,000 stimulus checks. Mitch McConnell has blocked $2,000 stimulus checks and runs the Senate like he is the King of the Senate, so that means there is no debate, no compromise, and not chance of $2,000 stimulus checks coming, so don’t bother worrying about that. The $600 is per person, and includes children. So, if you are married with two kids, you can look for $2,400 stimulus checks. It works the same as last time with the IRS using your direct deposit information. If you did something to fix your direct deposit info last time, it should stay fixed for this time as well. There are income phaseouts again to keep the payments from going to higher-income earners. Couples making …

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7 Important Things To Look For From the December Stock Market

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Here we go. December 1, 2020 is a Tuesday, so the markets already got started on this week yesterday. This December is packed with interesting scenarios, events, and reports for investors. Without further ado, let’s jump into the 7 most important things to look for from the December stock market. Tesla Joins the S&P 500 Over a long enough period, the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) at the SP500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average drives some interesting decisions. Some of them prove to be remarkably prescient, others embarrassingly reversed. There is no denying that Tesla dominates news storylines in the automotive industry. Its market capitalization certainly qualifies for inclusion in the central S&P 500 index. On the other hand, Tesla stock is highly volatile, often tied to words its CEO blurts out on Twitter, or based on meeting tight-rope high production goals. More commonly missing those goals but getting credit for being kind of close. What is Rakuten? Joining the S&P 500 will give Tesla stock a new stability that comes from being part of all those market index mutual funds and market index ETFs. At the same time, the company may inject a bit of volatility back into …

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Covid Investing – Just 1 Tip

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covid investing

People keep asking me about how to invest based on Covid. Covid investing would be the idea of investing in the potential vaccine manufacturers, distributors, the company that makes glass vials, and things like that. Those company’s stocks are already up on the hope that they’ll benefit. It’s unlikely they are underpriced relative to risk at this point. However, there is an easier way to make a Covid investment. Covid Vaccine To update the original post I must point out that the potential Covid vaccine has arrived faster than I thought it would. The economy is still on the bring thanks to Congress’ inaction on a stimulus package, but in the short-term, expect investors to focus on the vaccine and what might mean for companies, with or without a stimulus. Watch for a lot of over-optimism in the vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer. If one of them comes out as the dominant winner, then that could really move the needle for them, but present a lot of risk for the others. In my opinion being the main vaccine provider is now priced into all three stocks with vaccines pending before the FDA. Unless they all get something like a third …

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How Is The Economy Doing?

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congress blame game

When it comes to the U.S. economy there are a lot of opinions. Many of those opinions have motivations behind them that tend to skew their analysis. So, who should you listen to about the economy? Well, you could do a lot worse than the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Economy Is Weak The U.S. recovery is weak, very weak. Although jobs are recovering, they are still lower than they were when the pandemic started. The opinion of the Fed Chairman is that the economy needs more help in the form of government stimulus. Of course, the politicians in Washington care more about Dems vs. Repubs than they do about America, so we are caught in petty fights while the economy sputters. Why The Economy Needs Help While politicians, especially the President, love to point to the stock market as proof the economy is doing well, most investors are very skittish right now. Any bad news at all, and they’ll turn into sellers, and take the market with it. Stimulus in the form of extra unemployment benefits has proven particularly helpful to the economy. Why? Because people on unemployment spend that money, and that stimulates the economy. Save money …

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Can The Fed Really Be Treasonous?

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Recently, newly official Presidential candidate Rick Perry suggested that it would be "treasonous" for Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve to "print more money" in order to play politics. If you want the political dogfight over the comments, check your regular media outlet. However, the comments highlight a fundamental misunderstanding that most Americans have about the Federal Reserve Board and its power over the U.S. economy. Before we get into that, however, it seems that there is a glaring lack of logic in both Mr. Perry’s comments and the media reaction to them. If the Fed can fix the economy to such an extent that the recovery might alter the outcome of the election, whenever it chooses to do so, wouldn’t it be more treasonous to not be doing it right now, or say, six months ago? In other words, if just turning on the printing presses would make a meaningful improvement to the economy, shouldn’t (wouldn’t) they be doing it right now instead of letting the U.S. economy stall, its citizens suffer and allowing other countries to gain strength at America’s expense? The Fed’s Real Power The truth is that "printing money" or other fiscal stimulus can only accomplish …

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What Does the Election Mean for the Economy?

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Republicans Win House, Democrats Keep Senate – Gridlock? Traditionally, Wall Street and big business have favored gridlock in Washington D.C. The idea is that when Republicans and Democrats are busy fighting each other, they can’t be changing the laws and regulations that businesses already know. Theoretically, any currently successful business already knows how to earn money and make a profit under the current laws, but that may not be the case under new legislation that gets passed. The devil you know, is better than the one you don’t — so to speak. But, is political gridlock good for American business this time? Is partisan fighting a good thing or a bad thing for the U.S. economy right now? Is Gridlock Good for The Economy? With the 2010 U.S. economy in a fragile state, and major changes in the form of ending stimulus funds coming in 2011, the difficult question is whether the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives a bad thing for the economy, or is it good for the economy that Democrats have lost the House. The major concern to look for in 2011 is the end of stimulus spending and other U.S. Government spending to bolster the …

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Government Mortgage Help Programs Scams and Deceptive Marketing and Mailings

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It was with much fanfare last month that Congress and the Obama administration passed laws putting into effect government programs to help American homeowners with their mortgages.  Both The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act were front page news all over the country. A lot of this publicity was due to the fact that Americans have started to perceive the government as helping out Wall Street and big banks more than they are helping ordinary taxpayers and homeowners who did nothing wrong during the housing bubble and subsequent market collapse and banking collapse. However, the same publicity also made it easier for scammers and dishonest marketers to take advantage of people’s hopes by pretending to have something to do with the government programs when, in fact, they are either outright scams to steal your money or steal your identity, or they are mortgage brokers or mortgage companies that have nothing to do with the government mortgage aid programs trying to insinuate that they are part of those programs.  Unfortunately, many people are falling victim to these con artists and their tricks. How To Protect Yourself From Scams, Thieves, and Con Artists Using Government Mortgage Aid …

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