Vol. 9 - Stimulus Checks, What To Expect
In this episode, we are addressing what to prioritize during a financial crisis. We cover:
Goal setting
Cutting expenses
Investing
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema McElroy (01:35): how to avoid fraud during these times too. Yeah, that's great. Right. So this is just really brief. Like any time you have any kind of interactions with the IRS, a rule of thumb to know is that they will never call you. They will never leave you a threatening voicemail, they won't email you. Any correspondence from the IRS is gonna come through the mail, like actual snail mail with verifications and codes and all this different kind of stuff. So anytime you're ever worried or scared, like I know there they were like these Roundup phone calls, like saying that people owed all this money to the IRS and they were going to go to jail if they didn't pay it, that's not from the IRS. They will never contact you over the phone. So that's just something to keep in mind.
Leisa Peterson (02:18): Beautiful. Yeah. Really good reminder. So
Leisa Peterson (02:23): well we also want to do was make sure you know about the timeliness of these checks and how to kind of expect that. So as we see it, and this is basically the research that we've done, is that if you make a less than let's say $100,000 for a adjusted gross income on your taxes, meaning after your expenses, there is a potential for you to get some amount of money or 198,000 for joint filers. Now anywhere between 75,000 and a hundred thousand the amount of money you get will be reduced. And you can go onto some of these calculators online to see what that might look like. But the $1,200 would go down if you're above 75,000 AGI, what would that be? One 50 as joint filers. So that was the first thing. The amount of money is if you're less than 75,000 or less than the one 50 combined for joint filers, it's $1,200 for you, for your partner spouse that you're filing with.
Leisa Peterson (03:34): And it's up to $500 per child. 17 and younger, so like for my household it's my husband, myself and my son. So it would be 2,400 plus $500 so $2,900 as, so that's kind of the idea of how much you'd be getting. Question about that though, because you guys filed jointly, would it be one check per household or do you think it'll be two separate texts? My impression is is because we filed jointly, that would be just like the way, if you've ever gotten a tax refund before, it's probably all going to come in one lump sum because they're going to be looking at your taxes, which is the next part of this. But does that answer the question? Yes. Yeah. So one lump sum is what you'd be looking at now. The, the other piece of it is, is from the research, it sounds like your best case of getting that money as soon as possible is going to be for those people who are filing 2019 taxes and have themselves set up so that the IRS can automatically deposit their refunds into their checking account or savings account or wherever you have it set up.
Leisa Peterson (04:54): So ideally speaking, if you're one of those folks who typically files taxes around this time here it is coming up on April 15th now you don't have to because they issued an extension right to, is it July 15th yes, I think so. Yeah. [inaudible] so they did give an extension so you don't have to do this, but if you want that money sooner, the word is is that if you go and file your 2019 taxes, have it set up, you will be one of the first to receive those checks because they have all your current information on file and it's pretty easy cause they can look at how much you made. They can do the calculations and get you that money. The next kind of bucket that let's say you haven't filed your taxes even in 2018 cause some people get extensions and keep getting extensions, right? So now would be the time to go in and file your 2018 at a minimum and if you did that, then you would also want to make sure that your deposit is set up with the IRS so that they have your information so you could still see yourself getting that check faster by even filing your 2018 now because again, you're going to be hitting their system.
Leisa Peterson (06:10): They're going to see what it looks like. Okay. The other thing that we talked about is that if you made a lot more money in 2018 then you did in 2019 then you, you've, let's say you wouldn't qualify in 2018 with the taxes that are on file, but you would qualify based on your income last year. There's another reason to get out there and file your taxes as soon as possible for 2019 does that make sense? So that you could have the potential of getting that check now. Yeah. [inaudible] other pieces I read is that, let's say you've never received automatic payment into an account from the IRS. That's where the checks right now could be w two, three, even four months out. So like if you aren't set up that way, that would be the place where you might see a long delay because the IRS isn't capable of getting those checks out quickly. They're better suited for electronic transfers. That's why it's happening this way.
Naseema McElroy (07:21): Yup. Yup. Yup. So yeah, make sure you guys have your direct deposit set up on your tax returns whenever you file them. That's always the fastest way to get your refund. I think that that was great that we covered that and I really want to take a moment and highlight like with receiving this lump sum of money or whenever people receive lump sum of money, what should they do with it?
Leisa Peterson (07:45): Yeah, that's a great question. Well, I think it's going to depend on people's situations cause I mean we're talking to a specific audience here and right now my impression is is that nurses are in high demand and they are not looking at layoffs right now or losing their job. However, you might have a spouse who has been furloughed or you might have a situation where this money is badly needed because of the Corona virus. Right? So I think the way we answer that question depends on how we're being effected by what's going on out there. Is that fair?
Naseema McElroy (08:31): [inaudible] that is fair. The point I really want to drive home is that half a plan for the money? No where it's going to go before you receive it. Because if it lands in your bank account with no plan, it's going to disappear. And that's what usually happens when we don't plan for many. I mean we've all gotten tax return thought we had a lot of money in our account and we turned around and we're back to zero again. And so don't let that happen to this check. Really put it to good use. Really have a plan for it. If the plan is to build up your emergency savings, have it automatically transferred into savings when it hits. If your plan is to pay off debt, earmark whatever debt that is and pay that the day that it hits, just make sure that there's a specific plan for it so that it goes to good use and it just doesn't go to buying toilet paper.
Leisa Peterson (09:19): Yes, yes. Well this is the time. If you've got a financial plan in place, then you pull that plan out and you look at, well, what are my top objectives and where do I get the most mileage from this money? You know, if you've got a credit card that you're paying 22% on right unsecured debt, then more for many people that would be the place that you're going to want to put that money towards paying off debt at. That's at a high interest rate cause then you're going to get a lot more bang for your buck as they say.
Naseema McElroy (09:55): Yes, yes, yes, and I love that you mentioned that financial plan. Everybody should have a plan. Everybody should have objectives on where they want their money to go, just in general. And so when you do have a huge influx of money, you know what that next objective is. And so that's the goal. You guys, anything else? Do you want to talk about Lisa?
Leisa Peterson (10:19): No, I just love these conversations. I think that you're tackling the topics that are top of mind and I'm, I'm loving it.
Naseema McElroy (10:27): Thank you. Thank you. And I hope everybody else out there is loving it. And again, if you guys have questions that you want answered, please head over to nurses on fire, podcast.com/ask and we'll get those questions answered. Again, thank you so much, Lisa. I love talking to you. [inaudible] wish you all the best.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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