Will the stimulus check help you?
President Donald Trump has become everyone’s “sugar daddy” now that stimulus checks are being sent out with his name on them in order to help Americans financially during this difficult time.
The Economic Impact Payment generally called the stimulus check, has been gradually sent out to the Americans who claimed as independents or claimed dependents on their tax forms. The stimulus check, a part of the CARES Act, was put in place to help Americans pay their bills and keep food on the table during a time where many individuals cannot work.
All but essential workers were laid off and told to apply for unemployment to still receive an income. This was to hopefully slow or stop the spread of the coronavirus by keeping more citizens indoors. On top of that, income from unemployment would come a stimulus check consisting of $1,200 for each independent individual taxpayer and another $500 given for each child under that taxpayer’s custody. The downside is that individuals 18 years of age or older still dependent on their parents do not receive either the $1,200 or $500, and their parents receive no financial help either.
Eric Mayers, husband and father of three little girls in Mechanicsville, Virginia, received his stimulus check recently from the government as a direct deposit. Individuals are able to choose to receive their checks through the mail or direct deposit like Mayers did.
“The check hadn’t made a lick of a difference yet because I still work,” said Mayers.
Mayers works at Richmond Steel Inc., which is qualified as an essential business due to the fabrication work they do for hospitals, security, and other essential businesses during this quarantine time.
Currently, that stimulus check is just extra money for Mayers and his family. However, they have decided not to spend it on nonessential things, but instead to pay off one credit card, put some in the Individual Retirement Account for when stocks jump back after quarantine is over and save the rest. Mayers explained that even though the business he works for is currently essential if another worker were to get the coronavirus, the steel shop would have to close for two weeks and possibly longer. Mayers is saving his money for if that day is to come so, he could still provide for his wife and little girls.
Essential workers like firefighters are also receiving the stimulus check since they too file for taxes, and it’s recently been money fill with both tax returns and the stimulus checks coming into the 2019 taxpayers around the same time. Justin Lacy, a fireman in Henrico County, Virginia, and his wife Ashley have not yet received their stimulus checks but already know they are going to pay off credit card debts and save some of it for emergencies.
Though Justin Lacy is still working, Ashley Lacy had to close down her gymnastics gym, Central Virginia Gymnastics, in Powhattan, Virginia, due to it not being an essential business during the coronavirus. Ashley filed for unemployment and received her first direct deposit from them recently thankful for that help during this difficult time.
“I’m thankful my husband still works to bring home a paycheck for us,” said Ashley Lacy. “I’m not too worried that he’s a firefighter because there is a screening for every call now to determine if somebody has the coronavirus where they are going, and Justin is pretty healthy anyway and doesn’t have any underlying circumstances making the virus worse for him or myself if he were to bring it home. We’ve also been quarantining ourselves from those we know are more at risk with the coronavirus due to Justin being an essential worker.”
Many individuals still have not received their stimulus checks like the Lacy’s. However, the Lacy’s may be in a better position than others due to Justin Lacy still being an essential worker.
It is a slow process of the stimulus checks coming in, and if an individual does not have a bank account, it is an even slower process. For those without bank accounts, the stimulus check must be mailed and most likely will not arrive till summer, according to an Investopedia article.
Investopedia is a group of editors, writers, product experts, developers, and other qualified individuals simplifying complex financial information since 1999. They are currently striving to help Americans understand everything they need to know about the stimulus checks and how it may help them depending on their independence or household number of individuals.
It has been a long road so far due to the coronavirus and states being quarantined, but hopefully, once individuals receive their stimulus checks, it will reduce some of their stress and give them that last stretch of strength to stay home and healthy. Hopefully, the rest of the stimulus checks are not too far away, and hopefully, neither is the day of freedom when the coronavirus is gone.
