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TIMELY UPDATES
April 18, 2020
COVID19 Relief Checks
If you or a family member are eligible for relief funds through the CARES Act and have not received a check yet, be aware there are both phases and glitches happening simultaneously. 2018 & 2019 taxpayers who’s electronic banking information is current have been the first to receive their benefit. Social Security Recipients are next. In the meantime, there are issues for many – mostly due to incorrect or missing direct deposit information and/or addresses.
In an article by Naomi Jagoda from The Hill, “The agency (IRS) has launched two web tools in recent days. One, called Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here, allows people who are not typically required to file tax returns to provide basic information to the IRS in order to receive their payments. The second, called Get My Payment, allows people who have not previously provided the IRS with direct-deposit information to do so and allows people to track the status of their payments.”
Restoring RMDs
If you’ve already taken your Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) for 2020 and would like to restore them based on new CARES Act rules, you can do so if they’ve been out of the account for less than 60 days. This way you will not pay any taxes on them for this year. A recently issued IRS notice specifies, individuals who have taken RMDs between February 1, 2020 and now have until July 15, 2020, to roll over the money into an IRA.
If you haven’t already, please contact us if you’d like to make any changes to your RMDs, given this information.
Potential Auto Insurance Discounts
Since many Americans are not driving as much at the moment, it may make sense to look into adjusting your auto insurance rate. Ask your insurance company if they’re offering discounts:
- Multi-policy discount
- Multi-car discount
- Car safety discount
- New car discount
- Anti-theft discount
- Occupational, alumni associations and professional organization discounts
See link in Sources below for further information.
Budgeting Thoughts
Given the extraordinary times we’re living in now, there are clearly changes in our daily spending habits. Travel, programs, services, entertainment, have all been curtailed and, for many, spending has increased for food and other items needed during a quarantine. These shifts can potentially offer us opportunities to adjust, save, reconsider and, if nothing else, take time to look more closely at our budgets.
As many of you know, we work closely with our clients to create a Cash Flow Analysis to help organize financial plans and visions. This is tied in, ideally, with monthly budgeting. The Financial Vault we offer our clients, has an incredibly helpful budgeting tool. When looking at the monthly spending page, clients are able to see what categories are within range and which ones may be pushing the limits, on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis.
Please be in touch with our office if you’re not yet using the Financial Vault to its full capacity and you’d like guidance on how to navigate its many functions, including the budgeting and spending tools. We’d be happy to walk you through it.
Also, please see Sources below for several articles offering ideas on how to adjust your budgeting habits to meet your current needs in this new COVID19 time.
As always, we are here for you. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
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