{"id":483,"date":"2020-12-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/28\/stimulus-2-0-is-here-china-important-happy-new-year\/"},"modified":"2020-12-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T00:00:00","slug":"stimulus-2-0-is-here-china-important-happy-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/stimulus-2-0-is-here-china-important-happy-new-year","title":{"rendered":"Stimulus 2.0 is Here! \/ China- Important? \/ Happy New Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Stimulus 2.0 is here<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>China- Important?<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>Happy New Year<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Finally, after months of debate, <strong>Stimulus 2.0 is ready to go<\/strong>.\u00a0 Stimulus checks should be in process rather quickly.<\/p>\n<p>The stimulus includes <strong>$600 checks<\/strong> to eligible individuals, <strong>expansion of the Paycheck Protection<\/strong> <strong>Program<\/strong> for small businesses, <strong>Medical Expense Deduction<\/strong> hurdle made permanent, <strong>Charitable Contributions<\/strong>, Flexible Spending Account carry forward and more.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>$600 Checks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-4554\" src=\"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/shutterstock_1688261392-300x188.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"250\" \/>Eligible individuals<\/strong> include all people and children whom a child tax credit may be claimed, (under age 17).\u00a0 Each person, including eligible children will receive <strong>$600.00<\/strong>.\u00a0 As with most items involving the government, there are phaseouts.<\/p>\n<p>Full checks will be received for the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>Single Filers Up to $75,000 of adjusted gross income (AGI)<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Joint Filers Up to $150,000 of AGI<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Head of Household Up to $112,500 of AGI<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For every <strong>$100 above the AGI threshold<\/strong>, a reduction of $5 should be expected.\u00a0 For example, a single person, with an AGI of $80,000 is $5,000 over the threshold.\u00a0 This person should expect to receive $350 ($5000 divided by $100 = $50 x $5, for a reduction of $250).<\/p>\n<p>2019 tax returns will be used to determine your check amount however, if you\u2019re phased out from 2019 but qualify for 2020, you\u2019ll receive funds when you file your 2020 federal income tax return.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Unemployment Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/shutterstock_1704791407-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>Eligible unemployed<\/strong> individuals will have their unemployment benefits <strong>extended by 11 weeks<\/strong>.\u00a0 Individuals will receive an <strong>additional $300 per week<\/strong> on top of their \u201cregular\u201d state-determined unemployment benefit, for all 11 weeks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Additional Stimulus 2.0 Benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Paycheck Protection Program<\/strong> is significantly expanded and now we have clarification of the income tax implications for businesses. <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-4559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/PPPMask-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"408\" height=\"230\" \/><\/li>\n<li><strong>Medical Expense Deduction<\/strong> is now made permanent. The hurdle for the deduction is now a firm 7.5% of AGI.\u00a0 In recent years, it\u2019s been back and forth between 7.5% and 10%.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Charitable Contributions; <\/strong>the CARES Act introduced in March 2020 created an above the line $300 charitable deduction for those that don\u2019t itemize for 2020. This has been extended thru 2021.\u00a0 In 2021 only married filed joint files can deduct $600.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Meal Expense Deduction;<\/strong> For 2021 and 2022, sole proprietors and other small businesses will be permitted to take a 100% tax deduction for business spending at restaurants. This is to encourage people to again start eating out.\u00a0 For me, this is a welcome change, however it\u2019s so interesting how and when the government makes decisions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA\u2019s);<\/strong> Funds deferred typically have to be used by year end or forfeited. There is now flexibility to use some of these funds the following year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Many other valuable components.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Not Included:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>No waiver of Future Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs); <\/strong>it appears those that are required to take RMD\u2019s next year will have to do so. The one-year pause seems to be in the rearview mirror.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No further Student Loan Relief;<\/strong> Stimulus 2.0 does NOT extend relief beyond January 31, 2021.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>China \u2013 Important?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>China<\/strong> has the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> largest economy in the world in terms of total Gross Domestic Production (GDP).\u00a0 <strong>GDP per-capita (per person<\/strong>) however, China only remains a fraction of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>United States is actually 3<sup>rd<\/sup> in GDP per-capita<\/strong>, behind Singapore #1, and Norway #2. How many of you would have guessed that correctly?\u00a0 Not me!!<\/p>\n<p>For years China has grown by infrastructure expansion for roads, dams, airports, rail systems and cities.\u00a0 The belief is China will now turn its attention to focus on increasing the living standards of their <strong>1.4 BILLION people<\/strong>, yes 1.4 BILLION.\u00a0 <strong>We have 350 MILLION<\/strong>.\u00a0 Growth should favor business and consumer services including financial services and healthcare.<\/p>\n<p>China is on track to overtake the United States in terms of the overall size of its economy within the next decade?<\/p>\n<p>Important?!.. <strong>De<\/strong><strong>finitely!!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Happy New Year!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d like to take a moment to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.\u00a0 2020 has been unlike any other, and most of us will be happy to welcome the arrival of 2021.\u00a0Let\u2019s hope and pray the vaccine distribution process goes as smoothly as possible and so we can truly resume life as desired!!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-4561\" src=\"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/shutterstock_1857106114-300x125.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"426\" height=\"177\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stimulus 2.0 is here China- Important? Happy New Year Finally, after months of debate, Stimulus 2.0 is ready to go.\u00a0 Stimulus checks should be in process rather quickly. The stimulus includes $600 checks to eligible individuals, expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, Medical Expense Deduction hurdle made permanent, Charitable Contributions, Flexible Spending [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"post_statement":"","post_description":"","post_cta":"","post_button":"Read More","post_button_url":"","compliance_id":"","post_disclaimer":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,73,10,7,9,30,3,27,25,11,13,31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.retirementrefined.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}