Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

Coronavirus

Q&A: Getting your stimulus check

By

Dear Liz: Do you have suggestions on what we should do about not receiving our stimulus check? We have our Supplemental Security Income checks direct deposited, making our bank information correct and known to the IRS. I have checked the IRS “Get My Payment” site daily and continue receiving the message, “payment status not available.” I’ve contacted the IRS, our governor, both state senators, our congresswoman, the mayor and several in the media without a response. Whom can I contact to receive an answer and information?

Answer: The U.S. Treasury Department says people who receive SSI should receive their relief payments in early May. The huge volume of payments means the money is being doled out in stages, but the IRS portal that’s supposed to help you track your payment has experienced a number of glitches.

One possible workaround is to enter your address on the IRS website in capitalized letters. Older computer systems and buggy programs sometimes respond to capital letters when they can’t process lowercase ones. The IRS insists the tool is not case sensitive, but it does suggest not using punctuation when entering your address.

The $1,200 payments are being sent automatically, but if you’re on SSI and have children 16 or younger, you only have until May 5 to request an additional $500-per-child payment through the IRS portal.

Q&A: A shutdown reality check

By

Dear Liz: Recently a reader asked about withdrawing money from an IRA to pay credit card debt. You mentioned the many ways that was a bad idea, including the fact that retirement money is protected in bankruptcy court. Liz, the writer had only $10,000 in credit card debt. Bankruptcy should be a last resort. A lifestyle change or picking up a second job would be a better route to knocking out the debt.

Answer: “Picking up a second job” — really? Most people will be lucky to hang on to the ones they have in the coming months.

No one suggested that this reader should file bankruptcy, but anyone considering taking money from a retirement plan to pay debt should understand this major drawback — especially now. Bankruptcy experts expect business and personal bankruptcy filings to soar because of the pandemic.

You might want to check your other assumptions, as well. People typically don’t wind up in bankruptcy court because they refused to cut out their lattes or didn’t work hard enough. They get sick or disabled, lose their health insurance, get divorced, have a breadwinner die — or get stuck in a pandemic. Those with higher incomes and more savings may be better able to weather financial setbacks, but few of us are truly immune from their effects.

Q&A: How to make ends meet if the coronavirus shutdown has reduced your income

By

Dear Liz: My husband’s salary was cut by more than 50%. While we are thrilled he is still employed, this deep cut will make it very challenging to pay all bills for our family of four. We don’t qualify for the $1,200 relief checks based on our 2019 taxes, which have already been filed. He is ineligible for unemployment because he’s salaried and his hours haven’t been cut. Are there other options for financial support or am I misinterpreting the government options?

Answer: You may have a few options for making ends meet during this trying time.

The first is mortgage forbearance. If you have a federally backed mortgage and have been affected by the pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act gives you the right to forbearance for nearly a year if you request it. You can ask for 180 days initially as well as an additional 180-day extension.

Most mortgages are federally backed, including those lent or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Veterans Administration, the Federal Housing Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you have one of these mortgages, you won’t have to pay back the skipped payments all at once. You could spread out the payments or tack them on to the end of your loan.

To find out if you have a federally backed mortgage, and to request forbearance, contact your mortgage servicer — the company that accepts your payments. Be prepared to wait because lenders are overwhelmed with requests right now.

Even if you don’t have a federally backed loan, your mortgage lender is likely to have some forbearance options — as does your credit card issuer, your car loan company and any other lender you owe. Make sure you understand how each program works and how you would repay the skipped payments. In most cases, your balances will continue to accrue interest, but the programs could give you some breathing room while you wait for better times.

Q&A: Coronavirus aid law lets you more easily tap retirement savings. That doesn’t mean you should

By

Dear Liz: You recently mentioned that a person can withdraw money from their 401(k) and spread the taxes over three years. If 401(k) is paid back, they can amend their tax returns to get those taxes refunded. Because of some major home repairs, I asked our accountant about this before we proceeded. He said that he hasn’t read anything official about the above. Would you please provide where you obtained your information, so we can decide if that’s an avenue we can use?

Answer: It’s possible you had this conversation before March 27, when the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act became law.

Otherwise, it’s kind of hard to imagine an accountant anywhere in the U.S. who hasn’t heard of the emergency relief package that created the stimulus checks being sent to most Americans, as well as the Paycheck Protection Program’s forgivable loans for businesses and the new coronavirus hardship withdrawal rules for 401(k)s and IRAs.

Those rules allow people who have been affected financially or physically by COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, to get emergency access to their retirement funds if their employers allow it.

Even if you do have access to such a withdrawal, you should consider other avenues first.

The income taxes on retirement plan withdrawals can be substantial, even when spread over three years. Perhaps more importantly, you probably would lose out on future tax-deferred returns that money could have earned because few people who make such withdrawals will be able to pay the money back.

A home equity loan or line of credit is typically a much better option for home repairs, if you can arrange it.

Q&A: Where’s my stimulus check?

By

Dear Liz: My wife and I are retired and don’t have enough income to file tax returns. How can we get our stimulus checks?

Answer: If you get Social Security checks, your stimulus checks will be sent to you automatically, either via direct deposit if that’s how you get your benefits or paper check.

If you don’t collect Social Security yet and didn’t file a tax return for 2018 or 2019 because your income was below the limit to require filing, the IRS.gov website has more information.

The IRS has started sending out stimulus checks via direct deposit for people who filed 2018 or 2019 returns and provided their bank information. Those who filed returns but did not provide their bank information can follow an IRS “Get My Payment” link for assistance.

Q&A: Push lenders for student loan help

By

Dear Liz: I saw your previous column about the federal student loan payments being suspended by the CARES Act until Sept. 30, with interest being waived. I reached out to my loan servicer about my loans and was told that while they are federal loans, they were made before 2010 and are not covered by the relief bill.

Answer: Your experience is an excellent example of why loan servicers have attracted so much criticism in recent years for misleading borrowers about their options.

You should have been told that although your Family Federal Education Loan (FFEL) program loans don’t qualify, you can consolidate your loans through the U.S. Department of Education’s direct loan program and the consolidation would qualify for relief. You can get more information at StudentAid.gov.