How to take advantage of any stimulus/bailout?

[W2R]

By popular request.... but please remember to keep it FIRE related, thanks!

 

[ERD50]

As I glance through the list, I don't see much that will really modify behavior.

Sure, there are things that will lower my taxes, in theory that might allow me to spend more. But, it's not like the edu credit going from $2,000 to $2,500 is going to change my mind about whether my DD attends college or not. Same with most of those items.

I will look at the new car credit/deduction whatever. I'm kinda on the fence about replacing a vehicle or two in the family. As others have said, the increased demand might actually make this a worse time to buy a new car.

-ERD50

 

[Steve O]

One-time payments to those who don't work: For retirees, disabled individuals and others who don't work, the bill provides a one-time $250 payment. Estimated cost: $14.2 billion.


WHOO HOOOO!!!!


Im gonna get stimulated, thanks

 

[FUEGO]

-

 

[FUEGO]

nm.

 

[CuppaJoe]

....
This may actually induce me to take a class or two since it will be FREE (local state U offers distance ed classes that are top notch for ~$650 per 3 semester hour class). I need to at least figure out a way to buy some books for free while ole Uncle is paying for them.

I’ve been looking into Dex’s suggestion to try U.C. Berkeley’s Webcasts. You get video or audio, that can be downloaded to your iPod, of a peppy young prof’s lectures. I’ve started following one of them and got the books from the library. Of course, I’m not getting credit but it’s interesting to see how the subject has changed in 38(!) years. It's free and I don't have to write papers or take exams.

 

[ERD50]

One more thing: Education. Not sure how it was set up in previous years, but the new credit is $2500. It's called the "American Opportunity" (pardon the political reference, but I can see the eagles soaring from here!) tax credit.

Oh lord. I'm now going to have to read all the fine print to see how this interacts with the the existing credits and deduction, which already interact with each other. Complexity ^ 4th power.

Hope credit - good for the first two years if pursuing a degree. Limited to $1800 per student, but the rate is 100% of first $X expenses, then 50% until the $1800 is hit (something like that)

Lifetime Learning Credit - fewer restrictions, I don't think you need to pursue a degree, but 20% of tuition up to $2,000 max per return.

Then deductions figure in somewhere if you don't qualify for the credits I guess, but I get lost at that point.

Here's the (hopefully) unintended consequence of this mish-mosh of convoluted rules:


Take two families, identical in all ways except that Family A sends two kids to college in the same 4 years. Family B send two kids to college sequentially, over 8 years. Using the same $1,800/student Hope and $2,000/return LLC limits for all years (they have changed them year-to-year, but I'm trying to keep this simple), you end up with -

Family A collecting $11,200 in edu credits, and
Family B collecting $16,000 in edu credits.

Now, why in the world would you want to legislate such a thing so that it is dependent on the timing of the births of the children you send to college? My guess is that not a single Congressperson who signed those bills is aware of this. The bills are too complex to know all this w/o a lot of study. But they sign 'em, and pat themselves on the back for "saving" us money.

-ERD50

 

[FinanceDude]

One-time payments to those who don't work: For retirees, disabled individuals and others who don't work, the bill provides a one-time $250 payment. Estimated cost: $14.2 billion.


WHOO HOOOO!!!!


Im gonna get stimulated, thanks

You guys get $250? I need to FIRE tomorrow........

 

[Leonidas]

Good luck on reading the fine print. The bill is over 1,000 pages long now. If you actually read it you would be ahead of the people who are going to vote on it.

When CNSNews.com asked members of both parties on Capitol Hill on Thursday whether they had read the full, final bill, not one member could say, "Yes."

And only one--Voinovich--volunteered that he had actually read the version of the bill that had passed the Senate.

Edit: I found the text of the bill on a website called ReadTheStimulus.Org - their motto is somebody needs to read it!

Link http://readthestimulus.org/

 

[Steve O]

If I get anything I think Im gonna buy a gun and some tinfoil with it

 

[harley]

That could come to pass. One thing about government "fixes" to what ails us is that the unintended consequences [-]can [/-]will be worse than the original illness.

Taking a hint from T-Al, I've corrected this for you.

 

[Steve O]

It sure seems to be working pretty good this morning

 

[target2019]

I'm trying to figure out if there is anything in the stimulus/bailout that will help me (and probably you as well).

Read Fairmark article for general overview.

We'll benefit from the tax credit, and the increased Hope credit. As the bill gets more coverage, I expect there may be a few other impacts to the bottom line in 2009.