Well, it looks like most of us will get non refund refund checks. The money they will be sending will just be an advance from next years taxes, unless you have little or no income. So, for most Americans, the incentive check with be total loss for next year (after the elections, of course.) The government is depending on Cletus to open up his mail and call out “Hay, Maw, the gum’ment just sent me a chee’eck! Lets go and spend it down at Walmart!”.
The way I see it, you have two choices, save all of it or don’t cash the check. That way, you won’t be penalized next year and you may make some interest on it. If you actually follow financial planners’ advice and have your withholdings set such that you get little or no refund, you will OWE ALL OF THAT MONEY BACK NEXT YEAR. So, you can’t even give the money away to a good cause. It is not real money. Thanks for nothing.
In other thanks for nothing news, Bush wants a plan to stop foreclosures for 30 days. Wow, talk about bailing out the Titanic with a slotted spoon. 30 days won’t do jack shit in the big scheme of things. ARMS are going to be resetting for many months next year. Most people buy in April through August, so all those ARMS will reset then as well. Stopping foreclosures for 30 days in March is really going to be pointless. In any event, yeah, it sucks hundreds of thousands of people or millions of people will loose their homes in the next 18 months. They are the ones who took on houses they couldn’t afford. The bigger crisis is correcting itself, the housing unaffordability crisis. It hurts, but bubbles have to burst and the economy needs to find a new level. When it is all over, the people who can afford their homes will still have them, the price of housing price increases will reflect general inflation ( 1 to 3% a year instead of 10 to 30% a year), and maybe, just maybe, we will all start saving money again.