Stimulus package update: the good and bad news

This past week was a huge week for stimulus check news, but there was both good and bad news that came out.

Let’s start with the good news.

The good news is that Senate Republicans have came out and said that they want stimulus checks in the next stimulus package.

This virtually guarantees that we will see more direct payments go out to millions of Americans which is fantastic news.

There seemed to be some level of confirmation that the checks will go out based on the same eligibility criteria that we saw in the first round.

However, there has been some doubt as to whether or not that information was accurate or not.

I think for now we have to sit tight and wait for updates on the eligibility but I still feel pretty good that things will be roughly the same as they were the first round — if not identical.

As for the bad news.

If you were hoping to get relief for your student loans with this next round of stimulus funding, it might not happen.

The proposed HEROES Act had a few different student loan benefits but two of the main benefits were a further suspension of payments and also loan forgiveness.

It’s no surprise to me that Republicans do not want to provide loan forgiveness in this package and I have repeatedly stated my doubts about it passing.

It makes sense to forgo loan forgiveness right now since that does not really do anything to stimulate the economy immediately.

However, suspending payments has a much more direct impact since it allows people to have more cash on hand that they can use to help spark the economy.

The problem is that Republicans do not want to extend the suspension of student loan payments any longer.

The current proposal asks for these payments to be suspended for up to an additional year while others have proposed an extension through December.

Personally, I think that an additional extension of student loan payments should be passed and that Republicans are going to receive a lot of pushback from Democrats on this.

But it is good to know that if you are counting on your student loans not being due, those loans may become due relatively soon.

You will likely still be able to get a forbearance on your payments but you will accrue interest if you go that route.

One of the big benefits of the suspension of payments by the government is that interest will not accrue during that period.

Hopefully, we will get a better idea of what the stimulus checks will have and how the student loan benefits will work as details emerge next week.

H/T