Lessons Learned: A second chance for the one-time stimulus check

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By GENE KELLY/Personal Finance Columnist

You say your income during 2007 was so high that you missed out on getting one of the economic-stimulus checks distributed by the Internal Revenue Service this year. Surprise! You have another chance to qualify for the rebate, based on your adjusted gross income for 2008.

Because of an obscure footnote in the Economic Stimulus Act, approved by Congress in February, many people whose income dipped this year, or who were laid off, will get a second chance to receive the one-time tax break.

How big a deal is this? The Treasury Department estimates tax filers will be able to claim $10 billion in “recovery rebate credits” on their 2008 federal returns.

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The second chance to get a stimulus rebate is keyed to adjusted gross income, plus factors such as family size, reported on your tax return — for either 2007 or 2008.

Earlier this year, most single tax filers received a $600 rebate check, and married couples who filed jointly received $1,200. However, the rebate amount was phased out for single filers whose 2007 adjusted gross income exceeded $75,000, and for joint filers whose AGI was more than $150,000. Stimulus checks were reduced by $50 for each $1,000 earned above the income limit.

Huddle with your tax preparer to see if you could take steps to reduce your 2008 adjusted gross income, to qualify for a complete, or partial, stimulus rebate.

Also, if a child was added to your family during 2008, you might get an extra $300 tax credit.

Online tools to help calculate whether you’re eligible for a rebate are being posted at www.irs.gov — the IRS Web site. In addition, a worksheet will be in the 2008 tax packages.

Liquidity is one response to chaos: Investers and savers have reacted to chaos in the money markets, equity and bond markets, and the banking system by moving an estimated eight trillion dollars to the sidelines. This crisis of confidence stands out in recent hand-written notes, e-mails and phone calls I’ve received.

For example, a 68-year-old reader, feeling she doesn’t “belong in the market anymore,” has exited equities. She now has $150,000 available for certificates of deposit (CDs), or a savings account or other accounts that protect her principal.

Separately, an 84-year-young reader has taken steps to gain sleep-well-at-night liquidity: Because of lackluster results, she’s severed contact with her broker, and no longer has money in an annuity. Instead, she placed “$25,000 in a money-market, so cash is available in an emergency, and, of course, I have about $15,000 in my checking account which varies when I pay bills.“

She wonders whether “having all my CDs at different banks (four of them) is a mistake.“

I’ve longed preached the gospel of diversification. But how much caution is needed, now that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is insuring deposits up to $250,000? Coverage is double that on a joint account.

Stop agonizing about the banks. Since regulators are monitoring financial institutions more closely than ever, customers should stop worrying about potential bank failures. Even before a failure is disclosed, the FDIC will have arranged sale of its accounts to another bank.

Challenge banks or credit unions to earn your deposits. If you’ve decided to adopt a safe-harbor strategy, tell the folks at your bank or credit union that they must earn your deposits. Are yields on their deposit accounts competitive with other local financial institutions, Internet banks and so-called “brokered CDs” offered by most brokerage firms? If not, why not?

A Buffett lesson: “They don’t give bonus points for difficulty.” In looking for a place to park your savings, heed this quote from Warren Buffett, arguably the wealthiest person on earth. At Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings, he often speaks of avoiding investments that are hard to understand: “Stay within your circle of competence,” he says.

Recently, a caller said a financial adviser is “pressuring” her to move savings into a variable annuity. “Taxes are bound to increase, especially on investment gains. An annuity is a way I could defer taxes,” she said. “One rider on this variable annuity promises future income. Another option could guarantee that my heirs will receive at least as much as I’ve invested.“

I asked about the annual cost of owning such an “investment,” with all its bells and whistles. “Fees total 1.5 percent. And the adviser gets another 1 percent fee,” she said.

To me, most variable annuities are complicated insurance contracts, weighted down with pricey options. My advice to the caller: Stay within your circle of competence.

If you have a Lessons Learned topic to suggest, you can call Gene Kelly at 421-2861, write to him at 2611 Bretigne Circle, Lincoln 68512, or e-mail him at EKELLY1@neb.rr.com