Inflation relief checks: summary news 22 November
Inflation relief: live updates
Headlines: Tuesday 22 November 2022
- White House confirms extension to the student loan moratorium
- Gas prices continue to drop as Thanksgiving holiday approaches with millions set to travel
- Education Department sends letters for Student Loan Forgiveness approval blocked by courts
- 30-year fixed mortgage rates see biggest drop in almost 40 years
- FTX collapse continues to roil cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin drops to lowest point in two years.
- Class action lawsuit filed against FTX founder and numerous celebrity promoters, including Tom Brady
- Mass resignations at Twitter, Elon Musk closes offices to workers
- White House considers extending the student loan moratorium
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When will I get my California inflation relief check?
California residents could be due a one-off inflation relief payment, known as the Middle Class Tax Refund, from the state. To help Californians deal with rapid price rises Gov. Gavin Newsom authorised a round of financial support that could be worth up to $1,050.
Here's the payment schedule for the California inflation relief check...
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To give borrowers some respite during a period of extreme economic insecurity, former President Trump imposed a pause on student loan debts. This meant that borrowers were temporarily freed from the requirement to make repayments and also that interest stopped accruing on the outstanding balance.
The moratorium had be scheduled to come to an end on 31 December, but the latest extension pushes back the deadline to “no later than June 30, 2023″.
Repayments will not have to resume for 60 days after the moratorium is lifted.
Biden explains extension for student loan pause
"I'm completely confident my plan is legal... But right now it's on hold because of these lawsuits. We're not going to back down though on our fight to give families breathing room."
"But it isn't fair to ask tens of millions of borrowers eligible for relief to resume their student debt payments while the courts consider the lawsuit."
White House extends the student loan moratorium
As many had predicted, the Biden administration has announced that the pause on student loan repayments has been extended once again. The moratorium was first introduced at the start of the pandemic and was due to finish on 31 December 2022.
However with the White House unable to enact President Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness initiative due to court challenges, the moratorium has been extended. The pause could continue until the end of June 2023 and repayments may not resume until late August.
Households across the nation reeling from rising prices that receive Social Security benefits will get a big boost to their finances come the new year. The Social Security Administration announced its 2023 COLA and it was a whopper.
At 8.7%, it is the fourth largest in the history of the annual cost-of-living adjustments and the biggest since 1981. Here's what you need to know about the upcoming boost for Social Security payments...
How will inflation affect Black Friday spending?
Pre-Christmas sales are a major event in the world of retail and Black Friday has grown to become a holiday of its own for some keen shoppers. This year the country is still struggling through the economic fallout of the pandemic with inflation running very high, but how will that affect interest in the Black Friday sales?
A report from retail analysts Finder suggest that 140 million Americans plan to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year. The total spend in the United States is expected to reach $51 billion.
White House sends out Student Loan Forgiveness letters
The Biden Administration had hoped that the President's Student Loan Forgiveness program would go live before the end of the year, but legal challenges mean that borrowers will have to wait. The situation was explained in letter distributed by the Department of Education earlier this week.
The letters confirmed whether a claimant had been approved for the support, but warned that the relief will not be imminent. The White House has asked the Supreme Court to expediate the ongoing case, but it is difficut to see the situation being resolved before the new year.
FTX victims may never get their assets returned
The fallout from the collapse of cryptocurrency trading exchange FTX has continued today, with lawyers warning that customers who lost assets as a result of the failing may not be able to get them back. In early November FTX filed for bankruptcy after panic set in and investors sought to withdraw their assets, leaving the company owing $8 billion.
Black Friday is nearly upon us and the now-infamous shopping day has encouraged consumers to turn feral in recent years. Videos of people flooding into shops and snaffling as much as they can epitomised the early days of the unofficial holiday.
In the context of people struggling to pay for things due to high inflation, any deal may look enticing. However, companies are more than aware of the lure of Black Friday and it has been proven that deals on offer are often no better compared to other times of the year.
Has the Inflation Reduction Act changed anything yet?
The healthcare aspects are some of the most important long term effects of the bill. Firstly, the act allows Medicare to negotiate for the price of prescription drugs starting in 2023. At present, the country’s largest healthcare provider cannot negotiate the price of drugs it purchases, leaving prices at the whim of drug providers. Much like the National Health Service in the UK, Medicare will now be able to drive down the price of drugs it purchases.
However, the majority of effects of the bill will take place next year at least. How will Republicans taking the House affect this?
Around 95 percent of payments of California's Middle Class Tax Refund to the roughly 23 million eligible Californians are expected to issued by the end of the year. The state has already sent direct payments and is now sending debit cards which are scheduled to go out based on whether or not you received the Golden State Stimulus payment, first letter of your last name and a final group that changed banking information or filing method.
The current batches, sent between 11/20/2022 through 12/03/2022, are going to those who received the GSS I or II payment and whose last name begins with N – V.
First monthly increase in loan forbearance in 29 months
The majority of states saw a decline in loan forebearance in October, 44 in all. However, the national rate ticked up by 1 basis point to 0.7% at the end of October. While there were several factors for the slight increase, the first in 29 months, fewer loans bought out of Ginnie Mae pools and Hurricane Ian striking the Southeast were singled out. Florida which took the initial hit from the weather disaster saw the largest drop, nearly half a percent, in loans that were current.
During the pandemic a variety of economic factors conspired to push house prices in the US to historic levels. As interest rates fell rapidly it made mortgages more affordable, pushing prospective buyers to make a purchase quickly, while the low rates were available.
This has caused concern that there is a housing market bubble. But what does this mean, and should you be worried about it?
Potential rail strike looms two weeks before Christmas
The US could face a major disruption in its national logistics network in just two weeks after one of the largest railroad unions voted to reject a contract deal brokered by the White House. If a railroad workers strike were to go forward it could cost the economy as much as $2 billion per day with shipment of goods and passenger service paralyzed. The unions and rail companies have until 5 December to reach a deal or Congress may have to step in to avert disaster.
Gas prices lower for Thanksgiving travels
The price of gasoline is still on average in the US about 20 cents above where is was this time last year Regular has dropped by 12 cents in the past week according to Gas Buddy data. That will be welcome news to the nearly 50 million people that will hit the road to visit friends and family of Thanksgiving.
Approval letters sent to Student Loan Forgiveness claimants
There's good news and bad news for student loan borrowers hoping to receive financial relief. The Department of Education has began sending out letters to claimants confirming that they are eligible for the support, which is worth up to $20,000 per person.
However the letter also makes clear that the legal challenges to the program will cause delays and the White House is currently unable to action any of the $1.6 billion set aside for the initiative.
The Student Loan Forgiveness proposal forwarded by President Biden provides up to $20,000 of debt relief for borrowers. Although this typically refers to the student who benefitted from the loan, parents who took at a Parent PLUS loan to pay for their child’s college education can also receive the support.
The Biden Administration has requested that the Supreme Court lift a lower court’s ruling to block the distribution of billions of dollars in student debt relief. President Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness program was put on hold after a challenge brought by six Republican-led states.
The administration is parsing next move with payment moratorium set to expire 31 December and millions already signed up and approved for debt cancelation scheme.
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Each year the IRS issues a standard mileage rate, which is used by taxpayers who need to buy motor fuel for business reasons. The rate is used to calculate the deductible costs associated with operating an automobile for business.
Usually the reimbursement rate is fixed for a year but in 2022, with inflation running high and gasoline prices hitting record levels, the IRS opted to increase the rate.
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