Inflation relief checks news summary | 15 November 2022
Headlines: Tuesday, 15 November 2022
- Time running out to get unclaimed stimulus money and expanded Child Tax Credit
- St Louis court issues another block on Student Loan Forgiveness
- Annual pace of consumer price inflation (CPI) in the US was lower than expected in October
- Market boosted by news of Democrats outperforming expectations in 2022 Midterms
- The Fall of Young Billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried: Bankruptcy at 30
- FTX bankruptcy causes cryptocurrency slump affecting Bitcoin and Ethereum
- While Nevada and Nebraska have not sent relief checks to residents, voters have approved ballot measures to increase the state's minimum wage
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Meeting for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the G20 has a lot on its plate. It has never been a geopolitical vessel but the impact of the war on the world economy does fall underits remit.
Host nation Indonesia has been keen to divert attention away from the war in Ukraine so that members may find some agreement. A document is usually signed with a number of pledges and directives for nations to work towards though this may be unlikely to be negotiated this year.
It is expected the document this year, if signed, will include a commitment from central banks across the globes to coordinate measures to tackling inflation.
When a flight gets canceled, passengers seeking refunds should be paid back promptly. Whenever that doesn’t happen, we will act to hold airlines accountable on behalf of American travelers and get passengers their money back. A flight cancellation is frustrating enough, and you shouldn’t also have to haggle or wait months to get your refund.
Money to recover from airlines?
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) announced historic enforcement actions against six airlines, which collectively paid more than half a billion dollars to people who were owed a refund due to a canceled or significantly changed flight.
In addition to the more than $600 million in refunds airlines have paid back, the Department announced that it is assessing more than $7.25 million in civil penalties against six airlines for extreme delays in providing refunds.
More Americans may be exposed to crypto crash than realized
The collapse of the FTX exchange last week has sent new shockwaves throughout the cryptocurenncy industry. The two biggest digital coins by market cap, Bitcoin and Ethereum, have seen their values drop over 18% and 20% respectively since Monday last week.
The bankruptcy of FTX could affect people who don't even buy cryptocurrency, or at least didn't think it was part of their investment portfolio. In recent years pension funds have been increasing their portfolio's share of riskier investments to fill the gap between the money they have on hand and the obligations that they need to pay out.
Since 2001 the share has risen from around 8% to about one-quarter of assets managed by US public pension funds betting on risky alternative vehicles including cryptocurrencies.
The Social Security Administration announced its 2023 COLA and it was a whopper. At 8.7 percent, it is the fourth largest in the history of the annual cost-of-living adjustments and the biggest since 1981. The Social Security Administration will begin sending out notices in the mail to beneficiaries of exactly what their monthly payments will be next year, but beneficiaries don't have to wait on the postal service. Find out more.
Arizona Prop 308 will save families tens of thousands of dollars to attend university
Sending kids off to college is a financial hurdle for most families, even more so if they want to attend a school out of state. However, for Dreamers living in Arizona going to university close to home cost nearly three times as much to attendArizona State University as those whose legal status wasn't in question.
With the passing of Prop 308, those undocumented students who graduate from an Arizona high school will now be able to attend universtiy in Arizona and pay in-state fees. That means currently a savings of over $26,000 per year.
Social Security benefits are the most widely-available form of financial assistance available in the United States, with 66 million people currently in receipt of the support every month.
The scale of the program is so vast that the Social Security Administration (SSA) send out the monthly payments in three batches.
Here's when recipients can expect to receive their money...
In recent months rampant inflation in the United States has forced the Federal Reserve to take aggressive measures to rein in rising prices.
Policymakers, after easing into raising rates in March and April, kicked into high gear with four straight 75 basis point rate hikes, the fastest increase since the 1980s. The initial effect has been a spike in mortgage rates which is cooling the housing market but has also raised concerns that the US economy could be thrown into a recession.
Is inflation still affecting gas prices?
With inflationary pressures continuing to subside in the United States the price of gasoline and diesel have fallen accordingly. In June the average price of a gallon of gas in the US had soared above the $5-mark for the first time.
However the average price of gasoline, on Tuesday 15 November, has dropped to $3.759.
Can Biden pass Student Loan Forgiveness?
President Biden's signature Student Loan Forgiveness initative has faced numerous challenges in the courts from Republican-led states and appears to be floundering. In addition to the temporary block enacted last month and the legal challenge to be heard in Texas, an appeals court in St Louis, Missouri has implemented a block on the program too.
The lawsuits essentially allege that Biden overstepped his presidential authority in authorises a vast program of debt cancellation, but supporters like Sen. Elizabeth Warren claim that Biden is entitled to do so in response to an emergency situation.
Biden to attend G20 summit for infrastructure talks
President Biden is at the G20 conference in Indonesia at the moment and held closely-watched meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in which the two men spoke about the possibility of further cooperation.
In a statement released after the event, both sides agreed to work to “empower key senior officials” to help tackle the climate crisis and "maintaining global financial, health and food stability.”
Two of the most commonly utilised form of retirement support are 401(k) retirement plans and an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Each come with their own terms and conditions and offer different benefits for users.
We take a look at the differences between the two, and which will make you money work best for you...
Application process for Student Loan Forgiveness halted
After a St Louis federal appeals court ordered a block on the Student Loan Forgiveness program, the White House has been forced to suspend the application process that had been running for weeks. Previously the Biden Administration had claimed that the applications would stay open despite multiple challenges, so this news suggest that they consider it a significant blockage.
More legal troubles for Student Loan Forgiveness plans
President Biden's plan to provide widespread student loan debt relief has hit another barrier this week as an appeals court in St Louis issued a block on the program. The White House had hoped that the Student Loan Forgiveness initiative would go live before the end of November but, with legal challenges mounting, that appears very unlikely.
Coffee prices could indicate broader inflation trend
As reported in The Wall Street Journal, coffee was one of the hottest commodities earlier this year, but it has now gone cold, with prices declining more than 20% in the past month.
Wet weather in farming areas such as Brazil and Indonesia is raising the prospect of a good crop and bigger coffee supply, sending prices down. At the same time, a strong dollar this year has pressured prices of many commodities.
What could that mean for the wider economic picture?
Biden to work with GOP on inflation action
After the release of the positive inflation report last week, and with the Democrats almost certain to lose control of the House of Representatives, President Biden confirmed that he would work with Republicans to address price rises.
In a statement issued last week, Biden said: "I will work with anyone – Democrat or Republican – on ideas to provide more breathing room to middle-class and working families."
He added that he would "oppose any effort to undo my agenda or to make inflation worse," and pledged to "build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out."
During the course of the pandemic eligible Americans were able to receive up to $3,200 in the form of stimulus checks from the federal government. If you've not yet received your full entitlement, the deadline to claim stimulus checks and the 2021 child tax credit is 15 November 2022. The IRS has sent letters to those who have yet to file a tax return and, thus, have left their benefits unclaimed.
For those who have not yet filed a 2021 tax return, one must be submitted to the IRS by the deadline in order to receive the payments...
Experts predicts "significant" decline in US inflation
Easing of supply chain constraints, housing inflation peaking and slower wage growth factored into Goldman Sachs expectations that US inflation will see a "significant" decline next year.
Ecoomists at the US lender forecast the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, core personal consumption expenditure (PCE), dropping from the current 5.1% to 2.9% by December 2023.
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