Breaking Down The Details Of The 2008 Economic Stimulus Plan and Your Tax Rebate Check

By MoneyBlueBook

Update: Read About The Possibility Of A 2009 Second Stimulus Check

With both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate having nodded their respective approvals of the nearly $160 billion economic stimulus package (that's "B' as in Billion), the bill has finally been signed, sealed, and delivered to President Bush for final approval. The President has already indicated that he will quickly sign the economic aid into law - so I believe the rebate checks will soon be on their way to a mailbox or direct deposit account near you.

I shall try to explain how the 2008 economic stimulus package will work and how much you can expect to receive in the way of a rebate check.

1) Why Are We Getting A Tax Rebate Check?

The Tax Rebate Check is part of the U.S. government's emergency pro-growth economic stimulus plan to prevent the U.S. economy from stalling out and entering a period of prolonged recession. Due to the recent slowdown in the economy caused by housing bubble problems and subprime mortgage related issues, the federal government wants to keep the economy on the up and up by putting money into the hands of U.S. consumers to encourage increased consumer spending. Like jump starting a car, the government wants to hand consumers extra wads of cash to encourage increased business investment and consumer activity. Surveys have indicated that at least half of consumers intend to use the money to pay down existing debt, while the other half intends to either save or spent

By MoneyBlueBook

I think it's time all market investors learn to turn their backs on the daily stock ticker blips coming out of Wall Street - not completely, but just enough to regain their emotional composure so they can properly implement the correct long term investment strategy.

Don't Gamble Your Money Away - Invest For the Long Term

Not too long ago, I wrote about one of the biggest dangers to rational investing - emotional trading based on panic buying and selling. The wise and prudent investor should put aside irrational emotions, and always invest for the long term if they can help it. Unless you are very close to retirement, your investment plan should be to hold for the long haul. When you invest for the short term and try to make some fast money, you cease to become an investor and transform into a gambling market timer. But financially, day traders and gamblers live and die by the sword. Yes it is certainly exciting when you occasionally can make a quick 50% profit in one fell swoop, but like all gamblers, their desire to constantly make fast money inevitably causes fatal missteps that will ultimately result in financially devastating losses.

Years ago I tried out the gambling day trading strategy. It was during the dot com boom. Yes I made quite a bit from very short term trading bursts, but overall, my losses outnumbered my gains. My short term investing strategy led me to essentially buy high and sell low. My emotions caused me to jump

By MoneyBlueBook

Note: If you wish to understand more about the the 2008 Economic Stimulus Package, please read my entry regarding the tax stimulus rebate payments. I have also updated the subject with an entry discussing the possibilities of a 2009 economic stimulus check as well.

In response to the dramatic drag on the economy caused by the developing housing crisis and mortgage meltdown, the federal government has finally stopped dragging its knuckles on the ground and sprung to action - proposing to send taxpayers rebate checks in an effort to jump start the economy. Under the current bipartisan proposal, most taxpayers would be eligible, with $600 checks going towards individuals who pay taxes, $1,200 going towards working couples with an additional $300 for each children, and even $300 going towards anyone who earned a paycheck even if they made too little to pay income taxes. Many details in the package have yet to be hammered out including the business stimulus portion that provides additional tax breaks for businesses that purchase capital equipment as well as the housing assistance portion that helps riskier borrowers, who have been shut out of the tanking subprime mortgage market, qualify for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans.

The current tentative proposal still needs to be be rammed through the House of Representatives, the Senate, and ultimately approved by the President to be made official, but so far the likelihood of it happening looks very promising. There is great congressional and presidential pressure to speed this through the system and

By MoneyBlueBook

I have this policy for myself where I refuse to pay someone for a service I can easily perform myself with reasonable effort. For example, if I lived in a house with a front and backyard lawn, rather than pay someone to handle the landscaping, I'd rather mow the grass and trim the hedges on my own, so long as the time and effort spent aren't too prohibitive.

Online and Software Tax Preparation Programs Make It Easy To Do Your Own Taxes

When it comes to taxes, I've traditionally done my own tax preparation work. Ever since I started working and generating income, I've always filed my own tax return. Initially before I gained a better understanding of tax matters, performing my own tax accounting work was difficult. But then along came extremely useful online and software tax preparation programs like Intuit's TurboTax and H&R Block's TaxCut. With the assistance of software based tax preparation programs, I was able to easily complete my own taxes with comparative ease. The advantages of using tax preparation programs are obvious - you simply compile all of your tax papers and respond to the series of tax related questions proposed to you by the program of your choice. The software asks you a whole slew of questions to determine what category you fall under and what type of tax deductions you qualify for. For those that have easy tax returns, I recommend using TurboTax or TaxCut to not only help you save money but to help you

By MoneyBlueBook

I've had numerous financial milestones in my life, but one still seems to stand out in my relatively young working life. From the time I eventually emerged from under my parent's financial wing to finally working and fending for myself, I still remember when I finally saved and banked that first $10,000. Everything else accumulated after that just seems to pale in significance to that first ten grand.

Crossing the $10,000 Milestone Signified the Mature Transition From Paycheck Living To A Forward Looking, Savings Oriented Lifestyle

During college, I was financially spoiled and completely under my parent's financial protection. Whenever I was low on funds I simply received a parental handout. But as time passed, the funds began to dwindle as my parents started to reinforce the importance of keeping spending habits in check. At the time, my spoiled mentality prevented me from realizing that my parent's growing refusal to give in to all my financial demands was due to their desire to teach me the importance of frugal living. At the time, I was childishly bitter when my handout demands were rejected. Looking back though, I now feel very lucky and grateful to have had parents who had the love and care to teach me important life lessons I would need in the future, as well as the financial means to help partially subsidize my education.

When I graduated and started working for the first time I began to face the harsh financial realities of the real world. My first legal job was a low paying

By MoneyBlueBook

Editor's Note: Thank you for your interest, these offers have expired and are no longer available.

One of the biggest problems and common complaints of using rebate credit cards is the reward program's propensity to encourage overspending. Finding a reward credit card is easy and particularly with cash back cards, redeeming rebates is a breeze. But the problem is - are you putting your cash back earnings towards the right type of expenditures? Credit cards that offer airline miles or redeemable gift cards are certainly wonderful, but they don't do much to encourage the right type of spending or the development of responsible money habits. Citibank's Home Rebate Platinum Select Mastercard is a unique card that tries to change all that by helping you automatically put those rebates towards something important and worthwhile - the mortgage loan you have on your house or condominium.

Automatically Pay Down Your Home Mortgage Principal Using the Citibank Home Rebate Card

If your current card reward program is only going to encourage you to spend beyond your means on things you don't need, you should definitely take a look at the Citibank Home Rebate Card as a serious alternative. It's not the sexiest or fanciest of rebate cards, but it's uniquely practical and well suited for home owners and those who want to be more responsible with how they spend their rebate dollars. The card automatically reallocates all earned rebates towards paying off your home loan principal. Paying down principal is better than paying ahead on your mortgage because by paying down the principal, you lower the total amount of interest you pay, and may be