Just thirteen days after its launch, the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program fund (part of the $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package) had exhausted all funds. There have been talks of more funding coming, but this has left questions circulating like: Are more funds coming? How much more? When?
There are two legitimate concerns when thinking about reopening the country: the physical health and well-being of citizens and the economic health and well-being of citizens. President Trump’s initial hope to see the country reopened by Easter was met with a lot of backlash from healthcare professionals and economists that said it was too soon and would wind up doing more harm than good. While obviously that date has come and gone with no uplifting of shelter-in-place and other social distancing orders, the push to reopen sooner than later is not unfounded. Yesterday, the president announced the ‘Opening Up America Again’ plan aiming for May 1st.
Coronavirus relief stimulus checks have begun dispersing, and word has been circulating about giving out even more. These cash payments are part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act totaling $2,000,000,000,000.00. The act is broken down for multiple moving parts of this pandemic: stimulus checks, extra unemployment, loans for corporations and small businesses, health care, etc. However, this $2 trillion number has still left many reeling, wondering where this money is coming from or if this will cause inflation.
The coronavirus pandemic may not be the first or worst pandemic in American History, but it is certainly impactful. These times have brought about unique challenges for people of all ages and occupations.
April is Financial Literacy Month! This year, many of us have unique opportunities to participate in Financial Literacy Month. As schools around the globe are shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents and caregivers have suddenly found themselves largely taking on the role of their children’s educators. Many are searching for new, exciting, and educational resources for children to do with their newfound free time.
If you’re in the banking or small business industry, you’re more than likely aware of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that begins today, Friday, April 3rd, 2020 as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This program is designed to help small businesses.
Scams are always abundant in this day and age, but COVID-19 has quickly brought about societal shifts full of financial and economic uncertainty and of scared and vulnerable people, and scammers are already working the cause. Scam artists are always looking for opportunities to steal money and data from people and businesses, especially financial institutions. And this time is no different.
Credit scores are a big deal. They’re used to determine if you can buy or rent a house, get a car, or even some jobs. FICO is implementing extensive changes to credit score calculations that will affect millions of Americans. An estimated 40 million Americans will see their score drop by 20 or more points, and equally as many might see as large of an increase.1
Travel bans are in place, schools are closed, sport activities have been cancelled. Large parts of the economy have been shut down, and it came as a complete shock to many people. The fear of the unknown is driving a lot of these shifts, but Senior Fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute, Olga Jonas, a pandemic economist, says everything happening so far is as anticipated.
We’re getting a lot of mixed messages about a coming recession. On one hand, the Gross Domestic Product is higher than expected and the unemployment rate is at a historic low. We’ve been seeing a lot of economic growth that suggests we’re headed in the right direction. But on the other hand, many experts suggest we are at risk for a recession.