AAII Survey: How AAII Members Are Spending Their Stimulus Money

Federal lawmakers enacted a $2 trillion economic stimulus package on March 27 that will send many Americans payments of up to $1,200, as a way to put money directly in the pockets of families struggling to manage the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation will give single adults who reported adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less on their 2019 tax returns a one-time payment of $1,200. Married couples who filed jointly will receive $2,400. Families will get an additional $500 for each child under 17. The IRS said 150 million individuals qualify for a payment; however, many Americans won’t get a check at all. Many students aren’t eligible for a stimulus check, and neither are some elderly and disabled people. Immigrants who don’t have a Social Security number won’t get a check. Some new parents and others may have to wait until next year to get part of their payouts. Additionally, many Americans who filed their taxes with tax companies such as H&R Block and TurboTax did not receive the cash payments because the IRS did not have their direct deposit information on file. If you are not sure whether you qualify for this tax rebate, see www.irs.gov/coronavirus. We aimed to see if our members have received a stimulus payment yet.

We asked our members about the status of their stimulus payment with the following question:

More than 80 million Americans are expected to get their coronavirus tax rebates this week. Have you or your family members received a stimulus payment yet?

Here are the results:

Over 3,100 members participated in this survey.

You may be wondering when your economic stimulus payment from Uncle Sam will arrive. For many people, the answer is soon.But some individuals simply don’t qualify for a payment. Of the 3,119 responses we received, 40% stated that they had not received a stimulus check yet. This compares to the 30% of respondents who stated that they had and 30% who stated that they do not qualify.

Follow-Up Special Question

By May 1, the IRS had already sent 122 million payments for a total of $207 billion to U.S. residents who qualify for a coronavirus economic impact check. For those still waiting for their stimulus money and who haven’t set up direct deposit with the federal revenue service, the IRS expects to mail up to five million paper checks a week until everyone eligible receives theirs. The coronavirus stimulus checks that landed in the bank accounts of tens of millions of Americans last week mean a lot of different things to different people. We aimed to see what AAII members are planning to spend their stimulus money on and why.

We followed up our poll with:

What are you planning to do with your stimulus money, and why?

Of the nearly 600 responses we received, 37% of members stated that they plan to use their stimulus money primarily to pay bills and purchase essentialsSeventeen percent of respondents plan to help family members/donate to local charities and 13% plan to spend their stimulus money at small businesses.

Here is a sampling of the responses we received to the follow-up special question:

• “Donate it to my local food bank. I didn’t really need the extra money, and that seems like a good way to help the many people who are hurting.”
• “Give it to my daughter who owns a restaurant but was crowded out of the loan program by the larger firms who didn’t really need the money.”
• “Pay bills. Lost my job and have no unemployment benefits working part time. Checking IRS.gov/coronavirus website, they say even though my wife and I have had the same bank checking account and Social Security numbers for over 55 years the IRS has no information on us. Of course, they have no phone number available now.”
• “Planning on ordering takeout and leave bigger tips. Already was planning to do that before the check. No real plans. Building up cash reserves in case of job loss.”
• “Put into savings for now. Use in near future to help restart the economy. Home improvement, new gas grill, interior painting.”

For more suggestions on what to do with your stimulus money, see Charles Rotblut’s Investor Update column “What to Do With the Stimulus Check.”