I Feel Guilty...I need to vent...

[kristenrice]

Everyone is talking about their stimulus money and I KNOW that I should NOT feel bad, but here's my situation...

I work as a paramedic. My normal salary is roughly $62K per year and that means I work 84 hours every 2 weeks (36/48). I've been doing this for 23 years now. My husband retired after 30 years as a police officer and he takes home only his pension which amounts to about $65K annually so we are not struggling financially. Based on our 2019 income, we qualified for the full stimulus payment of $5600....$1400 for us and $1400 for each of our children (ages 17 and 15).

Well, as you all know, 2020 was a tough year for us health care workers. Due to the pandemic, I was deployed on several assignments that lasted weeks at a time. My company is a private company but we are contracted through FEMA and DHS to provide support throughout the country. Due to the unprecedented circumstances, I worked substantial overtime at a much higher pay rate than normal. My income this year ended up being $97K! We saved a lot of it, but we also knew that a lot of businesses were struggling so we patronized local restaurants and made sure that we shopped local and tipped VERY generously. We also donated much more frequently than we normally would because we felt blessed to be in our situation. It was not enough to offset the standardized deduction so we did not get any sort of break on our income taxes. I submitted our 2020 income taxes and our modest refund was in our account 5 days later.

Then, the president signed the stimulus package and I found out that our family would not qualify for any payments because our total income was $2900 over the limit. Yup....we made $162,926. Our "normal" annual income is just a tad over $120,000 so to find out that we missed the stimulus cut off by just $2900 hurt. AND, if I would have just waited ONE more week to file our taxes, it would have been based off of 2019's income and we would have qualified....

UGH! Like I said...I hate complaining about this, because I should not be saying "Oh whoa is me...I have too much money"....I just don't feel like I have the money because it was not my typical year, the deployments are done and I am back to my regular earnings again. Everyone keeps talking about all of the great things they are going to do (vacations, etc) or buy with their stimulus money and it just makes me sick to think how close I came to receiving that $5600...if I had only waited ONE more week...

...thanks for letting me vent...

 

[HeatherC]

Was your income of 162 your adjusted gross income? If not, your AGI may be less and you may still get one. And I know it stinks to not get one. Sometimes it feels like you are penalized for working hard and saving. But then we all need to remind ourselves how lucky we truly are. But it still stinks!

 

[QueenIsabella]

That does suck. You have a right to be peeved. Especially about the filing taxes part, because you could have easily waited, had you realized. I'm sorry this happened to you. If anybody deserves a break, it's front line people like yourself.

I don't have any actual advice or anything, but I can understand your frustration.

 

[havaneselover]

So frustrating. I have been on both sides of these situations and it stinks when you are on the wrong side. I know one of my closest friends was going to miss out on $7,000 unless she got her 2020 taxes done (because they made a lot more in 2019 than 2020) and I don't think she was able to get them in fast enough. And they could use the money with their oldest heading to college and one of their children in private school.

Thank you for your and your husband's service.

And it's okay to vent!

 

[sandam1]

Then, the president signed the stimulus package and I found out that our family would not qualify for any payments because our total income was $2900 over the limit. Yup....we made $162,926. Our "normal" annual income is just a tad over $120,000 so to find out that we missed the stimulus cut off by just $2900 hurt. AND, if I would have just waited ONE more week to file our taxes, it would have been based off of 2019's income and we would have qualified....

Did you contribute the max to an IRA? If not, you could still contribute for 2020 and then file an amended return. Maybe?

 

[gottalovepluto]

No need to feel guilty (there’s way to much emotional stress in life right now without adding that to the mix). Some people got screwed with this and you were one, your venting is just and imho emotionally healthy because it can help in the process of letting stuff go.

 

[crisi]

Did you contribute the max to an IRA? If not, you could still contribute for 2020 and then file an amended return. Maybe?

I thought the same thing.

 

[kristenrice]

Did you contribute the max to an IRA? If not, you could still contribute for 2020 and then file an amended return. Maybe?

I thought the same thing.

We don't have any IRA's. I have a 401K and my husband has a 457 (? I think that's what the "government 401K" is called?). That was also part of the kick in the teeth...part of our taxable income was $1000 that he took out of his retirement account at the beginning of last year.

 

[Lumpy1106]

If you live in So Cal, own a house and both of you work, it's pretty much a lock you will get nothing from any of the stimulus packages. We didn't even check to see if we qualified - we don't. Welcome to the middle class.

 

[Missingmypooh]

Hubby is a medic/ff.
this year has been ROUGH.
this is the cherry on top right? You did what you were supposed to do and feel you got penalized for being a responsible adult. It really really sucks. I’m empathizing with you, because I’d feel like poop too if I got that stick after all you’ve been through. (Because I know you didn’t want to have to work all those extra assignments!)

I understand the need to vent, but I also hope you’ll find your silver lining. These kind of things do tend to all come out in the wash eventually.

 

[tvguy]

I have felt guilty. I am counting my blessings. I haven't had covid nor has anyone in my family.
Financially, the government keeps sending me money. 3 stimulus checks. And I was briefly furloughed, and I was one of those who was paid more in unemployment benefits that I would have made working. Then my company and my wife's company gave out $1,000 (each) in pandemic bonuses. I am working from home full time and saving $80 a month in gas. My wife is assigned days off with pay to keep the head count down in her building, one day a week for two weeks, then two days off with pay the third week. So she is cutting her gasoline bill by about 20%.
Sad thing is, someone is going to have to pay back all that stimulus money, either us, our kids or our grandkids.

 

[MomToOne]

We don't have any IRA's. I have a 401K and my husband has a 457 (? I think that's what the "government 401K" is called?). That was also part of the kick in the teeth...part of our taxable income was $1000 that he took out of his retirement account at the beginning of last year.

Contributing to your 401K will lower your AGI. Check line 11 on your 1040 form to see what that is - that's your AGI (basically income minus pre tax deductions like 401K, medical insurance through your employer, HSA contributions, etc.) Usually your AGI is lower than your gross income. Stimulus payments are based on your AGI.

I didn't qualify based on my 2020 income but do based on my 2019. So I held off filing my 2020 return. The fact that it was coming and what the criteria were expected to be was in the news a lot, and many news articles told people not to file their 2020 taxes if their income would be too high. It's just a "life lesson" moment I guess. We all have those at some point! Ask me about a really stupid traditional to Roth IRA conversion I did once...

 

[Sjm9911]

Dont feel bad ,and dont expect them to fix it eaither. Your check should be in your bank account by now. They messed mine up, lol. I never got anything for my daughter, for all the stimulus checks. I also haven't filed my taxes for 2020 yet. To ajust the mistakes, you do it when you file your taxes. I will not get what i was supost to because I'm way over in 2020. Im over because we didnt have a contract for 4 years and i got a retro check last year. So, to fix there mistake i have to wait and file it with my taxes, and that will negate there mistake. Catch 22. That would have been a nice disney vacation.

 

[Donald13]

Everyone is talking about their stimulus money and I KNOW that I should NOT feel bad, but here's my situation...

I work as a paramedic. My normal salary is roughly $62K per year and that means I work 84 hours every 2 weeks (36/48). I've been doing this for 23 years now. My husband retired after 30 years as a police officer and he takes home only his pension which amounts to about $65K annually so we are not struggling financially. Based on our 2019 income, we qualified for the full stimulus payment of $5600....$1400 for us and $1400 for each of our children (ages 17 and 15).

Well, as you all know, 2020 was a tough year for us health care workers. Due to the pandemic, I was deployed on several assignments that lasted weeks at a time. My company is a private company but we are contracted through FEMA and DHS to provide support throughout the country. Due to the unprecedented circumstances, I worked substantial overtime at a much higher pay rate than normal. My income this year ended up being $97K! We saved a lot of it, but we also knew that a lot of businesses were struggling so we patronized local restaurants and made sure that we shopped local and tipped VERY generously. We also donated much more frequently than we normally would because we felt blessed to be in our situation. It was not enough to offset the standardized deduction so we did not get any sort of break on our income taxes. I submitted our 2020 income taxes and our modest refund was in our account 5 days later.

Then, the president signed the stimulus package and I found out that our family would not qualify for any payments because our total income was $2900 over the limit. Yup....we made $162,926. Our "normal" annual income is just a tad over $120,000 so to find out that we missed the stimulus cut off by just $2900 hurt. AND, if I would have just waited ONE more week to file our taxes, it would have been based off of 2019's income and we would have qualified....

UGH! Like I said...I hate complaining about this, because I should not be saying "Oh whoa is me...I have too much money"....I just don't feel like I have the money because it was not my typical year, the deployments are done and I am back to my regular earnings again. Everyone keeps talking about all of the great things they are going to do (vacations, etc) or buy with their stimulus money and it just makes me sick to think how close I came to receiving that $5600...if I had only waited ONE more week...

...thanks for letting me vent...

Nope I feel you. We are not healthcare workers, but my husband has not been working his days off I was furloughed from my job for about 4 months. The unemployment killed us tax wise, we owe this year. We also do not qualify for the stimulus. Even with 2 children. We make good money but we live in a stupidly expensive place. Its very frustrating

 

[DLgal]

Do you file married jointly? If so, even by just taking the standard deduction, your income will come in below $150,000. The standard deduction is like $25,000.

You have to look at the AGI number on your taxes, not your "income from all sources." The stimulus is based on AGI.

 

[MomToOne]

Do you file married jointly? If so, even by just taking the standard deduction, your income will come in below $150,000. The standard deduction is like $25,000.

You have to look at the AGI number on your taxes, not your "income from all sources." The stimulus is based on AGI.

Standard deduction/itemized deductions do not affect your AGI.

See https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf - AGI is line 11, the deduction comes off in line 12 to get to your taxable income, which is different than your AGI.

 

[kristenrice]

Standard deduction/itemized deductions do not affect your AGI.

See https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf - AGI is line 11, the deduction comes off in line 12 to get to your taxable income, which is different than your AGI.

Yup...our AGI is $162,xxx but our TAXABLE income is only $138,xxx. Since the pension is taxable income, we do not qualify.

 

[JFDIS]

You are someone who pays a LOT of money in taxes every year. You can be upset and vent about it. That stinks!

 

[seb65]

I feel your pain. We filed back in February. Someone mentioned above that it was in the news, but I trusted that my accountant knew it was ok to file. My husband is an essential worker at a high risk place. He was working up to 80 hours a week because of COVID and people needing to be out. So, he made too much this year by just a wee bit. It stings, especially since he did end up catching COVID through this all. We have a son entering college next year. We could have used this money. I would have preferred him working less and making less in order to get the stimulus. It was a rough fall full of worry.

 

[cookiecar]

We are in a similar situation with an AGI of $163500. I feel especially bad since this was the first stimulus our college age son would have qualified to receive. And of course he was priced out with the income change. We planned to pass along the money to him to help pay for his summer classes.