Moore Financial Tips for Trying Times

Yahoo Finance June 17, 2020 Morgan Henney Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, posted a revised, borrower-friendly Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness application implementing the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020, signed into law by President Trump on June 5, 2020. In addition to revising the full forgiveness application, SBA also published a new EZ version of the forgiveness application that applies to borrowers that: Are self-employed and have no employees; OR Did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees; OR Experienced reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19, and did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%. The EZ application requires fewer calculations and less documentation for eligible borrowers. Details regarding the applicability of these pro...

WSB-TV 2 June 11, 2020 For the fourth time in five weeks, the number of people filing for unemployment in Georgia is down. At the same time, the state announced Thursday that it’s offering more help to people who need it. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the state has handed out $2.5 billion in unemployment assistance and pandemic relief assistance. While the numbers of those filing for unemployment is going down there is still a lot of need across the state. The Georgia Department of Labor has launched a brand-new program that extends benefits for those who have reached their limit but still need more help. The program is called Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC. It’s part of the CARES Act. “This gives you 13 weeks of monetary assistance that will help you receive those benefits,” said Kersha Cartwright with the Georgia Department of Labor. The program is for those who have reached their 13-week eligibility and need more benefits. The program woul...

Forbes June 15, 2020 Richard Harroch On June 15, 2020, the SBA announced that it was again opening up its Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) grant and loan program. This means that independent contractors, freelancers, and gig workers are eligible to receive a $1,000 grant that does not have to be repaid. Small businesses and agricultural businesses also may apply for the grant, equal to $1,000 per employee of the business up to a maximum of $10,000. A loan for favorable terms from the SBA may also be available. There is some uncertainty as to the amount available, but up to $150,000 or $2 million has been reported. Under the CARES Act passed on March 27, 2020, independent contractors, gig workers, and freelancers affected by the coronavirus crisis are eligible to receive the grant. The SBA sometimes refers to these grants as “advances,” but you are not required to repay this money to the government. The application process involves filling out a simple SBA form requesting an Econom...

Forbes Jesse Damiani June 15, 2019 Sudden and wide-ranging outages in online and telecommunication services in the U.S. has led some to believe it is the result of a coordinated attack. On June 15, a flurry of reports on a number of different services in the U.S. have indicated that the country may be experiencing a coordinated DDoS, or “distributed denial of service ” attack. These attacks are malicious attempts to disrupt or shut down targeted servers by overwhelming them with traffic from multiple sources. According to outage aggregator Downdetector , users reported outages in major mobile carriers (T-Mobile, Metro, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, Consumer Cellular, US Cellular), Internet providers (Spectrum, Comcast, CenturyLink, Cox), social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Twitter), games and game services (Fortnite, Roblox, Call of Duty, Steam, Xbox Live, Playstation Network), streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, Twitch), banks (Chase Bank, Bank of Amer...

BlackEnterprise.com June 12, 2020 Derek Major Lowe’s, the home improvement superstore, opened its first round of grant applications for $25 million in small business grants for minority-owned businesses. Late last month, Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison announced Lowe’s would assist minority-owned businesses with $25 million in grants to support efforts to relaunch the American economy. According to a Lowe’s release , the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation’s largest community development organization, will manage the process of vetting applications for grants. To apply for a grant, small business owners should visit LISC.org/lowes . For this round, all applications must be submitted by Wednesday, June 17th at 11:59 p.m. ET. The grants are intended to provide emergency assistance. Eligible expenses include: Paying rent and utilities Meeting payroll Paying outstanding debt to vendors Upgrading technology infrastructure Other immediate operational costs “Lowe’s has been c...

Forbes June 8, 2020 Adam Minsky, Esq . When Congress passed the CARES Act in early April, many advocates cheered. In addition to the stimulus payments and small business assistance, the legislation provided critical student loan relief to millions of student loan borrowers as the economy collapsed amidst a global pandemic. The CARES Act provides temporary student loan relief in three critical areas through September 30, 2020: Student loan payments are paused. Interest is suspended. Collections on defaulted federal student loans is stopped. Despite the clarity and straightforwardness of the CARES Act’s student loan provisions, the Department of Education’s implementation of the law has been uneven at best, and in some cases, disastrous. Here are some of the major problems student loan borrowers have encountered. Not All Student Loans Are Covered While the CARES Act’s student loan relief provisions are fairly broad, only government-held federal student loans are covered. That means tha...

Yet another update to the PPP came out yesterday.  This update suspends the 60% cliff, meaning businesses no longer have to spend at least 60% of the PPP fund on payroll costs to have any of the loan forgiven. However, it also states that ONLY businesses that got PPP loans AFTER June 5th will have 5 years to pay the loan back.  Loans made earlier will only have 2 years.  Banks are permitted to expand the payback period to 5 years, but are not required to do so. In addition, the SBA, in consultation with Treasury, announced that they will soon issue the following: Updated rules and guidance, A modified borrower application form, and A modified loan forgiveness application implementing these legislative amendments to the PPP. Excerpts from the most recent changes follow. Forbes June 8, 2020 Alan Gassman Yesterday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Jovita Carranza released a joint statement regarding the passage of ...

FOX Business June 3, 2020 By Brian O'Connell Sponsored by Credible With interest rates in steep decline, it’s a good time to refinance a mortgage. Just make sure you’re taking the right steps. (iStock) Mortgage rates are edging downward as the nation starts the long haul back to normalcy as the coronavirus pandemic abates. That’s good news for U.S. homeowners looking to refinance their mortgages and save money on their monthly home payments. If you're planning to refinance your mortgage now or in the near future, read on for a look at everything you need to know. What are refinance mortgage rates today? In the last week of May, 30-year fixed mortgage rates fell to just over 3.0 percent, according to Mortgage News Daily. Compare that figure to one year ago this month, when the same 30-year fixed mortgage rates stood at 4.25 percent. When mortgage rates drop that low, lending experts say it’s a great time to dive into the refinancing pool – if you act fast. Don't forget t...

Journal of Accountancy June 4, 2020 By Jeff Drew The U.S. Senate passed the House version of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) legislation Wednesday night, tripling the time allotted for small businesses and other PPP loan recipients to spend the funds and still qualify for forgiveness of the loans. The bill passed in a unanimous voice vote hours after Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson initially blocked it. Among the key provisions is a change in the threshold for the amount of PPP funds required to be spent on payroll costs to qualify for forgiveness to 60% of the loan amount. The Senate approval sends the House bill, called the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act , to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it. The vote had to be unanimous because the Senate is not officially in session. That meant that any senator could force the matter to be delayed until the Senate returned to Washington with enough members for a quorum and a vote. Leaders from both parties in the Senate pushed ...