# But I'm on a fixed income! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 25, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216 "2020-03-25T00:24:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216/21 "2020-03-25T19:06:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > One of my pet-peeves is when people say they’re on a “fixed income”. Aren’t most people on a fixed income, other than those working for commission? It used to be standard that if you were collecting a pension, the amount you received was set at a specific figure at the point when you retired and began collecting it. Not a bad idea at the outset. But if you were collecting the same amount twenty years later, inflation might have reduced the value of that amount to less than you can live on. Employed people didn’t have this issue because wages and salaries were generally adjusted upwards periodically to reflect the rising cost of living. So it was the elderly, who were essentially being forced to live off a “salary” that had been set decades earlier, who were said to be suffering from having to live on a “fixed income”. To address this problem, many pensions now have cost-of-living adjustments built into them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216/22 "2020-03-25T19:11:00Z")
[quote=“kayaker, post:15, topic:850216”] One of my pet-peeves is when people say they’re on a “fixed income”. Aren’t most people on a fixed income, other than those working for commission? …/QUOTE] No, if you are employed you can change jobs, get a promotion or a raise. Altho technically yes, a millionaire could be on a “fixed income” it really means someone on retirement and/or Socsec or perhaps Disability. Yes, sometimes those get a CoL but never a real increase. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216/23 "2020-03-25T19:19:44Z")
I wonder what’s going to happen to us? In a normal year, which includes 2017 & 2019, we earn less than $60,000 combined. However, in 2018, I inherited money from my mother that put us well, well over $99,000. That’s where a lot of what’s in the bank is from, although we do manage to save, and living in a cheap part of the country helps. If the inheritance counts as “income,” then 2018 will count against us getting the money. However, if they really are going to look at BOTH years, we should be OK. Or if they are going to look at earned income, and not inherited income, we should also be OK. I’d like to ask someone these questions, but I don’t know who. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216/24 "2020-03-25T20:49:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It used to be standard that if you were collecting a pension, the amount you received was set at a specific figure at the point when you retired and began collecting it. Not a bad idea at the outset. But if you were collecting the same amount twenty years later, inflation might have reduced the value of that amount to less than you can live on. . Particularly during those years in the 70s, 80s when inflation was hitting double figures. We have been getting a similar whine here in Aus about unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits are very small, and the program is depressing and de-humanizing. I get that: I’ve been on benefits. But there’s a political meme that benefits “haven’t gone up in 20 years” which is just … political. (Benefits have been indexed. And rent-relief is proportional). No: “wage increases” are what people who aren’t on indexed benefits get. And no: our unemployment benefits have always been very small, depressing and dehumanizing, and you shouldn’t need to make up reasons for improving and increasing our program. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216/25 "2020-03-25T21:13:55Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I wonder what’s going to happen to us? > > In a normal year, which includes 2017 & 2019, we earn less than $60,000 combined. However, in 2018, I inherited money from my mother that put us well, well over $99,000. That’s where a lot of what’s in the bank is from, although we do manage to save, and living in a cheap part of the country helps. > > If the inheritance counts as “income,” then 2018 will count against us getting the money. However, if they really are going to look at BOTH years, we should be OK. Or if they are going to look at earned income, and not inherited income, we should also be OK. > > I’d like to ask someone these questions, but I don’t know who. I think you can look at your 2018 taxes for your AGI (the last line on the first page) - I presume (based on nothing) that that is the value that determines your check. I don’t believe that an inheritance feeds down to that line. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216/26 "2020-03-26T01:32:03Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I think you can look at your 2018 taxes for your AGI (the last line on the first page) - I presume (based on nothing) that that is the value that determines your check. I don’t believe that an inheritance feeds down to that line. Inheritance is not considered income. > **[How Can I Protect My Inheritance From Taxes?](https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/estates/4-ways-to-protect-your-inheritance-from-taxes/L653s0Kyn)** > > Received an inheritance of cash, investments, or property? Here are four ways that can help you keep it from being swallowed up by taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216/27 "2020-03-26T08:21:18Z")
Article in _Washington Post_ with details on who is eligible and how much they can get. [Calculate how much you’ll get from the $1,200 (or more) coronavirus checks](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/coronavirus-stimulus-check-calculator/?tid=lk_interstitial_manual_8&itid=lk_interstitial_manual_8) > [@](#): > > **Are the checks taxable?** No, they are not taxable. The only catch is that technically a person’s 2020 income is what is qualifies them for the payment. Since no one knows their total 2020 income yet, the government is using tax returns from 2019 and 2018 to figure out who qualifies for a check. It is possible that someone may have to pay back some of the money if his or her income this year turns out to be significantly more than it was in 2019 or 2018. That’s expected to be a relatively small share of people, and the money would not have to be paid back until April 15, 2021. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-im-on-a-fixed-income/850216.md?page=1)