What the new COVID relief package means for your money

A second wave of federal coronavirus relief totaling $900 billion could begin flowing to millions of Americans as soon as the year’s end, nearly nine months after Congress passed the original pandemic relief package known as the CARES Act.

Here’s what the COVID relief package — part of a $2.3 trillion spending bill passed by Congress and now awaiting the president’s signature — could mean for you, your family, your home or your business.

IF YOU EARN UP TO $75,000 PER YEAR

You’re eligible to receive a $600 one-time payment if your 2019 reported income was $75,000 or less. Couples who reported an adjusted gross income up to $150,000 will receive $1,200 (the income limit per couple is $112,500 for the highest earner or the head of the household). Those eligible for relief who have dependent children will also get $600 per child. That means a family of four (a couple and two children) meeting the income threshold would see $2,400.

You would still receive partial payments dropping by $5 for every $100 above the income limits. An individual who earned $86,900, for example, would get $5.

Only minor dependent children are eligible for this payment; adult dependents such as college students don’t qualify, which is the same as with the previous relief.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said these new payments will be distributed the same way the earlier relief was sent — as direct deposits and checks.

IF YOU’RE OUT OF WORK

Weekly $300 supplemental unemployment insurance known as Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation will be added on top of other unemployment benefits for 11 weeks, through March 14. (The CARES Act provided $600 in supplemental unemployment compensation, which expired July 31.)

This benefit also extends Pandemic Unemployment...