$5,000 Stimulus Check Loan Proposal: The Washington Post reported that senior economic officials at the White House are exploring a polarizing proposal by conservative scholars at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute and Hoover Institution. The scholars, Andrew Biggs (a Forbes contributor) and Joshua Rauh, had published an opinion piece in The Hill outlining their plan, which would provide cash to households, but not in the form of a direct stimulus payment. Instead, the two argue that Congress should offer voluntary loan checks of up to $5,000 – the actual amount is up for debate – in exchange for a delay in receiving their Social Security benefits in retirement by up to three months.
The two describe how individuals who opted to receive the loan would have the balance carried forward at a “specified and favorable government interest rate until the time they choose to claim Social Security,” with the loan then being “repaid out of the very first Social Security checks that individuals would otherwise receive, after which their full Social Security check would be restored.” Biggs and Rauh note that those who choose not to receive a check would keep their Social Security retirement benefits and incur no delay.