It’s easy to get overwhelmed right now with all the information circling out there for different financial options. Here’s a simple guide to a few programs that can help you if your income has dropped due to COVID-19.

UNEMPLOYMENT

You’re probably thinking: ‘But I’m self-employed so that won’t work for me.’ Actually, thanks to recent legislation, you as a self-employed individual, CAN apply for unemployment benefits. Now here is the even better part…unemployment benefits are higher than they've ever been before. The federal government is increasing unemployment benefits by a flat $600 per week through the end of July! So that means, if you qualify for just $1 of unemployment benefits, you get an extra $600 per week. 

For the state of Hawaii the maximum weekly benefit amount is $648. So just imagine, you can have up to $1248 per week in your pocket depending on what you qualify for. Pretty sweet deal.

Hawaii’s unemployment website can be found here: https://huiclaims.hawaii.gov/#/

Make sure you have your bank's routing and checking account number handy as signing up for direct deposit will be your fastest way to getting funds. The only down side…it may take a while before you receive your first payout due to the high number of claims. Still though, not a bad option even if it takes 3-4 weeks for your first payment.

PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM (PPP LOAN)

The Paycheck Protection Program provides loans to self-employed people that have the potential to be 100% forgivable. You can borrow up to 2.5 times your average monthly income from last year (up to $100,000/year). So if you made $60,000 last year, that averages out to $5,000/month, which means you could borrow 2.5 times $5,000, or $12,500.

Interest rates are super low on these loans (1%), which is great in itself, however, check this out: as long as you use the loan money to continue paying yourself the loan is FORGIVABLE. You don't have to pay it back! 

Now, there are details to understand and additional requirements for the loan to be forgivable, (click here for more info) but this is a great option, especially if you make more than $50,000 annually.

This is a new rollout as of April 10th for self-employed individuals so more updates to come!

ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOAN

The EIDL program provides low-interest loans (3.75%) to self-employed people. There's also a possibility of receiving an upfront grant of up to $10,000 that DOESN'T HAVE TO BE REPAID. Key wording there is up to. It seems the grant amount will be related to the number of employees you have, so if it’s just you, your potential grant is likely much less than $10,000. There’s not as many restrictions on the EIDLs as the PPP loans which is a plus, just the EIDLs are actual loans that you will need to pay back (up to 30 year term), minus the upfront grant amount given to you.

I WANT IT ALL!

I get it, but here is something important to understand: These programs can be combined in some cases, but it takes some organizational skills and some planning to make it work.

For example, you might use the PPP loan to continue payroll for yourself for eight weeks, have that loan completely forgiven, and then transition to unemployment. 

Or, you might combine an EIDL loan and a PPP loan to cover different expenses and still be able to have the PPP loan forgiven. 

Here is the SBA’s website that goes more in depth on the different loan programs: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options

Regardless of what you decide is the best fit for you, the nice thing to know is you have options.

Follow us on social media for updates and sign up for our newsletter below!

We want to hear from you! What do you think? What would you like to read about next? Let us know below!