You might be able to get up to $25,000 in stimulus checks

New stimulus checks are continuing to be distributed at a pretty regular clip around the US, with more than 2.3 million stimulus payments having just been sent out by the IRS totaling more than $4.2 billion. And a little over a month from now, the first of what will be a monthly series of stimulus checks will start arriving in millions of families' mailboxes and bank accounts, providing the first tranche of payments as part of an expanded federal child tax credit that will be split up over a series of monthly payments starting on July 15.

In the meantime, there's much more than the $1.9 trillion stimulus legislation which President Biden signed back in March also makes possible, beyond the stimulus checks that have gotten so much attention. For example, the stimulus legislation known as the so-called "American Rescue Plan" also exempts from federal taxation the first $10,200 in unemployment benefits that middle- and lower-income taxpayers received last year (normally, the entirety of a person's unemployment benefits is subject to federal taxes). The stimulus law also includes billions of dollars in aid set aside for struggling renters, who have run into trouble paying their rent and utilities as a result of challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.