Election Day is less than a week away and millions have already voted via early voting or mail-in ballots, but if you’re still undecided, a new report by personal finance website WalletHub will show you what each candidate will mean for your wallet.
WalletHub, in a report released Tuesday, predicted President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden’s impact on 10 categories, including taxes, unemployment, student loans, minimum wage and COVID-19 response.
WalletHub reports that Trump would continue tax cuts for corporations, use tax cuts and infrastructure projects to lower the unemployment rate, eliminate some forgiveness programs for student loans, leave minimum wage increases up to individual states, and continue to defer COVID-19 response to states.
Biden, the report found, would increase taxes on corporations and people making over $400,000 a year, create clean energy jobs to lower the unemployment rate, expand student loan forgiveness, increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and have the federal government take over the nation’s COVID-19 response.
Overall, using predictions from Moody’s Analytics, WalletHub predicts 18.6 million new jobs and a 4.1% unemployment rate in 2024 if Biden wins, and only 11.2 million new jobs and a 4.8% unemployment in 2024 rate if Trump wins.
Jill Gonzalez, a WalletHub analyst, said a big reason why is the candidates’ contrasting stance on responding to the pandemic and economic recession.
“The emergency relief legislation would certainly help jobs come back, and that's where Biden really comes in with more support versus Trump's stance,” she said. “Trump would leave more of this up to the states … but I think, in this time when COVID-19 has run so rampantly but also so differently from state to state, that's where the federal government, in terms of creating more jobs and making sure people still have health insurance and making sure that the economy is still able to survive, that's where a federal takeover will lead to more of those things.”
WalletHub’s report also seems to favor Biden when it comes to the stock market. The S&P 500 has historically grown at an annual rate of 13.84% with a Democratic president and divided Congress, but only a 6.18% rate with a Republican president and divided Congress.
However, Republicans historically provide more S&P 500 growth than Democrats when it comes to controlling both the presidency and Congress, 13.87% to 10.26%, respectively.
So which candidate is better for your wallet? Gonzalez said that depends on who you are.
“If you’re middle class or lower-income, Biden would probably be better for your wallet,” She said. “If you're making over $400,000 a year and you are a part of or in charge of a big business or a big corporation, then Donald Trump would probably be better for your wallet.”
