Blanket Appropriation

  

No, not related to “cultural appropriation.”

First: appropriation. In the world of political economics, it just refers to money that is set aside for something.

When Timmy saved money to buy himself a Furby (which he later deeply regretted), you could say he appropriated those funds for a Furby (why, Timmy, why?).

Blanket appropriation is when money is set aside for something, but without an itemized list of specifics. For instance, if Timmy had appropriated his funds for general birthday presents for himself, you could say it was a blanket appropriation of funds.

In gov-speak, there might be a blanket appropriation of funds that allows the fund-users to spend the money without having to say exactly what projects they’re spending their money on. By giving the money without asking for super-specific deets, it helps the government save some time.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What is a Coverdell Education S...11 Views

00:00

Finance a la shmoop what is a Coverdell education savings account? Coverdell...[Man using a red umbrella]

00:09

nope not an umbrella for the farmer in the well what is a Dell anyway? uh no

00:14

different Dell remember farmer in the Dell? all right moving on

00:18

Coverdell was the senator who named this type of tax deferred savings account and

00:23

note it's tax deferred not tax free maybe that is you might put two grand a

00:29

year in this account and you don't pay tax on it this year it just gets

00:33

invested and it grows just like a 401k account and an IRA and a Roth more or

00:39

less but then when you withdraw the money you don't pay tax on it if you use [Cash withdrawn from ATM]

00:44

the dough for school that is for like private school fifth grade books and

00:49

uniforms or that no athletic scholarship in the Ivy League tuition at Princeton [Man walking towards college building and football hits his head]

00:54

Or the iPad app suite from shmoop yeah

00:59

you could spend it on us we'd appreciate it thank you if you don't spend the

01:02

money on education well then you get taxed in the normal way as if it's

01:06

ordinary income there are all kinds of restrictions in this plan like there's a [Restrictions appear]

01:10

max of two grand contributed per kid who benefits from it the dough has to be

01:15

distributed fully by the time the kid is thirty or go to others in the family for

01:20

education and if your family makes too much money like you work too hard you're

01:25

too successful well you might have to cover your own Dell yeah so yeah it's a [Man walking along with a Dell laptop]

01:30

great option for some and an excellent way to attend the school of your dreams

01:34

while temporarily staving off the taxes of your nightmares if you're really lost

01:39

or something to spend it on you know think of your friends here at shmoop...

01:41

we're happy to take your dough

Up Next

Finance: What is a 529 Savings Plan?
3 Views

What is a 529 Savings Plan? A 529 Savings plan is a tax savings plan to set aside funds for a designated beneficiary’s college education and high...

Finance: What is a 401(k)?
51 Views

What is a 401(k)? A 401(k) is a retirement plan that is offered by many employers (government entities, however, use a 403(b) plan). These plans us...

Finance: What is a sinking fund?
8 Views

What is a sinking fund? Companies that issue bonds pay the interest coupon amount each year and are required to redeem all of the principal at matu...

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)