Well, March has been quite an experience. My February blog on the coronavirus demonstrates that we had no idea what was about to hit us and I don’t think we know the full measure of this quite yet. My heart and prayers go out to the world at this time as we live through something that most of us have never experienced before.
Positivity
As with any tragedy, there always seem to be positive aspects that create the silver lining in a difficult time. For one, I have never seen so many people and families out in the parks in our neighborhoods walking, biking, playing with their dogs and enjoying the outdoors and being with their family. I love to see this and makes me smile as I pass them at the proper social distance. I feel when this is behind us we will all be so much more appreciative of our freedom and so many other luxuries that we took for granted in the past, like being able to hug someone, going out to dinner, and living with less apprehension every time we leave the house. I certainly hope we will not be scarred by this event in our lives but will be more grateful and appreciative now and in the future.
Position
Now from a financial standpoint, at this point in the market, one needs to focus on their position. If you own your own business, do you have enough liquidity to get through this quarantine and keep your business afloat? Do you have enough personal reserves set aside to pay your monthly bills over the next few months? If your present position is pretty stable then you can be thinking about how to take advantage of this market downturn. The market is clearly on sale for long-term investors.
Progression
The other bright side to this crisis that I’ve seen is people going back to basics. Our lives have temporarily slowed down and people are trying to tighten their budget, be more conservative with all of their assets whether that be toilet paper, food or cash. For some people this was a necessity and for others this was returning to their roots, reining things back in after a rather prosperous market cycle. Taking action, planning can help bring peace of mind and makes dealing with all of this uncertainty a little easier. I am attaching a budget worksheet for those who would like a little more clarity as to where their dollars are going every month.
If you are dealing with the loss of a loved one or experienced this virus first hand you have clearly endured far more than most. For those of us that have just been “inconvenienced” my hope is that you lean into this new, temporary, normal and try to find the positive aspects. Position yourself to weather the storm or profit from the market downturn and continue to make forward progress with your life and financial situation.
Here to help!
As always, Impact Wealth Advisory is here to help you make an impact on your financial future. I am more than happy to set up a call or virtual meeting with you to review your current situation, help get your spending in line, or to figure out how to best invest your spare cash and still sleep at night. Stay safe and healthy my friends.
“Impact Wealth Advisory is not affiliated with or endorsed by Centers for Disease Control and or any government agency. The content of this blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be used to make any financial or personal decisions.”