The craziness of the last few weeks has upended most of our lives. The uncertainty from the aftermath of the Nashville tornado, COVID-related company closures, and panicked financial markets are sure to cause stress and overwhelm even the best of us. Rather than let them add to your worries, here are a few tips that can help you stay focused and overcome adversity.
- Use your time at home wisely. Social distancing isn’t natural for humans and can be very difficult, but it could be a great time to focus on things you've been putting off, including:
1) Professional Development: Find ways to expand your professional skill set and make yourself the most attractive candidate in your field. Online classes & coding bootcamps could be great ways to make sure you come out of this isolation period even more prepared than ever.
2) Get your finances in order: Drill down on your expenses, figure out how much you've been saving (or should be) and how you can move toward your goals of:
A) Emergency Savings (3-6 months essential expenses) in a HY savings acct
B) Additional savings for large upcoming expenses (taxes, car, house, kids)
C) Max out retirement contributions (employer Roth 401k or self-directed Roth IRA)
D) Start/add to non-retirement investments
With markets down ~25% from their recent peak just over a month ago, now could be a great time to use your increased savings to begin investing toward long-term savings goals.
- Don't let boredom lead to unnecessary expenses! Extra free time can subconsciously cause an increase in online shopping; instead, use the potential extra savings to build toward something meaningful and intentional.
- If you're left in the position of having an uncertain future professionally, now is the time to get back to basics. Living in isolation highlights your essential expenses: the bare minimum of what you need to live and be happy. Everything that you're not able to do right now (gym membership, restaurants, bars, travel) is considered discretionary spending and should take a back seat until you regain your footing. Instead, find a new park to run in, a new dish to cook at home, and an old friend to reconnect with over video chat. And make sure not to make any short term borrowing or spending decisions that could hurt your credit score. That means using potential govt relief money to pay off debt and necessary expenses.
By using this time to get organized, when we eventually emerge from the insanity of 2020, you'll come out better than you entered and ready to hit all your financial goals!