7 MoneySmartLife Tasks to do during the COVID-19 Social Distancing

 The coronavirus mitigation protocols have forced many people to stay indoors. Here are some tasks you can do to improve your financial situation during this time. These tasks are not for the financially desperate or food insecure. Instead, it is for those that have a level of sustainability at the beginning of the COVID-19 protocols. (Checkout 10 MoneySmartLife Coronavirus Strategies in a previous post on this site.) Here are the 7:

1. Work on that business plan. No longer will you have to serve your greedy corporate overlords. There will be opportunities after the coronavirus economic carnage is over for new businesses. Do the work on your plan now that you claimed you never had the time to do. Get serious about your dreams. Put them on paper.

2. Increase your cash on hand and limit your trips to ATMs. Money is always good to have available, especially during times of economic dislocation.

• Make a point to wear gloves when using keypads at checkout, ATMs, and gas stations.
• Disinfect your credit and debit cards after any external use.

3. Move money to more secure liquid accounts. From certificates of deposit to a savings account or from a brokerage money market fund to an FDIC insured one. Interest rates are low across the board right now. So safety may be a more critical consideration than an incremental higher interest rate at this time.

4. Take your insurance game to the next level. 

• Shop all your insurances, car, homeowners or renters, life, and disability. Here’s one of those things you claim you never have the time to do. You should it do now. It may take a while to do them all, but insurance comparison shopping is almost always worth the effort for reducing premiums or improving coverage.
• Do a video inventory of your stuff for property insurance claims. It is worth the effort. And you have the time now.
• Understand your medical coverages, deductibles, and copays, if any. What impact will the coronavirus have on your Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA) contributions or withdrawals? Can you use your HSA or FSA for COVID-19 prevention expenditures?

5. Organize your financial records. 

• Go digital with appliance, gadget, gear, and device manuals, warranties, and receipts. Search for the manual on Google then add to it your online storage for easy access. Scan receipts and warranties for upload also.
• Have a shred-fest. Get a shredder and destroy all those piles of documents and envelopes you have accumulated. Go through each one you have. When you have one in your hand, make a decision. Either digitize it or destroy it. Reduce your financial clutter. You’ll feel better, and your money will be easier to manage.

​6. Spend time daily, increasing your financial intelligence. Make a concerted effort to learn more about your money and the best ways to handle it.

• A deep dive into MoneySmartLife.org website might be an excellent place to start. May I self-servingly suggest that you also like and subscribe to our YouTube and Facebook platforms. We provide consistent value-added content across our network designed to empower sustainable financial well-being for working-class families.
• You also should spend some time on the cable business channels, Bloomberg, CNBC, FoxBusiness, or PBS. Listen and become more familiar with financial terminology. Watching can also increase your capacity to understand the economic fundamentals that impact your money. It can help you make better-informed decisions.
• Add some business programing to your viewing rotation. You don’t have to binge-watch them. To some, it may have to be an acquired taste. But acquire it, and you will be glad you did.

7. Relax, don’t panic. There is no need to hoard items or cash out your 401(k). Things will be rough for a while, no doubt. But it will settle down. When it does, many opportunities will abound for those prepared to seize them.

​Make the best of this stay-in period for yourself, your family, and money by implementing the above ideas. You might not be able to do them all, but you can do some.

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