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

3/22/2020

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 Faceboo k 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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10 MoneySmartLife Coronavirus Strategies

3/16/2020

The coronavirus will impact your money and your life. Here are some smart things you can do now. These strategies will be useful for both the well and ill-prepared. The economic disruption caused by the response to the coronavirus pandemic will pass. Here are the MoneySmartLife things you can do now.

Hoard cash. Aggressively save money now. Cash is King during a recession. This is not the time to be making extra payments. You can do that when the economy recovers. Your spending is probably already reduced because of social distancing. Bank the money.
Prioritize bill payments. Know which bills get paid first if money runs short.
Ask creditors about payment relief programs now. Don’t wait until your in trouble to find out your options. Look to protect your credit score when entering these programs. Make sure you understand what information will be sent to the credit bureau while you are on the program. Negotiate for “paid as agreed.”
Draw on your emergency fund, especially food. This is the time to use your emergency fund. Its cash can subsidize your income for a while. The food in your emergency fund is as crucial as cash during this time. It will help your cash flow by reducing food expenditures and improve your social distancing by reducing shopping trips.
Don’t panic and cash out your 401(k). The best thing to do is to keep in mind your time horizon. If you were appropriately invested based on your time horizon and risk tolerance, relax. If you are considering a loan from your 401(K), don’t. Such loans usually are not good ideas because of their long term negative opportunity costs. A loan taken during a depressed market magnifies these negative impacts.
Seize the opportunities made possible by the downturn. Build your emergency fund, if possible. This prepares you to withstand “stuff happens” and seize the opportunities a recession always provides. The stock market crashed. The Fed pumped liquidity into the markets, and interest rates are low. Good credit can be prudently leverage into opportunities for growth.
Support local small businesses. Our fellow citizens need us to act responsibly toward each other. Social distancing, hand washing are positive actions we should take. It also means making sure we prioritize our spending to the small local companies that are the bedrock of our community during this disruption. Prioritize your spending in such a way that such businesses get a generous portion of your disbursements.
Be mindful of online spending. Technology will help us cope with social distancing. Online shopping and home delivery are effective strategies to limit contact. But what can be a boon can also be a bane. Don’t get induced to spend more by the multitude of online retail tricks and traps. Set a spending hard limit for each online trip.
Manage your cashflow. It’s not just how much money comes in and how much money goes out. It’s also when does it come in, and when does it have to go out? That’s called cash flow. If you manage your cash flow properly, you can reduce your stress and survive short term minor financial shocks.
Maximize rewards and benefits from increased online spending. Increase your generosity and give to others. You can have meals or food delivered to the elderly and other vulnerable individuals. Many of our older family members are not digitally literate enough to shop confidently online. They can, however, open a box. Get a list from them or send their favorites. It will help their social distancing and reduce their risks.

The coronavirus pandemic economic disruption will pass. When it does aggressively rebuild your emergency fund’s cash and food. There will be another need for them. Be even better prepared the next time.

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

10 MoneySmartLife Coronavirus Strategies