Roughly 9.6 million Americans lost their jobs due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and 43% of small businesses had to close down at least temporarily. Many people will never recover from the economic impact the pandemic had on them, their businesses, and their families.
Despite this massive economic downturn, especially here in Hawaii where we had probably the strictest restrictions of all 50 states, Tardus clients didn't face the same bleak outlook. They did better financially during the pandemic than the average person did. So what did we learn? What did Tardus clients have that others did not?
Here are the top 4 Financial Lessons we learned during the pandemic, that will help you to remain afloat in a future recession.
This may sound basic and if you do any kind of personal finance research you will know an emergency fund is always at the top of every list.
I'm going to preface this with a little bit of a warning, We DO NOT believe in having a ton of money sitting in a savings account, depreciating. When your money is sitting in a savings account - it is losing value because it is not keeping up with inflation. Inflation is raising rapidly, so we would not recommend keeping ANY MORE than your emergency fund in a savings account.
We believe you should set aside at least 6 months worth of living expenses as your emergency savings.
There are a variety of things that could cause you to need to dip in to your emergency fund,
Or, many people experience unexpected income loss during the pandemic
Or maybe you just want to quit your job, like 47 million Americans did last year. At least you can now live off of your emergency fund for up to 6 months while you find a solution and don't have to upset your investments, or your retirement plan just to cover your bills.
Find out what types of resources and financial support you have available to you, and use them!
This was a real challenge for a lot of people during the pandemic, there’s so much information out there and navigating the different resources to figure out what you're eligible for can be daunting. During the pandemic, we saw programs that offered:
The key here is to do the work. Find a RELIABLE source that can share with you what resources are available and help you navigate the jargon.
Some reliable sources to consult could be:
Depending on where you are located and what your individual situation is, you may be entitled to some of that relief. Now, I’m going to make another caveat here that if you do have a hiatus on your mortgage or office space, or get a business loan or stimulus checks, USE IT WISELY.
If you’re getting that money for a specific purpose to cover some of your bills, you should use it for that purpose. With consumer stimulus checks, unemployment relief or postponement of debt payments, so many people were "treating themselves" with material things, trips or splurging on nice-to-have's. The reward from those things are short lived, but if you use the extra cash flow wisely, your future self will be thanking you for years to come.
So, what should you spend the extra cash flow on then?
Acquiring assets is the most valuable thing you could do with any additional cash flow. This is an unprecedented situation we are in here where someone who only usually has $500 per month in cash flow (what is left over after all of their expenses) might now have much more, maybe even $1,000 or $2,000 since their mortgage payments are paused, or their student loans are in forbearance. TAKE ADVANTAGE of this opportunity while it's here, and set yourself up for your future.
ASSETS PAY YOU
What we mean by assets is different from what most people think are assets. I don't mean going out and buying a car or getting some jewelry or buying yourself a new home. We are talking about assets that pay you on a regular monthly basis - this is going to be your biggest safety net.
Imagine if you had an asset that was paying you an extra $2,000 per month in passive income. Now, if you have a situation where you're out of work or out of business for three to six months, you can use that to hold you over until you get back on your feet again. Would that have made a difference on your life during the pandemic
We had clients who were able to survive for months off of their Income Snowball income when their companies were mandated to be shut down by the government. We had clients who lost their jobs, and were using their unemployment checks to buy assets that would pay them much longer than the government assistance would last.
The fastest, easiest, and most efficient way to buy income producing assets frequently - is with the Income Snowball - watch the Income Snowball video to learn more about this patented method of investing.
The fourth and final tip that I have for you today is not to rely solely on your job, or even your business. Whatever your primary active income is - you do not want to let that be your sole source of income. As we have seen, that can easily be taken away from you.
People who have been in their jobs for 20-30 years, and depending on them for retirement have had their futures stripped away from them. People who have spent their whole lives building a business that had to be shut down. How do you avoid this?
The amount of active income you can earn is limited to the amount of hours you have in a day. No matter how hard you work, you can not work more than 24 hours in a day or 7 days a week.
If you want uncapped earning potential, and financial security regardless of your job - you have to explore passive income. You have to make money, while you're sleeping! And you need multiple streams of it. That is the beauty of diversification, if plan A fails, you've got plans B, C & D in your back pocket.
We're going to end on that note - and it's the best advice I can give you. Multiple streams of income can SAVE YOU from a pandemic, a recession, a depression, it can save you if you need to stop working due to medical issues, family issues, mental health issues.
The Income Snowball is a vehicle created for the sole reason of helping you create multiple income streams, even if you don't have a large lump sump of money. The Income Snowball can help you create multiple income streams, with just a little bit of extra cash flow each month. Talk to a Wealth Coach today and they can put together a personalize plan of how the Income Snowball will benefit your situation.
