Episode 6: Tips to Protect Yourself & Your Wealth from COVID-19

Acquania Escarne 0:04

You are listening to the Purpose of Money Podcast, a podcast where we talk about ways to build wealth and create more freedom in your life today. I am your host Acquania Escarne.

Hey guys, welcome to this bonus episode of The Purpose of Money Podcast. I just wanted to check in on everyone and see how you're doing. I know a lot of things are going on with COVID-19 -a lot of people are staying at home. Restaurants, businesses, gyms are closing. Kids are out of school. And there is a sense of what do I do? Should I panic or should I sit still? So I'm here to kind of talk through some of the things that I've kind of noticed in my time working from home and then tips that I wanted to share as well as some advice on what to do when it comes to your financial planning in the midst of COVID-19.

So basically, I think it's really important that we all sit and take a deep breath. And then exhale. Let's sit still for a minute and understand that when it comes to financial planning, it's a long term game. So this moment in time should not be one that you use to define your financial plan, nor should it be one that sparks panic in you, or encourages you to sell off all your investments. This is actually the time where you should leave your investments where they are. If you are constantly contributing to a retirement account or any type of investment and you can continue to afford to do so keep doing it. Because right now things are on sale and this is a great time to buy a great time to get in at lower prices and then wait for the market to turn, which it will, and bounce back. A lot of people who are panicking and selling their investments are doing what we call locking in their losses, which means they are permanently accepting whatever loss they have on paper. And they're limiting their ability to get that full amount of money back, if not more. In 2008. We had a very, very rough year but a lot of people in 2009 saw 29-28% return on their investments, because the market started to turn around for the better. Those people benefited from not panicking and leaving their money invested in the market. People who sold in 2008, lost whatever they lost on paper. And then, when they decided to get back in the market, had to pay more to do so because the market was already turning for the better. So it's really important that in this time, as we are in a very interesting time, space and place that you sit still, don't panic, don't sell. Don't lock in your losses. Buy more while you can while things are on sale as long as you can afford to do so and be patient and wait. If you are in a position where you might be suffering from loss of income because you have a job that's been impacted by the closures, as a result of COVID-19 and you need to actually use your money for essential expenses. That is okay. My advice is take care of shelter, food, utilities and essentials that you can absolutely not live without. And if you do have any money leftover, please continue to invest in your future, in your retirement, and your investments. But understand that if you do have to make adjustments, hopefully it is only temporary. And you can get back to your usual investing and saving rates, once this time has passed. But for those of you who are earning the same amount of income as usual, and maybe just adjusting how you work, maybe you're working from home now instead of going into the office as much, try to stay to your plan stick to it. Understand this is a long term strategy. You are in it to win it. And this is not the time to get off course.

Secondly, today I wanted to talk about some tips to working from home. I am teleworking for a couple of days this week or working from home as they say, because my job is on an alternative schedule where some people will go into the office and some people will stay out of the office to minimize the amount of people who are in the office at the same time. So as I'm sitting during the day working, I figured out some ways where I can manage that and manage the other family members who are also stuck in the house because the kids can't go to school and my husband is also teleworking or working from home. First and foremost, get dressed. It's so easy to want to stay in your pajamas all day, trust me, I know. But getting dressed not only keeps you healthy, it also wakes you up, keeps you focused, and kind of gives your mind that mindset that we're about to go to work now. So we need to focus regardless if the environment is our home. Designate a relaxing,quiet space where you can work, focus and concentrate on what you have ahead. That could be an office. But if you don't have a office in your home, feel free to create a space for yourself. Maybe it's a portion of your living room or sitting area or a corner of your bedroom, where you can set up a workspace, have some quiet time and be able to focus. If you're working from home, you should still be expected to handle all your meetings, whether it's by conference or webinar. So make sure you have a space where you can comfortably have those meetings and participate in the day's work as usual. I also recommend that you set alarms for meals. If you're anything like me, you'll probably find yourself getting into your emails, getting on from one conference call to the next and forgetting that it is time for you to take a break and eat. So I set an alarm for lunch and I set an alarm for snacks because I want to make sure that I'm eating. I do make a conscious effort to eat healthy when I'm at home. It's really easy and tempting to want to eat junk food because it's there. But if you put a little more thought into it, you can have healthy snacks, you can have healthy meals, you can even have leftovers and they're all right accessible to you because you're already at home. So make sure to do that to take care of yourself. And make sure that maybe once or twice an hour, you get up, you walk around, you stretch your legs, you give your blood some ability to circulate. And you stand. I've known some people who have really cool standup desk at their home or interesting ways in which they work from home. I think that's all great if it works for you. But if you don't have it, just make sure to get up, to walk around, to stretch, to get a little bit of blood flowing every now and again so you don't get stiff sitting all day. And last but not least, set an alarm for your quitting time. It can be very tempting to get into your work and keep going because you're not having to catch a bus or start your commute, because you're in you're not in the office. But the reality is, working from home does not mean you need to work longer or even harder, you should do your work, you should be productive and still contribute to whatever the overall day's projects are. But you should also have a quitting time where you then decide on what you want to do for the rest of your day, which could be spending time with your family, going and get a workout in, or doing something else that brings you joy.

I also think that you can utilize this really cool schedule my husband used yesterday with our son. He had an hour by hour schedule for my son to follow to keep him active and engaged throughout the day. They started their morning with a morning walk, which took about 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Then they had an hour of academic time where my son worked on some workbook projects-math, science and some reading. Then he had creative time where he got to write, he got to put a little bit in his journal, draw some pictures and even brainstorm some football stuff because my son is into sports. So they made it fun. And they talked about in the football season, if you could pick your own team, who would it be. So that's where my son utilized creativity. He had a regular lunch hour, so he got a good meal. And then he had some time where he did some household chores. He actually went around the house and cleaned all the doorknobs and handles to make sure they were clean and safe. Minor project, it was fun. They all did it together. So it wasn't like he was doing something alone. But it was an opportunity to kind of distract him from the rest of the day's projects, but also to do something really important in the house, cleaning our handles and keeping us safe. And then we had an hour of storytime, which I thought was really cute because my oldest son read to my youngest son, and they got to go to books that they really like and enjoy some quiet reading time. And then my son had an opportunity to do more academic time, but this time with electronics. Since my oldest is really into coding, I let him use my computer so he could do some coding program and also learning how to type. He has a really cool program with his school, but he needed a computer to do it. So this is where you have focused electronic time. And then they ended the afternoon with an afternoon stroll followed by dinner and 6-8-it was two hours of free time. So my son was able to watch a little TV or videos or anything else he wanted to do, which he actually chose TV, but that's okay because in that time, he also mixed it up a bit with reading and then he spent a little bit of time on YouTube. So this is not a set in stone situation but it is something that I hope if you have kids at home, you can utilize this to keep them active and engaged. They had a really good time. I talked to my son about it later and he really seemed to enjoy his day. So it's another great way to keep the family together, active, and not killing each other.

So just to recap, don't panic, don't stress, don't sell. Don't lock in your losses. This is a great time to buy while things are on sale. Make sure if you're working from home, you stay healthy, alert, get dressed, have a relaxing place where you can get work done, be productive. Don't forget to eat and set an alarm so you quit on time and keep your kids busy. I know it's hard, they're home and they might not have much to do but with your help, they can stay engaged, focus, and maybe find another great book or two. I hope you find this info useful. Please share a review. Reviews help others learn about the podcast and I'm hoping that you share The Purpose of Money Podcast with others that you think would find it useful. I really appreciate all my listeners out there and I look forward to talking to you again. We got another episode coming out every other Wednesday, so make sure that you catch it. The next one is actually a good one. I'm going to be talking to the host of Money Talk with Tiff. She's an awesome podcaster who also talks all things money and she's a single mom who's paid off $50,000 in debt. So I love for you to hear her story and how she is helping people build financial wealth and pay off debt as she becomes debt free by 30. So hope you can tune into that episode.

If you want to talk to me, reach out, or even hang a little bit more, feel free to send me an email at info@ThePurposeofMoney.com. Make sure to share a review or share the episode with friends and family. And until next time, keep building generational wealth. Thanks, guys.

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Transcribed by https://otter.ai