You may be wondering what you need to do in order to keep your finances intact during the COVID-19 crisis. Here are some principles to live by so that you can live financially to see another day.
Know the Different Scenarios
One of the first things that you should do is to model various different financial scenarios based on certain impacts that the economic crisis could have on you It is vital to be prepared for the worst-case scenario financially so that you are able to plan for the worst. Make sure that you consider the worst of what can happen and are not overly rosy in forecasting the various situations that you may change. In other words, you will want to have a plan to deal with the worst so you can know how to adjust your expenses accordingly.
Stay Defensive
You will also want to adopt a defensive posture so long as the crisis is continuing and things seem chaotic. While there will be the urge to try to take advantage of opportunities that arise during this time, the best thing that you can possibly do during an economic crisis is to survive. There will be plenty of chances to scoop up assets on the cheap once it is apparent that the crisis is over and you will emerge from it.
While the COVID-19 outbreak is ongoing, you must be cautious in terms of investments and new opportunities. Remember to not use all of your available cash and to always keep more than enough liquid assets than you need to make it through to the point where business begins to increase again. As Rusty Tweed would tell you, sometimes the biggest win is just sticking around when other businesses are forced to close.
If you are an individual as opposed to a business, you should still try to stay as liquid as you can during the crisis. However, you can slowly scale into new financial opportunities as they arise, making sure to do so a little at a time.
Use All Available Government Programs
Moreover, you should take advantage of each and every single government program that is available to you. If you are a business, there are government loan programs that are designed to keep your business going until the crisis has passed. Some of these loans can even be forgiven so long as you keep your business operating during the COVID-19 outbreak. To the extent that there is a government program or other relief that allows you to take advantage of forbearance to pay certain bills, wait to pay the bills until you have to so you can continue to conserve cash resources.
Not every government program is well-publicized during this time. Some may be first-come-first-served while others may have time deadlines to apply. Do an exhaustive search for all possible programs that can give you grants or loans during this difficult time.
As an individual, do not hesitate to file for unemployment. There are federal government programs that supplement state unemployment benefits, giving you a living wage while you are out of work due to the coronavirus crisis. However, you will need to be persistent in filing for unemployment benefits because many people have been reporting difficulties getting through to the agency on the phone or even being able to file over the website.
Cut Expenses
As a business or individual, Rusty Tweed would advise that you get aggressive in cutting your expenses while there is no visibility about whether and when the economy will recover. In order to maintain your financial empire, you literally need to assume that the worst projections will happen and then plan from there.
This means cutting out any type of spending that is not essential. Provided that you survive this crisis financially, there will be plenty of opportunities to spend in the future. However, you must make it to the future. You can never be cautious enough when it comes to slashing the amount of money that is going out when it seems like the economic world is ending.
Keep Your Head
Finally, the most important thing that you can do as a business or an individual in order to keep your financial empire from falling is to keep calm and take a deep breath. Many people will panic during times like these and make illogical decisions. This is the beginning of the end for them as one bad decision literally begets another.
By thinking clearly and making sound decisions, you can do what needs to be done financially during these times. While these are occurrences that nobody could have fully planned for, you can still exercise the principle of strong decisionmaking to make it through. If you make decisions based on rationality and evidence, chances are that you will make it through this economic catastrophe