Never stop learning

Are your children learning good money habits from you?  “Save up to buy shares in Nike before buying another pair of Nike shoes,” was the life-changing advice that Damon Williams, a teenage entrepreneur got from his mom, April Williams. The result, at 14 years old, her son, Damon, grew his net worth to more than US$50,000. Damon’s story is a hallmark of how parents can teach their children, the invaluable lesson of investing and saving at a young age.  As a result of COVID-19, more parents are able to spend more time at home, homeschooling or simply bonding, as such now is also a great time to teach or reinforce money lessons. 

If you lost your major source of income today, how long could you finance all of your expenses before being forced into debt?  The potential financial impact of COVID-19 makes this one of the most important questions for everyone to answer. 

If you lost your job tomorrow for how long could you live without an income?  Kevin and Bradly were both laid off from their jobs.  Kevin is immediately financially destitute.   While, Bradly is concerned, he knows that at least he can survive for the next 6 months’ even if he does not regain employment within that time.   What made a difference?  Bradly has an emergency fund; do you?

If your salary, and/ or your spouse’s salary has been reduced or cut completely, how will you continue to service your loans while paying your bills, and putting food on the table?  These are real concerns for many persons and can leave you nervous about having loans, thereby tempting you to pay out these loans and just be debt-free.  However, in times of prolonged uncertainty, cash is king, and so the key is to preserve as much of it, for as long as you can.