No Coronavirus Relief Payment - Yet

I checked our bank account a few minutes ago.  We haven't received our Coronavirus relief payment yet.   I will check over the next week and report when we receive it.

For more on Reflections and Musings, check back Saturdays for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Build an Emergency Fund

As many have learned with COVID-19 shutdowns, having an emergency fund is an important financial strategy.    The emergency fund can cover unexpected expenses such as a car repair or major appliance purchase and even loss of income due to a layoff. 

The typical recommended emergency fund for someone working is three to six months of expenses.   This amount is usually enough to cover an unexpected large expense or loss of a job.  People may find after the COVID-19 experience, longer may even be preferable.

In retirement, we're keeping three to five years of expenses in an emergency fund of cash or invested in CDs, so that we do not need to sell stock investments at low prices due to a downturn as we are experiencing now.   Stock usually recover within three to five years, allowing investments to be sold at favorable prices.

Hopefully, three to five years will be sufficient time for the stock market to recover from COVID-19.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back Wednesdays for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Take on Coronavirus Survival

Full Disclosure:  I am not a medical professional nor do I have medical training.

I have been following a number of studies, reports, and presentations on COVID-19 status.   My conclusion is that COVID-19 may be fatal for infected individuals that have inflammation pre-existing conditions.

Inflammation conditions already reported include:

• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Asthma 

I would add the following:

• Autoimmune diseases
• Rheumatoid Arthritis

Perhaps that's why hydroxychloroquine has worked for some patients.   It's a treatment for an autoimmune disease.

All speculation on my part, but based on the qualitative data that is being reported.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back Tuesdays  for a new segment.

This is not financial or medical advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Near Term Rally Strategy

Note:  Corrections have been made due to errors in calculations.   The fact checker's bonus will be eliminated this quarter :-)

I expect the market to rally for a short time since COVID-19 deaths appear to be peaking in the U.S.   My plan is to sell our peripheral holdings into the rally, while maintaining our core holdings.

 I have increased shares in existing positions or added shares in new holding during the downturn. I consider most of these newly acquired shares "peripheral" holdings.   I start trading out of these holdings when the return is about 15% nominally.   I experienced 15% gains in as little as a few hours due to the extreme volatility, but more common is a time period of a few days, if I'm lucking.

Overall, we are still down, but as of the end of March, the loss was only -2.3%  -4.2%, since we have a significant amount of cash, and my company stock, which is our largest single holding,  has only declined about 4% 11% since the beginning of the year. 

There will probably be another decline to lower lows.  I will wait for that to happen before adding significant funds to purchase more stocks.

For more on Strategies and Plans Ideas, check back Mondays  for a new segment.

This is not financial or investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The New Normalcy

One month ago, life was still normal.  There were no restrictions. I was still going skiing.  My kids were in school.  My 7 year old son was attending birthday parties.  We were shopping as usual.   We were connecting with friends.  We were planning summer vacation.

Fast forward to now.   We are under stay at home orders.  Schools are closed and doing online learning.   We're about to start wearing masks in public areas.   Not even thinking about summer vacation.

I expect his to last until May 1, but hope our previous life will return sooner.

For more on New Beginnings, check back Sundays for a new segment.

This is not financial or health  advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Uncertainty is the New Norm

"Tomorrow isn't promised." ~ old adage

I'm spending stay-at-home orders enjoying time with my spouse and kids.   We play games, pracitce sports, do DIY home projects.  Hopefully, the kids will have pleasant memories of these times, versus the anxiety that most adults are having.

We continue to plan for the worst and hope for the best....

For more on  Reflections and Musings, check back  Saturdays for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Coronavirus Groundhog Day

We've been under stay at home orders for a couple weeks. 

Everyday is basically the same.

Get up.  Make breakfast.   Check the weather.   Read Coronavirus news.
Decide whether to shop for food and make list.
Get kids to online school.  Clean up.
Read Coronavirus news. 
Make lunch
Get kids outside on nice days.  Ride bikes, play catch, hit basedballs, and kick soccer balls.
Read Coronavirus news.
Watch part of governor's daily corona virus update.
Do shopping or other spring chores around the house.
Read Coronavirus news.
Make dinner and clean up.
Practice music, read, watch TV, do homework.
Get kids to bed.
Read Coronavirus news.
Clean up, relax, go to bed.

Repeat the next day.

For more on   Reflections and Musings, check back Saturdays for a new segment.

This is not financial nor coronavirus stay-at-home advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Power of NO!

For us, a successful retirement has benefited from being able to say NO.

1.  No Debt.   We have no mortgage, no car loan, no outstanding revolving debt.   That has reduced our "required" payments each month.   My only regret is that I didn't pay off our mortgage right after retiring in 2007.  Instead I stayed invested and lost a significant amount of money in 08/09 that could have been used to pay off the mortgage, which we did in 2009.
2. No Living Large.  I drive a 17 year old truck and a 17 year old car, which we are saving for my daughter to learn driving.  My spouse drives an 8 year old car we bought from her mom, when she moved into independent living.  We take one or two vacations a year with the kids.   We have most of our meals at home, eating out a couple times a month.
3. No Supporting Adult Kids.   Both our kids are still under 15, but many of my retired friends are still providing some finanacial support to their kids, even post college graduation.
4. No Exotic Investments.   I have turned down various investments with "higher yields" and stayed with some stocks and mostly CDs and cash equivalents.   Yeah, we didn't beat the market, except for 2020 YTD, but we generally earned enough to cover annual expenses.

Of course, YMMV, but this approach has worked well for us.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back Fridays for a new segment.

This is not financial nor retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Looking for Cash Opportunities

Cash is king for now.

There will be lots of attractive opportunities for those with cash:  stocks, real estate, purchases.  I'll be actively looking for good deals.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back  Tuesdays for a new segment.

This is not financial or investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Be Prepared for the Worst

That was my hard lesson learned from the 08/09 Great Recession.  The stock market was doing great, hitting new highs in October 2007, the month of my early retirement. My company stock had also hit a new high. 

Rather than paying off our mortgage, I stayed mainly invested in equities, assuming the stock market would continue to deliver gains greater than the interest on our mortgage.   It was the "smart" financial decision.

Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for the stock market crash of 08/09.    Our retirement funds were reduced by about 60%.   Fortunately, we had enough cash and CDs to tide us through for a couple years.  That plus some part time work for a few years, and some deferred compensation payments enable us to recover completely by 2017.

However, I never forgot the anxiety and financial challenges of the 08/09 Great Recession.   I was much more prepared for the recent bear market decline, by keeping more funds in cash and cash equivalents, foregoing some of  the gains in the stock market.  If the market should decline further, it will still be painful, but I anticipate the financial challenges to be much less daunting than the ones we had in 08/09.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back Mondays for a new segment.

This is not financial nor invesment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2020 Achievement Catalyst, LLC