Three next thoughts. As part of the process of going through Covid, and coping with the economic slowdown, I am having three thoughts that are driving my financial decisions that I thought I would share: Nothing that people are doing to live and be happy will go away permanently. The implications for this are pretty big. That means, people will continue to eat, sleep, breathe, exercise, have sex, have children, build businesses and homes, and travel.
Just sit back and think about that for a minute. With all of the doom and gloom that is in the news about the virus, people have begun to feel deeply depressed. I think we may see things that will irrevocably change our way of life in the western world. This may change our way of choosing to live, partially due to regulations, and partially due to preferences.
But I feel confident there will also be a true reversion to the mean. (When is the question.) Sitting in August, I already see it. And so I think that there is a real opportunity here for us to decide that the stock market may in fact be reflecting that reality that people will continue to behave and do things that make them happy once their basic needs are met.
The mental health issues are real; the impact for people who are on the margins is real. While I am confident in the ability of the world to bounce back, I don't think that it will be anytime soon. So, for those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to have extra money, keep going out. Keep patronizing your stores and restaurants (take out works!). And tip. extra. If you can afford it, now is not the time to be stingy. Consider helping those who need it in your community. No one deserved this. Certainly people could have prepared better, but now, let's all pull together.
Finally, be brave with respect to political divisions. Acknowledge differences openly and then choose to ignore them, with kindness, and move on. This will require an incredible amount of strength for us to get through as a society. And we're already doing it. Avoid extended political fights, favoring instead to focus on things that we can all agree on: we don't want people to die. We want to get back to something similar to normal as quickly/safely as possible. And we want to learn what we can from this tragic situation. Focusing on these things will probably help us all come together more -- and that's what we really need in order to get through this.
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