Covid-19 cases in the USA
Covid-19 is all around us literally, even if it is not as deadly as we first thought, media; the entire internet is making sure we do not let go of its significance even for a day or an hour. Every news, including primary news sources or financial news, distorts their stories and adds the Covid-19 angle to it.
Recently there was a list of businesses about to file for a chapter 11 bankruptcy blaming Covid-19 for a reason. One would glance over these businesses and spit out, “Are they still around and how?” Think Jcpenny, Party city, etc.
These businesses were in trouble way before Covid-19 happened but somehow being linked to it.
During this chaos, one would need to start thinking about some of the lessons learned and what some of the beliefs we held for years need revisiting. I was convinced that I do not need to pay off the mortgage early
I was convinced that I don’t need to pay off the mortgage early
The convention knowledge was that if you have a low-interest rate, why not utilize that to slowly pay off the mortgage, allocate the capital to something else where you can earn more than your mortgage interest rate, and you’ll come out on top.
That notion is gone for me now, during this pandemic, I realize that regardless of what kind of job or business you have (with exception and outlier like Amazon), it can be disrupted in a matter of weeks. The most significant expense one has is the mortgage; if that is paid off, you don’t need much to survive for a few months or even years if you have one year of expenses saved up.
Here is a list of 7 lessons I’ve learned;
- Pay off the mortgage for the primary house as soon as you can
- Have a year salary saved up in CASH
- Invest in the home office – Agronomic chair & desk
- Have another source of income that is at least 50% of your current salary
- Unfollow 95% of the “influencers” on the internet – especially the ones only making money by teaching how to make money
- Follow those people and business models who are surviving or rather thriving in this atmosphere.
- Read biographies in addition to non-fiction books
Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash
Photo by Benjamin Suter on Unsplash
