Over the past month, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has led to the stock market plummeting and many workers being forced to stay at home, often with their children because of school closures. We’re all still uncertain about exactly what’s going to happen with the coronavirus COVID19, so it’s completely natural if you’ve been having some financial concerns. There are always going to be some aspects of your personal finances that are out of your control, such as how much sick leave you’re going to get from your employer if you need to self-isolate, or how much of any medical treatment your health insurance will cover if you need it. However, there are some smart financial moves that you can make during the outbreak. 

Don’t Freak Out and Sell Investments:

If you’ve been reading the news, you’ll be aware that the stock market has dropped like a hot rock. Even if you don’t own stocks directly, if you have a 401k or another retirement account, it has probably lost a huge percentage of its value as a result of this. Watching the value of your retirement funds plummet by hundreds or even thousands of dollars can be stressful, but the last thing that you want to do is sell any stocks or stock-based investments out of panic. After all, the goal of investing is to buy low and sell high. 

Avoid Panic-Buying:

At this point, you’ve probably heard about the stores being sold out of toilet paper completely and you might have even struggled to get some yourself. Essential items are flying off the shelves and while it’s important to make sure that you’ve got enough staple items just in case you have to self-isolate for a few weeks, there’s no need to be over-prepared. Buy what you need, but be reasonable. And avoid stocking up using credit cards; this is likely to do more harm than good. Countries currently going through complete lockdown like Italy still have fully-stocked supermarkets where people can get supplies, so there’s really no need to worry. If you’re low on cash and want to get the essentials in, check out the best installment loans that you can use to get small, short-term funding to help you out. You should only do this if you’re anticipating still earning money over the next few months and will be able to repay it. 

Work Out Some Emergency Plans:

Now is the best time to figure out what you’re going to do in the event of an emergency or an unusual situation, like finding yourself working from home or staying home from work for a prolonged period with your kids because their school is closed. You might want to speak to other parents who are in a similar situation and take turns watching each other’s kids so you’ll all get a chance to get some work done. And, plan for what you’ll do if anybody in your family does contract the virus. While it’s unlikely to be fatal for anybody with no underlying health conditions, it’s not nice to have so it’s best to be prepared. If you’re still earning, you might want to consider cutting back on all non-essential spending now and paying more into your savings account. 

We don’t know how long the coronavirus pandemic is going to last, so it’s best to start preparing as much as you can now with smart financial moves (that don’t involve buying toilet paper).