Financial Preparation During Coronavirus

Tagged with: oregon coronavirus financial preparation

  1. Focus on your emergency savings. In uncertain times, having liquid cash on hand for the unknown and the unexpected is usually a first priority. It may be tempting to tackle your debt beyond monthly minimums, or to jump on sales you find, however determining how much emergency savings would give you piece of mind is an important first step. Consider using your Economic Impact Payment and tax refunds to start or grow your emergency savings. If you don’t have emergency savings, there are many community resources coming available during this crisis.
  2. Prioritize Your Bills. On a piece of paper, draw a big line down the middle. On the left side, list all of your bill that are absolutely essential for your life. On the right side, list all important, but non-essential bills. If your income is impacted by the COVID-19, you may need to pivot and pay essential bills first.
  3. Make two different spending plans. Budgets may not be sexy, but they are very helpful for planning your money. Consider mapping out two plans: (1) what you are think you are currently spending each month and (2) what you would need to cover your bare bone necessities. To complete number (2), you might just use the look to bill priory chart.
  4. Take account of your financial records & medical benefits. Now is the time to inventory about what is your work sick policy, your health insurance and other relevant policies. What is coverage? Extra time at home, it’ll be a good time to check and freeze your credit if you know you’re not going to access it anytime soon.
  5. Make sure student loans are in good standing. Take some time do an inventory on your student loans. Need help? DevNW does student loan counseling. The CARES Act suspends all payment due on certain federal loans until September 2020.
  6. Communicate with your landlord & loan servicers. If you are at risk of not being able to paying rent, mortgage, student loans or any other consumer loans, contact your servicer. You have options. The Governor has temporarily suspended evictions, federal student loans are paused for 6 months and the homeowners may delay mortgage payment in some situations. As always, if you can pay on time, do so.
  7. Communicate with your landlord & loan servicers. If you are at risk of not being able to paying rent, mortgage, student loans or any other consumer loans, contact your servicer. You have options. The Governor has temporarily suspended evictions, federal student loans are paused for 6 months and the homeowners may delay mortgage payment in some situations. As always, if you can pay on time, do so.
  8. Watch out for coronavirus-related scams. In times of volatility is when scanners thrive. From fake SBA disaster loan assistance brokers, to promises of coronavirus air filtration systems, if you can dream, scammers do to. Check out Consumer Finance Protection Bureau for current scams to watch out for, and report scams to the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Complaint line at 1-877-FTC-HELP and the Oregon Department of Justice Consumer Hotline at 1-877-877-9392.
  9. Dollar cost average. If you have emergency savings in place, and your income is stable, try stay the course with your work-place 401k or your OregonSaves monthly contributions. As long as your time horizon is a handful of years, prices are usually much lower during financial crisis. Instead of buying at just one time, spread out your purchases over the next six months, whether it's $1 or $100 at a time. If cash flow is tight, even a little extra change can help, are cool apps like Acorns or Stash that round up debit card purchases into diversified index funds purchases in your Roth IRA.
  10. Support neighborhood and small business. If you have any extra this month, you may consider buying a holiday presents today. Buying a gift certificate now can really help small businesses deal with cash flow shortages.
  11. Read. As shelter-in-place, here are two personal finance classics that can help you make sense of your finances. "You Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robbins, and “Index Card” by Helaine Olen and Harrold Pollock are two foundational books.

Our HUD-approved financial counselors are happy to help you develop a plan. We continue to offer web-based financial counseling and webinar financial education. Schedule over the phone or online.

Also check out the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau for continuing updated recommendations.