We’re going to open up the country like a college student who stayed up all night cramming the entire semester right before their final exam. Did we do enough to get a passing grade, allowing people to get back to work without getting sick? Or will we end up retaking the class next semester, quarantining and shutting down once again? While the former fosters recovery, the latter could send us into a depression. It’s a roll of the dice instead of a calculated risk.
For the past eight weeks, we had the opportunity to put together a cohesive plan to not only limit the spread of the coronavirus, but to also figure out how to safely re-open the country. We didn’t do that. Instead, we focused on economic stimulus like PPP loans and enhanced unemployment benefits. Supporting the economy is critical, but it doesn’t change the fact that 50 different states have been placed in charge of reopening the country with little to no direction from the federal government.
Reopening the country is similar to individuals who get started too late on planning for retirement. The primary risk here is that these folks no longer have time on their side. A few bad years in the markets or an ill advised investment can’t get smoothed out over an economic cycle or two. When time is no longer on your side, you’re faced with making tough choices and sacrifices that you wish you didn’t have to make but will inevitably have to. You can’t turn back the clock. There is no do over.
I feel like this is where we are with the coronavirus and the economy. We’re not afforded the kind of time that folks get when they are just starting out. So if the beginning of quarantine resembled someone beginning to plan for retirement in their 50s, right now looks a lot like someone who waited until their 70s. At this point, accelerated savings are often not enough to catch up and the effects of compounding are constrained to only a handful of years, assuming they’re good ones. Success isn’t impossible, but it is going to be much more difficult to realize.
That’s right, things will only become increasingly difficult from here on out. The pressure to successfully reopen our country and economy will continue to mount as we witness other affected countries throughout the world successfully open theirs. It’s like watching your friends accomplish their goals in life while you struggle to get a hold of your own. You then harbor resentment towards them, get down on yourself for not planning sooner or say, “enough is enough,” by rolling up your sleeves to getting to work.
However, the main difference between the country and its people is that we are ultimately in control of the decisions we make for ourselves, especially financial ones. At any time, we can put a plan in place to both identify and pursue our goals. Whether time is with us or against us, I believe it’s never too late to start following a plan that leads us towards a positive outcome. It might not be the end goal you originally had in mind, but it’s going to be something better than what comes from having no plan at all. I wish our government would take a similar attitude with reopening the country.
One thing that I hope the pandemic reminds us of is the importance of planning. The previous administration seemed to understand that, but their plans and protocols were dismantled for seemingly selfish reasons. So, over the next several weeks and months, we are going to see if what we’ve done is enough to pass the test. Because if we first can’t contain the virus, we are bound to remain stuck trying to pass this one again and again. If we do this too many times, there might not be anything worth planning for, whether that’s a reopening or retirement.
Come get dressed up to go nowhere over on Twitter:
On my first day back to work in NYC, I plan to completely overcompensate my attire by wearing a three piece suit, top hat and monocle. I’ll be spinning a cane in financial district looking like a 19th century steel conglomerate tycoon.
— Douglas A. Boneparth (@dougboneparth) May 14, 2020