Mar 11, 2020
As the coronavirus continues to spread and has officially reached pandemic status, entire countries including China and Italy have gone into lockdown, leaving businesses without customers and employees without paychecks.
In the U.S., the numbers of cases and deaths are rising rapidly, and talk is growing that the outbreak could lead to a recession. But many Americans are unsure how they can stay physically and financially healthy.
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Your first instinct may be to stock up on essentials and barricade yourself in your home, but hand sanitizer and toilet paper won’t save you from the economic repercussions.
Here are some tips for protecting your money from the financial fallout of the coronavirus.
Boost your emergency savings
If your employer shuts down operations due to the coronavirus – even just temporarily – it could hurt your ability to cover your monthly expenses.
Do you have emergency savings? Many financial planners recommend stashing away enough money to cover at least six months of your regular bills, like your mortgage, car payment, utilities and groceries.
There’s no need to panic if you haven’t saved up enough to sustain your household for half a year, but you should start building up a solid emergency fund as soon as possible.
Even putting aside just $60 a month ($15 dollars a week) can help you create a financial cushion for lean times.
And be sure to keep your emergency fund in a high-yield savings account – so your savings will accumulate the best possible interest and grow over time.
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Shane is a reporter for MoneyWise. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English Language & Literature from Western University and is a graduate of the Algonquin College Scriptwriting program.
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