From local businesses to our elected officials - economic health vs. physical health has become the question, the battle, and is the balancing act almost everyone is trying to figure out.
The following questions all of us are asking ourselves, just two months ago would have seemed unwarranted or even silly.
- Is it necessary to close the schools until the fall?
- Does hugging my grandkids present too large a risk to my health?
- Can I do my job with reasonable safety for myself?
- Is it ok to hire someone to do needed work for me at my home?
- Can I feel safe at the grocery store?
- Do I need to wear PPE when pumping gas or getting food?
Meanwhile, nearly every drug and medical research professional on the planet are vigorously working towards medicines and vaccines that hopefully can help rescue us all from this virus threat. We all share the prayer that they are both quick and successful in their efforts.
I have a neighbor who is an infectious disease doctor at Vanderbilt and while pulling some weeds in my front yard yesterday we had the most interesting of conversations. Unfortunately, this doctor was coming home from being tested for the virus as she wasn’t feeling her best and it is critical that she know ASAP if positive. Of course I peppered her questions about the experience on the front-line and she in-turn ask me about the flurry of activity in the markets and financial world.
We agreed on one thing for sure – that the past two months have been a wake-up call in many ways for many people. A wake-up call about being prepared for the unknown, as a government, as a healthcare industry, as a financial industry, as a business, as a church or non-profit organization, and as an individual or family. As a Certified Financial Planner I appreciate the preparedness that comes with planning ahead for both good and bad times.
Certainly, we must figure out today before we can worry about tomorrow, but I look forward to helping with the planning in the wake of such a unique and tragic time in our lives.
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As always, we hope you find the below Weekly Market Review both interesting and informative.
Sincerely,
Trevor N. Coe, CFP®