By Linda Jacob, AFC®, CFP®

I recently attended a webinar conducted by Dr. Barbara O’Neill of Money Talk.  The focus was Covid-19 and Your Finances.  At the end of the presentation, she brought up one more challenge for everyone.  Moving past “A Quarantine State of Mind.”   This intrigued me.  We have been living this way for over a year now, and as more and more people get vaccinated or contract the virus and have the antibodies, we will eventually get out of this “limbo” mode and have to move forward.

Financially, we might have been putting off decisions about money.   We might have been living on a scaled back budget due to reduced hours or layoffs.  Eventually, we will need to start moving forward and go back to feeling comfortable enough to take action.  Jobs and opportunities will begin to emerge as we move forward.

O’Neill suggests putting yourself out there so that you can seize opportunities.  Before Covid, we may have been looking for a better job, or advancement.  But once the lockdowns started, those aspirations could have been on hold.   We may have been saving for a vacation, but stopped because of the travel restrictions.  We need to start putting important events or purchases back on our goal sheets and start moving forward towards them.

The world won’t go back to how it was pre-covid.  Our lifestyles may look a little different, but basic money principals stay the same.  As the world opens up, we need to start to write out your goals, make a plan, work the plan, and enjoy the life of a successful money manager