(Photo by Pierre Blaché on Unsplash)
How is your quarantine going? I hope you and your family are healthy. Besides puzzles, watching Mad Men, Gilmore girls and taking our dog on way too many walks, we are surviving. Many of you have attended my seminars and are asking me how to stay on track and accountable. I’m super excited to offer THE WOMAN’S COMPASS: THE COURSE a three-month online program that meets your personal finance, legal and self-care goals! We will support you during this crazy time. More info here. It starts May 5th!
Managing Money Anxiety
My colleague, Amanda Clayman, wrote this article that calmed me down instantly about managing anxiety around our money during COVID. My favorite tip:
Remember, You are Not Alone. Personal finance can be private, but it’s also universal. Michelle Didner will be covering this and more during THE WOMAN'S COMPASS: THE COURSE
Your Updated Spending Plan
What is your new budget/spending plan for the next three months? In a good way, we are not going out as much, eating out as much (though trying to support local restaurants by ordering in) or traveling at all. Those are my big-budget expenses. What is your new monthly spending plan with the quarantine? No better time than now to download a personal finance app like YNAB, Personal Capital or Mint. Or just plain old-fashioned excel spreadsheet.
Who Gets the $1,200 Stimulus Payment? It’s a one-time payment for: Single adults with Social Security numbers who have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less will get the full amount. Married couples with no children earning $150,000 or less will receive a total of $2,400. And taxpayers filing as head of household will get the full payment if they earned $112,500 or less. You might need to have filed your 2019 taxes. More information here.
Examine Your 401k/IRA Contributions. If you can, keep them where they are. If you are worried, lower your 401k enough to still keep the matching from your employee. With the S&P 500 at its lowest since March 2008, by continuing to contribute to your 401k or Roth IRA or SEP IRA, you are buying at a lower share price.
Is Your Will Updated?
You probably have more free time now to finally get around to creating or updating your will. Before you check with an attorney or an online platform, answer the questions of who you want your beneficiaries, your health care proxy, trustee and guardian. Margie Jacobson will be covering this and more during THE WOMAN'S COMPASS: THE COURSE
ROTH IRA Conversion
If you had ever considered converting a Traditional IRA, old 401k, Rollover IRA to a ROTH IRA, this might be a great time to do so. Because your value has gone down, the potential taxes will be less now as well. Plus your taxable income might be down for 2020 as well. Check with your CPA to verify what taxes you will owe before doing so.
Unemployment Insurance If you are applying for unemployment insurance, check out this article for details.
Don’t forget to check out: THE WOMAN'S COMPASS: THE COURSE.