‘We live in interesting times’. I’m sure every generation has said that phrase as they reflect on the chaos, innovation, change and events that occurred in their own lives. As I come to you writing this blog post, I feel that statement continues to hold true today. 

Most notably I’m talking about the war in Eastern Europe, seeing Russia invade Ukraine. Part of me is having thoughts like ‘wait this is 2022, does one country just invade another?’ Or ‘why are we still seeing wars and the loss of human life?’ Outside of that, here at home in the US, we’ve got pretty high inflation (7%), an economy that can’t figure out what it’s doing (are stocks going up or are they going down?) and plenty of infighting politically. 

It’s times like this to me that feel like a lot is uncertain, worrisome and troubling, almost like the sky is falling. In an attempt to calm myself, I periodically will write a blog post reflecting on what I’m doing to weather this storm and potentially it’ll help you in your own journey. I’ve previously written a post like this a few years ago (funny looking back at that time) and another post that comes to mind is ‘Good times won’t last forever’. Here’s where my head is at in 2022:

Stock that emergency fund

The number of times I’ve written, recommended or reminded about the importance of an emergency fund over the past 2 years is amazing to me. Guess it’s a reflection of these interesting times we’re living in. 

To not beat a dead horse, I’ll try to keep this brief. An emergency in our own lives happening is not a matter of if but when. Most of these emergencies will come with a financial component to them, meaning you’ll have to shell out cash that you had not planned for. This may be a little expense or a big one, and it might be several of them or just one big one. To not prepare for this event risks setting you way back in your financial journey or worse; potentially putting you back at square 1. You’ve worked too hard and for too long to let that happen! 

Having an emergency fund not only makes it physically easier to get through trying times (ie having cash when you need it) but also mentally/emotionally. Just knowing you’ve got a safety net will hopefully help you worry less and sleep better at night. 

Make sure you have an emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses stocked away in cash. In these trying times it could make sense to bulk it up a bit more of you’re in the 3-5 month range but I feel like 6 is plenty even for a big emergency. Don’t have that? Start now and start with what you can. Squirrel away $25, $50, maybe even $100 or more until you hit $1,000. Hitting $1,000 is a huge milestone and you’ll instantly start feeling a little more secure. From there build up to 3 months and from there 6 months of expenses. 

Keep this in a separate savings account. Do this to make it slightly more difficult to access, which will ensure you are touching it only in a true emergency. I keep mine in cash even though it’s only earning 0.5% interest (whereas it could be earning more in a lower risk index fund or a US savings bond) because it gives me peace of mind. This is my safety nest egg and I won’t risk it for anything. 

Finally, it’s not the worst idea to have some emergency supplies at the house. I don’t mean to sound like a prepped with a bunker or basement stocked full of years worth of food and water but a little is probably smart in my mind. Grab an extra gallon of water or two and keep it hidden away. Maybe buy a little more meat for the freezer. Make sure you know where a first aid kit is and keep stocked up on your medicines. You don’t have to go overboard but thinking about this a bit is wise!

Make hay while the sun shines

For many of us, if we really reflect, our day to day has changed. Of course there are some dark clouds over the horizon and plenty to worry about if we let ourselves worry but there’s still plenty of work to be done and money to be made. In practical terms, I’m continuing the status quo of working hard at work, and continuing to advance and grow my career. I’m continuing to set aside 30% of my income to retirement and my employer stock purchase program. Mrs Money and I are continuing to invest in index funds and are going to keep looking to buy a rental house (or two). Until there’s a true reason to panic I’m keeping my foot on the gas and going to keep working hard to grow my net worth! That way, if the proverbial sun does stop shining, I’ll have stocked up and hopefully be a lot more prepared to weather the storm. 

Don’t do anything stupid with your investments

Despite feeling way too young (although I’m not so YoungMoneyFinance anymore) to be able to say this but I’ve seen quite a few stock market ups and downs already. I was too young for the 2008 financial crash to lose any money but I remember seeing my parents and family lose money. I was very much invested in the stock market during the March 2020 (right when Covid hit) and also have been for this market drop of 2022. 

During these times, I’ve not sold any stock or stopped contributing like I always do. One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I’m not very good at timing the market (ie knowing the perfect time to sell and buy) so I’ve given up trying. I also like zooming out of the day to day chart and look at the stock market over many years. I see an upward trend which means that things will always get better. It’s a cycle, good times then bad times then good times again but overall more good than bad. Stocks have always come back. I’ve had friends try to time the market (ie panic selling and going all cash) but time and time again that’s proven unwise and they would have been better staying out. 

I’m no expert and if I could time the market I would but I can’t so I don’t. I’m sticking put and trying to not doing something foolish like panic sell. It’ll come back and if it doesn’t I’ll have much bigger problems to worry about (food, water, survival) than the balance of my 401(k). 

Be aware but don’t obsess over the news 

This might be a thought unique to YMF but I’ve as of late really stopped reading the news. In 2020 I (along with many others) started doomscrolling and found myself just worrying over everything. It started affecting my mental health negatively. Fast forward to Jan 2021 that was a dark day and even today’s news can worry me. I don’t want to sound like I’m just putting my head in the sand but I’m very much trying to focus on what I can control and to worry less about what I can’t worry about. You do you but I will say this has really been working for me!

Summary

‘We live in interesting times’. I don’t know the future or what will happen with all this going on in the world. Sure it feels like the sky is falling but until it does I’m going to keep preparing and working hard in my day to day and worry about what I can control and try to worry less about what I can’t!