What a wild ride it is…
 
As I am typing this, the US now has more than 44,000 cases (we expect this number to go up as more people are tested), our local schools have been closed and businesses have been forced to operate in this new normal.
 
Not that life is ever boring, but this is brand new for all of us.

Today, we are all social distancing (or we all should be). Lots of indoor time spent with my wife, 16-year old, 5-year old and our little 4-year-old princess. My wife is teaching school to the kids while I work from our desk in the den.  Recess time outside (gloves and hats needed). Playing everything from school to scavenger hunt inside the house. The kids have a hard time understanding why they can’t see and play with their friends. It’s tough.
 
And yet we know that other people have it harder than us. People are out of work, people are sick, people can’t be with their loved ones who are sick. Now that, is hard.
 
There isn’t an easy or quick fix here.
 
Two things needed that seem obvious to me:

  1. Social distancing- less people around people=less people getting sick. It is scary to think of getting sick now (COVID-19 or another illness) and not being able to get treatment at the hospital because there isn’t room, or the doctors & nurses are sick because they didn’t have masks and gowns… are you serious? Is this really going to happen in America? We need to do our part to slow the spread of COVID-19, so we can flatten the curve to ensure our health care professionals can do their important work.
  2. Congress needs to come STRONG with the Economic package for regular Americans. People are hurting. People lost jobs, not because of anything they did, because of this virus. Let’s make sure they have enough to pay their bills for the next few months. Stop mortgage payments, stop student loan payments…whatever.   Does it really matter if it is slightly too much? Really?

We either go BIG or the economy will take a long time to work back. The money cannot only go to big companies, we must put it in the hands of the people!
 
Negotiations are in the works.  Let’s see what gets decided.
 
Jesse Niederbaumer
Vantage Financial Partner & Senior Advisor