Hundreds of thousands of people across the word have been diagnosed with Coronavirus and tens of thousands have died. Economic activity has \u201cfallen\u201d off a cliff. Anyone that is retired or close to retiring may be impacted even more so than others; if that is possible.<\/p>\n
While time will tell whether we as a country overreacted by shutting down the economy (and the resulting millions of job losses that decision created), the fact is that anyone near or in retirement does not have that time. Instead, what they are faced with right now is a plunging stock as well as bond market, zero percent interest rates, and job loss as well as lack of hiring.<\/p>\n
Lets go through the 3 big impacts. One of them alone would have dire consequences, instead all 3 have occurred at the same time. The coronavirus has been the \u201ctriple\u201d whammy for retirees and anyone considering it or near it.<\/p>\n
First, the stock, bond, and financial markets have plunged and are not even functioning correctly.<\/strong> Stocks are down 30% percent, which can devastate the portfolio of someone near retirement. Not only that, but the bond market has also collapsed. Municipal bonds, high yield debt, corporate bonds and everything else has sold off too. Dividend and \u201csafe\u201d investments and stocks have sold off, with some dividends being cut as well which will hurt a retirees income.<\/p>\n If someone has been saving for years and\/or decades, then as they get within a few years of retiring, their net worth has been cut almost in half. It can put off the plans for retirement. Whether markets and bonds go up again in months (or years), regardless when your net worth is cut by a third or half, it is hard to recover from financially.<\/p>\n![\"Retiree](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.needhelppayingbills.com\/Financialliteracyhelp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/shutterstock_193872962.jpg?resize=300%2C190&ssl=1\")
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