How a Risk Manager Thinks About Personal Finance These Days
When it comes to the coronavirus, there are four big unknowns for savers and investors to contemplate.
The coronavirus pandemic has wrecked havoc on investment holdings.
Photographer: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
There is an old joke about a trader who hears a talk about the horrors of heroin addiction, covering areas from how many addicts there are to how desperate they are to get the drug and how difficult it is to discourage them, either by treatment or punishment. The trader raises his hand and asks, “Who makes the needles?” This is a who-makes-the-needles column.
Your main concern about the coronavirus should be its effect on human lives. But there’s a good chance you may survive the pandemic, in which case you’ll care about your finances. So it’s worth taking some time to think about what to do about them from a risk management point of view. My usual advice is not to watch the markets every minute. Pick a sensible long-term strategy that has a good chance of meeting your goals and that lets you sleep soundly at night, and only track it for possible adjustment every three months to 12 months.