COVID-19 just hit a million and marching forward.
It changed the status quo for the worse and disrupted the established order. From jobs, finances, to investments, to delaying of every plan we had for the next few months.
“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.” – Bruce Barton
You and I have the responsibility to prevent the threat at any cost. You also have to be prepared if the worst happens. I say this because I am prepared and I think you should be, too.
Table of Contents:
1. A Threat to Consider
2. Have Health Protection in Standby
- List All Your Mediclaim Policies
- Ensure Family Coverage
- Ensure COVID-19 Coverage
- Emergency Preparations
3. Be There Even During Your Isolation
4. Not Only For COVID-19
5. Conclusion
A Threat to Consider
What happens if you unfortunately, contract this COVID-19?
How do you think events will unfold then?
The first thing to hit you will not be the disease itself but the panic that comes with it. If it happens,
Who will take care of everything if you are under quarantined intense medical care?
Will your family be able to hold everything together during this time of suffering?
This calls for a contingency plan to take care of everything, because the scenario without a contingency plan is very unpleasant.
Just by making a few things prepared in advance you can make a huge difference.
Here’s a quick 2-layer contingency plan to ensure you are best prepared for the worst.
1. Have Health Protection in Stand By
Tweak your health insurance policies the best you can.
There may be some restrictions to do it the best since we’re on lockdown. But here’s a list of steps you should do to tweak your risk management.
List all your mediclaim policies:
List all the health insurance policies you have, including the individual mediclaim policy or your family health plans and your employee health insurance policy.
Double-check your health insurance policies are active, not lapsed.
Ensure Family Coverage:
Are all members of your family covered with a health insurance plan?
It is often possible that only core family members are covered with an individual health insurance policy.
It tends to seem sufficient as core family members are usually covered with an employer-provided health plan alone. What are you going to do to cover the extended family members?
Virtually there seems no need for other family or individual health insurance policy.
You have to know that employer-provided health plans, though effective, leaves blind spots. Especially during times like these when job security is a question.
Make sure your entire family has a health insurance cover.
Ensure COVID-19 Coverage:
It is important to have a health cover in general. But right now, protection against the COVID-19 is a priority.
Do your health insurance plans cover for the treatment of COVID-19?
IRDA released a circular stating “all claims reported under Corona Virus shall be handled” as per norms prescribed. Many insurers ensured that their existing health insurance plans will cover the COVID-19 too.
If you have not done already, take a few minutes to make sure your health insurance policy providers cover the COVID-19.
You might not be successful in contacting their helpline because of the lockdown. Instead, you may try visiting their website or social media handles. You may also try and reach out to executives of the insurance provider over the phone to make sure.
Emergency Preparation:
If you or anyone in your family happens to contract the COVID-19, know where to reach.
Have your TPA card or insurance policy card ready.
Have the COVID-19 emergency helpline ready. Here are Corona Virus helpline numbers,
You can find the official coronavirus helpline here from Govt. of India here.
The coronavirus has a long incubation period; it might take a while to even show symptoms.
Having your health insurance policy card and emergency helpline handy will turn out to be very helpful.
Also, now that private hospitals are coming in with facilities set up to treat the COVID-19 patients, you can choose a hospital that you think is comfortable for you.
Check for hospitals that are in the network hospitals of your health insurance plan that also provide treatment for COVID-19, preferably closer to your residence.
These steps should ensure that you will be ready when it is necessary.
But let’s push it a bit further.
What happens if you catch the COVID-19 and are isolated?
2. Be There Even during Your Isolation
You getting into quarantine means your family has to manage their own until you return.
Will they be able to have everything under control?
The Unfolding of Unfortunate Events:
What if you wake up with fatigue tomorrow? You could be just tired.
But the next day you wake up with a fever and a severe cough the following day. It is then you realize something is not right. You go to the hospital and they confirm that you have the infamous COVID-19.
You try to remember how did it happen, but it doesn’t matter now. Panic hits you but your family, worse.
They couldn’t grasp what is going on around them. They are isolated having no idea how you are and so are you. And thankfully none of them tests positive.
That’s a relief for now. But they’re still stressed over the fact that you are struggling to breathe and coughing your lungs out.
Especially your children—as a parent, it is your duty to make them feel safe. The news and media are not making it easy either.
How can your spouse make your children feel safe if they don’t in the first place?
The living expenses, expenses in case of an emergency in this situation, any loan that you’ve been paying, there are many. These build up the stress day after day until it breaks their spirit. And you won’t be there to hold their hand and say “It’s going to be alright”.
What is the point of having “financial security” or a detailed financial plan if it cannot come to the rescue of your family in your absence?
Do they have access to all the vital information that can make them a little more safe and secure?
Today, you are going to do just that.
“There are no great acts, only small acts done with great love” Mother Teresa
The Information Vault:
It is a one-point destination for all your personal finance and other essential information.
It is a Protected Document File that lets you save your
- Personal and family members details
- Emergency Contact
- Insurance details
- Bank and Property details
- Investment details
- Account credentials
- Contact detail of your advisors
- Loan details
- The storage location of important documents
All this necessary information can be stored in one safe place that is easy to access.
Download Your Information Vault here—it’s free.
You can store this information vault of your on any of your devices and in your secured cloud drive. This way, you have access to all the necessary information anytime you want.
Download the information vault, save all your important and essential information and store it where you think it is secure.
Next time your look for a document or a policy number during an emergency, you’ll know where to look.
Watch the video to know more about information vault!
Not Only For COVID-19
This coronavirus crisis is only a very practical instance of how your Information Vault can change your life.
But, having your Information Vault is essential that goes beyond this COVID-19 crisis. It is not the only threat we’re facing.
It is the time and uncertainty racing we’re against. Today, it’s in the form of a pandemic outbreak. Tomorrow it could be something else.
Download the Information Vault—show your loved ones that you are there for them even when you are present.
We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of proactive action or the pain of regret. The difference is proactive action weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.
Next steps After the contingency Plan
Now as there is a stock market crash due the COVID 19, here are some ways for you to recover faster from this crash.
1. Should you come out of your investments?
The quick actions people may take during this time are:
- Withdrawing to avoid further losses and
- Timing the market bottom.
But do not make such decisions.
“Panic causes tunnel vision. Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options.” – Simon Sinek
Hence do not jump out of your investments, rather stay invested. If in a financial need, use your debt investments, emergency funds, and if much needed use the EMI moratorium facility.
For more info read: How to take advantage of the coronavirus crash.
2. How can you have a faster recovery from the Stock market crash?
There are three ways:
A. A portfolio revamp
Check your investments and find if there are any poor-performing investments; if you find any; move them to better-performing investments. Experiments were done by revamping and it helped. Can you redeem and reinvest now?
To know more read: How to revamp for faster and better results.
B. A portfolio rebalance
After the stock market crash, your asset allocation would have changed. So you will have to bring it back to the original asset allocation. This is portfolio rebalance. This also reduces the risk factor.
For more, read: How portfolio rebalance is done.
C. Making the right choice on SIP
You can either stop, continue, or increase SIP.
Choices can be deceiving and time-consuming.
So we did two experiments to find what was the best option. The experiments included three investor categories, each of who chose one among the following options. One to stop, one to continue and one to increase SIP (all during the market fall).
In both the experiments, the one who increased SIP during the market fall, earned the highest portfolio value. Hence proved that increasing your SIP will help you recover faster.
For more, read: How to play smart with your SIP.
All these above discussed points are to be done before the market recovers for faster recovery. Knowledgeable and successful investors would do these before the market recovers and also gain when the market recovers. Are you one of them?
These methods reduce the risk factor and also give you better returns. Out of these how many have you done to recover from the stock market crash?
Conclusion
Could you imagine that a lifeless microscopic pathogen has intimidated the entire human race?
It’s unbelievable but it is happening. It is an unconventional, yet a strong way to show how fragile and uncertain our lives are.
Those with the courage to imagine the worst and plan for it will live to see another day. And the rest live their lives on chance.
The measures seen in this article are a way to tackle these chaotic days and give you the power and control that seems lost.
Are you going to take control or leave your life to chance?
Make your choice. Be vigilant! Be strong!
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