LIFE might be considered by some to be nothing more than lurching from one crisis to the next; but if we keep our eye on a great golden goal, life can become better…
As I write this column, we Malaysians are experiencing our very own MCO (Movement Control Order), which has been extended from March 31 to April 14.
Personally, I think there is a better than 50 per cent chance that our MCO will be extended again till the end of April in a better-safe-than-sorry move aimed at preserving as many lives as possible against the unseen evil of Covid-19.
Before you freak out at my articulation of the possibility of yet another MCO extension, please don’t get me wrong.
I don’t want it to happen. I just think it is more likely than not that the Malaysian government will choose to err on the side of caution.
Trust me, I really, really, really want to get back to normal life as fast as possible. Sometimes I feel like I’m going “stir crazy” from our movement restrictions.
(If you’re unfamiliar with that colourful Americanism, it refers to a form of claustrophobia. Its initial instance dates back 112 years to 1908 when stir crazy was first used to describe inmates of a US prison who were mentally off balance from their extended incarceration. Stir was a slang term for prison back in the early 20th century.)
In truth, based on what I’ve read and from direct observation, the Malaysian police and army are doing an excellent, vital job curbing unnecessary travel in our collective national battle to flatten the Covid-19 infection curve so the most at-risk frontliners — our public health lab technicians, nurses and doctors — may focus on their primary task of identifying the infected and then keeping the most sick among them alive.
These heroes battle bravely even as researchers in at least four countries — Israel, China, Australia and the US — race against the clock on behalf of the entire human race to conjure up a vaccine to eradicate this viral menace.
SURVIVE, THRIVE AND LIVE
So, it’s fair to say that we live in peculiar times. I have no doubt, though, that this virus will not bring the human race to its knees. Instead, we will eradicate it!
The heartening success stories of China and South Korea through RCCM or Rapid Case Contact Management — which you may read about here: www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/03/opinion-how-asian-countries-a... — prove our victory against this foul pestilence is possible. Yet some will die!
But most of us will survive, thrive and live on for many more decades. Remember that, which is why even as we fixate microscopically upon our immediate threat and do all we can to raise our personal odds of surviving this, the greatest biological threat of our generation, we should also focus telescopically on a brighter future for our country and for our families.
The immense stock market and bond market volatility we’re experiencing everyday will either permanently scare us away from the capital market or it will provide us with many opportunities in the months ahead to implement the ultimate wealth-building principle: Buy low, sell high.
If we tap into some of those opportunities, we’ll elevate our odds of attaining a wonderful Dream Retirement.
DREAM RETIREMENT
As I explained last week, American author and financial coach Chris Hogan points out in his book Retire Inspired: “The Dream Retirement means that you are able to do what you want to do when you want to do it!”
He further explains living well in retirement isn’t merely about focusing on ourselves but also in continuing to help and care for others.
In case you didn’t know, the crux of a Dream Retirement is maintaining and expanding our capacity to help others and to live lives of profound meaning after we leave behind our more constrained working decades defined by an endless string of “I have-to-do-this-or-that” because my bosses or customers expect so much from me.
Hogan writes: “The world needs you to have a plan so that you can continue to live that way on an even greater level after you finish your have-to phase of life!”
A Dream Retirement is worth pursuing... courageously. Remember that to an informed, brave investor, time can be a great friend. As Hogan writes, “Every year you put off the decision to invest, you are losing tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you want to be scared of something, be scared of that. Be afraid of retiring broke because you let risk keep you from investing.”
Only you can answer if that might be the case for you today. Let’s be honest, the violently whipsawing market actions throughout March were nerve-racking.
(They were caused by fast-reacting computer trading programs functioning precisely the way their human programmers had constructed their underlying algorithms to work; these algorithms form the backbone of the trading software that allows computers to put through about 30 different trades in the one-third of a second it takes us to blink. It’s estimated that about 70 per cent of all trades in the US are so-called algo trades.)
So next week, we’ll focus on practical steps we might take to (1) beat the machines, (2) get through this crisis, and (3) better prepare for the next big crisis... whenever and however it manifests itself years from now.
© 2020 Rajen Devadason
Rajen Devadason, CFP, is a Licensed Financial Planner, professional speaker and author. Read his free articles at www.FreeCoolArticles.com; he may be connected with on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/rajendevadason, or via rajen@RajenDevadason.com You may follow him on Twitter @RajenDevadason.