Financial Musings Ahead of Passover and Easter In a Coronavirus World

Last night’s thunderstorm woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep.  I started thinking about Passover starting tonight and how Coronavirus has likely altered the Passover plans of my friends, neighbors, and clients, in addition to thinking about my own Easter plans that were changed.  

Instead of gathering with family and friends, most people will probably be spending their holiday surrounded by their immediate household family, perhaps using a video chat to connect with loved ones in a two dimensional way.  I feel very blessed to have the privilege to stay home, continue working, and also stay in touch with people virtually.

And all of this got my noggin working about how much I didn’t know about Passover, being raised Catholic myself.  Add a dash of curiosity and there I found myself googling Passover at 3am because I couldn’t sleep. This post is not religious beyond generic descriptions of the holidays.  

We’re Out Of Here

I will admit I didn’t really know what Passover was.  For others that may not be familiar,  Passover is a celebration of the Israelites’ freedom from slavery in Egypt. God recognized their suffering and sent Moses to Pharaoh telling him to let the Israelites go.  Pharaoh was not very receptive to this idea, so God sent ten plagues to get his message across.  Eventually, Pharaoh relented and the former slaves left so quickly that the bread they were meant to take with them on the journey back to Mt. Sinai did not have time to rise.  

How’d I do?  Apologies for paraphrasing.  

Bunnies

Juxtapose the incredible story of Passover with…the Easter Bunny.  Face. Palm. Easter has nothing to do with bunnies, but I would argue the holiday is trivialized by the bunny.  Easter is really about Christ rising from the dead after dying on the cross for the sins of the world. NBD.

AGAIN.  WHY THE BUNNY.  But I’m all for Reese’s peanut butter eggs, keep them coming!  

Either way, Easter is about Jesus’ resurrection.  Much the same as Passover is about a new beginning.  Putting suffering in the rearview mirror.  

You’re My Boy, Baloo

I was thinking about all of this because, at some point beyond Coronavirus, there will also be a new beginning of some sort.  Obviously not the same thing as being freed from slavery, but a new normal nonetheless.  

The fascinating thing about the whole stay-your-butts at home thing is just how meaningless it makes money.  To a certain extent. Going back to our friend Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, once we have food, water, and shelter covered, our needs steadily ascend into stuff you can’t touch.  Love.  Friendship.  Self-esteem.  Self-actualization.  All things you can’t buy.  Which has always been true and is not unique to Coronavirus or sheltering in place.  

It might have been a while since you’ve seen the Jungle Book.  But Baloo says it’s important to “look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities, forget about your worries and your strife, I mean the bare necessities are Mother Nature’s recipes, that bring the bare necessities of life.”  

Assuming your bills are still ok and you have access to clean food, water, and shelter, beyond that….money doesn’t do you much good right now.  You can only add so many subscription TV services. I myself might end up broke from buying unbleached all-purpose flour at the rate we’re baking if this lasts much longer.  But you can’t travel. You can’t go out to eat. You can’t go to a concert. You can’t ____________.  Money is pretty hollow right now, provided your bare necessities are being met.  

Under Construction

My fiance’s mother always says “health is wealth.”  And I am struggling to find a better definition of wealth right now.  My car was broken into at some point in the last few weeks (I hadn’t checked on it in a little while so not sure when).  I was going through the stuff the thief had strewn about the front seats and was relieved to find my sunglasses. I was thrilled.  Jumping up and down. Which might have been an odd reaction any other time. Then, I went to the trunk and was relieved my golf shoes were there.  JACKPOT. In hindsight, I am ashamed I thought those were ever in danger…

But seriously, I’m healthy, Jenny’s healthy, my family is healthy, everyone is still reasonably well employed.  Which is all a concert of hard work and good fortune. But this is the stuff that matters. 

The money won’t be so ineffective forever though.  So I would challenge you to spend a few moments thinking about what your money means to you.  Because sitting there in an account isn’t it.  The money is going to translate to something. Or it should at some point.  

I know it seems inconceivable right now, but at some point, you’ll be able to travel again.  Kids will go back to college on campus. Postponed vacations will be re-scheduled.  So I ask you to use this time to consider what you want from your money upon our collective re-birth from Coronavirus.  

Pretend you have all the money you’d ever need and ask yourself what your life would look like.  Is there anything you’d do differently than you are now? What is most meaningful to you about your money?  What does it mean to you?  

Use these vague questions as a guide to lay the foundation for the technical financial planning you need to do to actually live your best life.  I can’t help with the questions, but I can certainly help you exhaust all the financial planning tasks you should be doing to help you get where you want to go.  

Whether you will be celebrating Passover, Easter, both, or neither one, I hope you and your family are healthy, safe, and you have your bare necessities.  If your income is stable, there are a lot of great reasons to get started with your financial planning new beginning.  Times are really tough right now for a lot of people too, so if you need guidance on resources available through the government, check out my previous post regarding expanded unemployment, leave, and stimulus benefits.  I’m here to be a resource for you no matter what’s going on.  

Stay safe,

Brendan