The coronavirus is “pandemic” in our country. The media is spewing out fear that is causing mass hysteria in the general public. The general population literally believes there are mass deaths and bodies piling up on the streets… This hysteria is causing our economy to crash. We are in a recession folks… The stock marketing is crashing.
Lets look at some numbers. The CDC states there have already been up to 51 million cases of the flu this season, leading to hundreds of thousands of hospital admissions and up to 55,000 deaths. There was no stock market crash during this… In fact, the stock market was the highest it has ever been. Go figure.
Compare that to the number of coronavirus. As of the writing of this article on 3/22/20, there have been around 300,000 CONFIRMED cases of coronavirus worldwide. This has resulted in around 12,000 deaths. Yes, this has a higher mortality rate, no doubt… But I want you to challenge yourself here, truly think about how many illnesses are NOT confirmed? Testing is extremely limited. Every single person presenting for cold symptoms is not being tested for coronavirus. There were multitudes of people get tested for influenza throughout the country at every medical location you could imagine on a daily basis during flu season. A lot of these numbers are reported… Therefore, flu numbers are more accurate compared to coronavirus.
We are barely getting point of care testing for coronavirus out there! How many people actually have it and are not tested? I bet hundreds of thousands of people… Maybe millions, who knows. Truly think about this. People are walking around with slight sore throats, rhinorrhea, and a scant cough right now. They brush it off as a cold or allergies when in fact it is coronavirus. You could have coronavirus right now.
Do you really think this is as bad as the media is making it out to be? Sure, there are people dying from this, just as there is with influenza. But, is it bad enough to crash the stock market and drive people to completely wipe out grocery stores? Absolutely not… It still angers me I have had to replace toilet paper with coffee filters.
There will not be mass deaths. We won’t lose tens of millions of people. We will lose thousands, as we do with influenza. It is unfortunate and I hope we can keep the mortality rates as low as possible through social distancing and managing this pandemic appropriately. But, you should also look at this as an investment opportunity. While everyone is freaking out, you can actually come out ahead.
There are only a handful of times in your life opportunities present themselves like this. You have just witnessed a 30% decline of the stock market in 2 weeks. THAT IS HUGE! Do you know what means? Everything is for sale right now. If you have some money, you should be investing it into some S&P 500 or Dow Jones index funds. These funds track the entire market. If the market goes up, they go up, if the market goes down, they go down. You will make easy money WHEN, not IF, the market goes back up, no question about it.
I am planning on investing $20,000 into a standard stock brokerage account outside of my 401k or IRA. I will use this money and buy 5-6 different index funds such as (look these up on google) V00, DIA, VFIAX, VDC, and VGSH. If you do something similar, I guarantee that you will double your money in 3-6 months once everything calms down and life goes right back to normal.
This passing bug will kill people, no question… It is like influenza, most people will get through it without issue, but a handful will have serious complications from it. Be prepared for that. The damage it will do to the economy will be far worse, you need to think about what will actually happen in this regard. The stock market is going to crash further. People will continue to freak out. Most people have a herd like mentality. Let them follow the herds of sheep. You should be the shepherd or the wolf at this moment. People will freak out and sell off their 401ks, stock holdings, etc. in exchange for bottled water, toilet paper, N95 masks, and bulk food… If you have the means to take advantage of this situation, you should.
I have talked about recession proofing your life multiple times in this blog. This is proof of why you should do everything in your power to get out of debt, live below your means, have multiple streams of income, and be as redundant as you can in your life. This is the essence of The Elite NP Model. This protects you during times like this. I am not sweating bullets right now. I am not even concerned about what is going on in the economy. I am actually excited because of the stock market opportunities I outlined above.
Expect the economy to crash further. Keep an eye out on it. Monitor this situation with an objective and logical eye vs an emotional one. Stay patient, there will be millionaires made off this crisis. You should be able to be one of the few who profit from this unneeded hysteria. Do your job, provide excellent healthcare and education, but also be smart about this and have some positions in place to take advantage of the economic opportunities that are now available.
13 Responses
You seem more concerned about your stocks than the lives of our patients. A “handful of people will die” doesn’t tell the story here. You are a part of the economic hysteria, not the healthcare plan to prevent 1000’s from dying by self isolating – many of the dead will be our friends, neighbors, patients and colleagues. Shame on you.
No, I am very concerned for the lives of the people this will affect. Self isolation and taking appropriate precautions is an absolute must to prevent the spread. But, a lot of this is hysteria fueled by the media. A stock market collapse, economic retraction, hoarding toilet paper and food, etc. its total hysteria. I am simply outlining what is available to someone who is interested in investing their money during times like these. It is simply an observation. Stocks are on sale right now. I think you missed the point of the article.
Well said. I agree that much of what we are seeing is illogical hysteria perpetuated by mainstream media. I have been buying stock in small increments over the past week as you suggest. You cannot predict the bottom, so a good strategy to have is buy small amounts as the market decreases, therefore you are gaining exposure instead of trying to time the market. Timing the market never works.
Agreed. It is smart to buy small amounts as the markets continue to decrease.
Thank you so much for you insights. Its very interesting this is happening now, through out your blog you have mentioned owning multiple streams of income to protect ourselves just incase a recession hits… and here we are today. Thank you or sharing your knowledge with us.
Thanks for following Mina!
This is spot on. People are freaking out for no reason. THINGS WILL GO BACK TO NORMAL PEOPLE. Its like chicken little and the sky is falling.
Thank you for this article! It’s great to see the silver lining in all of this madness. If you are worried about finances, this is one way to come out ahead a few months down the road.
Agreed completely. If you put some money into the market, you will see a return in 3-6 months, no question about it. Let people be hysterical over this. It will pass.
Justin – I follow your blog posts and am working through your testosterone replacement course. Excited to offer this type of service in my area where there is nothing like this for at least 100 miles! Absolutely appreciate your transparent, no-bullshit approach and am truly excited to implement what you’ve taught to help me become more independent. I’m working as a prn NP for a pain management group, have a few apartment complexes that I’m property managing on my own and need to start my own business to avoid this rat race. Thank you very much for your insight!
That is awesome to hear Anne! Good for you on being so diversified. Not enough NPs are. It amazes me so many rely on just one source of income. It is insanity.
If there is nothing like a men’s health and TRT clinic within 100 miles of where you live, you are going to get very busy very fast! Please keep us updated on your progress or shoot me an email.
“Thousands will die”….this comment didn’t age well.
Still seems accurate.