Adapting to financial change
“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?”
No one is really sure who said this, but, the sentiment is a really smart one. People need to adapt to new circumstances. It is how humans have always survived.
The above thought came to mind as I watched the women’s final of the Australian Open. As you might have seen, Naomi Osaka beat Jennifer Brady to claim her fourth grand slam title. Well played Naomi. But it is Brady’s story that we really liked.
In case you missed it, Brady was one of a number of players who travelled to Australia on a plane that also carried at least one person who tested positive for coronavirus upon touchdown. That meant that Brady, like all her fellow passengers, had to do a ‘hard’ two-week quarantine in Melbourne, where she was confined to her hotel room 24 hours a day for 14 days straight.
The same thing happened to a number of players and the media highlighted those who dared to ‘complain,’ either in person or through Twitter or Instagram, about the fact that they were unexpectedly in hard lockdown.
Jennifer Brady’s response to quarantine was a little unusual. According to reports, she turned a mattress side on, laid it against a wall and hit tennis balls into it. She deliberately avoided Netflix and dined on takeaway for fourteen days straight.
This is probably not the usual preparation for a person ranked 22 in an upcoming international tournament!
Jennifer Brady adapted and made the best of her situation, then she came out and dropped just two sets on her way to a grand slam tennis final.
What a great example! This is also important for our financial management. Almost everyone is facing a very different financial situation to the one they faced before last year and COVID-19.
Some people have seen their employment income fallen, and retirees have seen their retirement incomes drop as interest rates fall to near zero. Plans to buy that first home have taken a hit, as well as the overseas holiday or plans to retire.
Others have been luckier, the unexpected and extended rise in share markets, along with the predicted boom in housing prices, has actually meant that Covid-19 has been a financial positive.
Either way, because of the changes, our former plans almost certainly have to be adapted.
The good news is that a review of our financial plan does not require us to lock ourselves away for fourteen days hitting a tennis ball against a padded wall. It requires no more than a phone call and a thoughtful conversation.
Why not give us a call and review the new reality?
