When it comes to the state of our finances, the pandemic has not affected us all equally.
Personal finance expert Suze Orman describes it as creating a situation of haves and have-nots.
Some people have actually prospered over the past year with lowered spending and the bonus of stimulus money.
Others are barely keeping their heads above water after becoming unemployed and depleting their savings.
Visionary Women is a Los Angeles-based women empowerment nonprofit.
Orman suggested taking advantage offederal student loan forbearanceand just paying the minimum on other debt payments.
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I dont care if your FICO score goes down, she said.
I care that you have the ability to feed yourself and your children.
You might have to seek out assistance to cover your basic needs but dont let that bring you down.
Lack of money doesnt make you lack of worth, Orman said.
Forget the common advice of having three to six months of expenses saved up.
All thats happened over the past year shows us we need to have a vast safety net.
Once youve built up that emergency fund, double-check youre getting your other financial ducks in a row.
You better be contributing to your retirement account, she said.
You better be getting yourself out of credit card debt.
You have to be doing everything today to protect your tomorrow.
Tapping money from a HELOC is better than taking money from a retirement account, Orman said.
It makes absolutely no sense to withdraw money from a 401(k), Orman said.
Do you know that your retirement accounts are not affected in bankruptcy?
Everybody should live absolutely below their means but within their needs, Orman said.
They should not be spending what they can afford.
They should be spendinglessthan what they can afford to spend.
Nicole Dow is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
Probably not as good as youd like.
It always seems like an uphill battle to build (and keep) a decent amount in savings.
But what if your car breaks down, or you have a sudden medical bill?
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