Monday night sees the end of the initial 3 week lockdown that the PM put us under. To be fair what he said was that he would reassess it in 3 weeks. In reality there's little chance of it being lifted anytime soon.
What we have learned from all this Coronavirus upheaval is what we already knew. The vast majority of people are selfish and completely stupid. I only need to point out the footage of the scumbags who were panic-buying toilet roll to show that the British public are thick. Mind-numbingly stupid people as a whole - the old 80/20 rule.
There's going to be some very lean times ahead. I've heard people say they think this lockdown will change people - that people will be different afterwards, will think more about others and stop being so selfish all the time.
Nope.
It's going to be exactly the same next time. All the idiots who did the panic-buying will be out there panic-buying again. Being skint for months won't teach them anything, they won't build up cash reserves. They'll still live hand-to-mouth and rely on Government handouts when the economy tanks.
Fair enough this time people didn't have much warning. But how many people do you know who have 6 months of wages in an emergency fund? None?
When we get out of this I know that most people will want to celebrate and book holidays, go out and have a fancy meal, do everything we haven't been able to do in lockdown.
The sensible thing to do would be to self-extend the lockdown for a little bit. Get "Gazelle intense" as Dave Ramsey would say. Work every single hour of overtime you can for a couple of months, save up an emergency fund and then go celebrate afterwards.
When the next pandemic hits you'll not be stressed because you have 6 months wages in the bank, ready for this exact emergency. Whilst the 80% will be completely helpless. Again.
Little movement on the portfolio as you can see below. We're in the new tax year so I've taken the opportunity of adding the first £1,000 to my LISA. Only £3,000 more to go.
| Code | Sector | Date Bought | Cost | Value | Gain/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LM009 LM009-2 |
Gas, Water & Multiutilities | 05/02/2019 04/02/2020 |
£2020 | £1920 | (5.19%) |
| LM012 LM012-2 |
Real Estate Investment Trusts | 20/05/2019 28/11/2019 |
£2030 | £2330 | 14.54% |
There's no signal to start buying again yet. No doubt if this is the bottom then I'm missing out on hundreds of "bargains". Of course, I won't know this is the bottom for several months so I'm thinking it's going to be September before I even think of buying again. Maybe at that point we may have some normality...