Lately I have been not posting as much, partly because of the craziness in the office due to the raging pandemic and always trying to spend more time with my family, but i will try to keep helping out average Joe's like me to get an upper hand in the day to day finances.
I wanted to alert of an unexpected side effect after my second dose of the Pfizer/BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine. Immediately after the second dose I had a sensation of HOPE. A feeling I had not felt in a while. Driving home after the second dose I had a big smile which I noticed only when i glanced at the rearview mirror. Knowing that the chances of bringing this virus home to my family, mother or giving it to anyone was low.
A feeling that we can protect the most vulnerable population as well as the frontline workers giving their all day after day. My respects to the frontline workers and all of the people unable to work from home that despite knowing the risks they continued working, showing up every day even after witnessing colleagues dying or being left severely disabled.
The vaccine does not mean you can take your mask off and sing kumbaya like it's 2019, what it means is we can again start to dream of traveling again, of meeting family and friends without worry that you or someone you love may end up in the ICU with a tube down your throat or worst in a coffin 7 feet below ground.
The vaccine provides a hope to all those in the hospitality industry that their livelihood will eventually return.
So far as Israel and the US have shown the vaccine is overwhelmingly safe and effective, my family (except for my kids) are vaccinated and the only side effect we have is we now have hope. I sleep a little better knowing my family has a low risk of dying from covid-19 and my patients will not get it from me.
The financial markets will soon start to recover, however you will continue to see market corrections (Fancy words used by financial gurus for when the stock market falls). Are we going to see another recession? The answer is absolutely. The always present question is when? No one knows, even the most savvy financial guru does not know. Despite this I encourage you to keep investing consistently in index funds as we have discussed earlier. Resist the temptation to buy stocks in a company your friend/family/colleague told you is the next Amazon, leave this to the so called "experts" or "Financial Gurus" both of which are unicorns in my opinion.
After the last 4 years where darkness has prevailed, I feel the dawn of a new era rising with new obstacles that we as humans will tackle and become victorious.
We still have to tackle the elephant in the room; racism, xenophobia etc, but I feel hope.
Could there be another pandemic outbreak? The answer is YES. However humans are resilient and as Darwin once said "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change".
Next time you see your doc ask if the covid-19 vaccine is appropriate for you and what was his side effect.
Till next time.
JL
Disclaimer - This blog is meant purely for educational discussion of finance. It contains only general information about financial matters. It is not financial advice, should not be treated as such. This is not medical advice, for medical advice please talk to your medical provider.