Top Ways to Protect Yourself Financially from the Impact of Coronavirus

The Covid 19 crisis is sweeping across the world right now. As a result, it’s having a serious impact on the lives of all Australians. Aside from the obvious health dangers of the virus, there is also a major financial impact to be considered. 

If your finances are being affected, you may be worried about how you can protect yourself. Here is some advice about how you can preserve the money you have while also supplementing your household income by taking advantage of government assistance that has been introduced. 

Protect the savings that you have 

If you have savings, you may want to take advantage of a high interest savings account while you have the option. This helps you to protect your money against interest rate reductions and means that you should have some savings to fall back on when the crisis eases. 

Access the coronavirus supplement 

The Australian government has introduced a coronavirus supplement. This supplement is worth $550 per fortnight and applies to current and future recipients of JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance Jobseeker, Parenting Payment, Farm Household Allowance and Special Benefit, for the next six months. It’s an additional payment that is due to commence on 27 April 2020 and will be useful if you have lost your employment as a result of the crisis. 

Access superannuation early

The government has also announced that people affected by the coronavirus issue, and who are eligible, can access their superannuation early. Anyone eligible for this scheme can access up to $10,000 of their super before 1 July 2020 and up to a further $10,000 from 1 July onwards. The ability to do this is expected to last for around three months. This could be a useful financial benefit for anyone who is looking for ways to protect their financial situation. 

Use lower minimum pension drawdown rates 

It’s not just people of working age that are being financially disadvantaged by the coronavirus crisis. The situation is also putting financial pressure on some retirees. If you are a retiree who is feeling this type of pressure, you may want to take advantage of the reduction in the minimum pension drawdown rates that the government has introduced. Reducing drawdown income in this way can mean that you are not faced with the prospect of having to sell down assets in a depressed market. This is an important factor if you want to protect your financial situation in the longer term. 

In summary 

There is no doubt that the Covid 19 crisis will eventually ease. However, no-one is certain when this will happen. Until it does, people in Australia, and across the world, will continue to be faced with having to protect their health and their finances. The information in this article should help you to remain financially protected and remove some of the worries from your shoulders. Any such relief is help at this difficult time.