One Year After Job Loss

One year ago today, the electronics manufacturing company that I worked for took me and a dozen other employees into a conference room and told us that they had lost a large contract, and that our services were no longer needed. I had been working there for 9 years, and wasn’t surprised to hear this. Every year the contract would include more price reductions, penalties for late deliveries, and higher quality levels than the year before. Eventually, both sides no longer wanted to continue doing business together. After working in the electronics industry for over 30 years, I was more than ready for a break. Since then, I have been paying bills with my severance and unemployment benefits. The unemployment checks ran out in March, just prior to the start of the pandemic in the USA. In April, I received a $1200 pandemic stimulus check from Uncle Sam. This was a welcomed surprise, and would cover expenses for another month. Now we are into June and a second stimulus check looks like it may not happen. Interest rates are still at zero, and now in addition to the pandemic, we have racial tensions flaring, and an election coming up. All of this makes investing for retirement extremely challenging. During all of this, I’m stuck at home, trying to figure out what’s going to happen next.