Lessons From 2008 Crisis To Weather Covid-19 Storm

  • These precarious times can help you realize how savings can come to your rescue
  • Dealing with one recession does prepare you emotionally and financially for another one to a certain extent

A report by the ministry of labour and employment states that about half a million people in India lost their jobs between October and December 2008 because of the global financial crisis. But Kolkata-based Chandan Kumar Modi, who’d started working in 2008, faced the real consequences of the crisis in 2009. He worked in the sales and development department of an IT firm, but was asked to leave within a year because he was unable to secure any deals. “To recapitulate, the job and all the pressure impacted my physical and mental health,” said Modi, 35, an IT professional. It took Modi about six months to get another job and even that came with a 50% pay cut. Since he’d been working only for a year, he didn’t have enough savings to fall back on. It took him two years to recover from the 2008 crisis.

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Though Modi does fear another job loss in the current situation, he has sufficient savings this time around to weather the storm. “My wife works too, so from a financial point of view we are better equipped and can survive a couple of months in case of extreme circumstances,” he added. The ongoing slowdown has pushed Modi to rework his priorities. His long-term investments have taken a backseat and the focus is now on ensuring that there’s enough liquidity to sail through the next few months.

Source: livemint

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