If you have an investment portfolio or own a home, you’ve probably experienced big gains. Here’s how to use those winnings to help.
In the days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, plenty of people have tried to predict what it will mean for gas prices or interest rates or your investments. There is no harm or shame in this, not exactly at least. Self-preservation — and its attendant instinct, wealth preservation — is an understandable impulse. It is reasonable for prognosticators to try to settle people and markets down, even though forecasters regularly get it wrong. But as with any act of military aggression that has the potential to rattle global finance, one immediate question ought to be this: Who is most likely to need help right away? Chances are, it’s babies whom hospital personnel have had to move to basements and the people who are taking shelter in subway stations or fleeing their homes. Many of those adults had no 401(k) in the first place. Even those who have the least among their neighbors may lose more than they ever thought possible. If you’re reading this, you are probably not among them. We’re entering Year 3 of a global pandemic, but you are still alive, even if you may have lost people close to you. The job market is strong for those who want to work and feel safe doing so. If you own a big, broad basket of U.S. stocks, they have risen about 40 percent in the past two years, even after the recent correction. If you own a home, those prices are up at least 20 percent — over $50,000 for those at the median. This is incredible. Your net worth may well be higher amid all the death that resulted from disease, and it could stay that way as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to wreak havoc on global markets. This is not a call for celebration but instead to marvel, briefly, that this may be your reality. And it is true that the ability to dig deep to help others depends in part on preserving what you have.
