I have been doing some back porch sitting during my daily breaks thinking about how our lives may change as a result of the Covid-19 virus. Many of these trends were already in motion prior to this year, but Covid has merely accelerated them.
Here are some changes that may take hold permanently:
- Less office space needed as companies allow more employees to work from home – The advancements in video calling, internet bandwidth capacity, and security software make this decision easier for companies that have a large amount of white-collar desk jobs.
- Less business travel, more virtual conferences and meetings – For the same reasons above and also the fear of catching the disease, many will opt to hold meetings and attend conferences virtually.
- More tele-medicine – Most doctor visits will still be in person, but we will find ourselves having many routine doctor consults being completed online or via conference call.
- More homeschooling, online college courses – Similar reasons as above and could save a lot of money, especially for college kids.
- More streaming, less going to movie theaters – At least for our more senior population.
- Less physical grocery shopping – I started doing curbside pickup of my groceries recently and it is very convenient and reduces your chances of contracting the disease. Plus, many stores also offer home delivery.
There are a whole bunch more but these are the ones that I have seen the most in action already.
Stay safe and let me know if you have any questions.
Joe Baker, CFP®
Baker Asset Management, LLC
joebaker@bakerassetmanagement.com
