SOCIAL DISTANCING IS WRONG!!!

Now that I have your attention, read all of this, then show me I'm wrong.  I'm listening.

We are social animals.  We need and crave social interaction.  Telling us to avoid social interaction isn't working and isn't going to work.  We should be practicing PHYSICAL distancing, not SOCIAL distancing.  Thank you Larry Sharpe for the phrase and the idea to write about this.

I was going to write a bunch about depression and social distancing, but there's no need for me to reinvent the wheel.  Here is one of the better and simple prescriptions.

Throughout the Wuhan Virus crisis (I made a rhyme; give me a dime!), I have been saying that the marketing is wrong.  The message needs to be to maintain at least a 6' distance from anyone not part of your quarantine group.  It's as simple as that.  If someone isn't part of your group (most likely just the people you live with, but maybe people you work with too, don't get closer than 6'.  That doesn't mean you have to stop working (for most people) or that you can't go anywhere.  Just don't get within range of possibly spreading the virus if one of you coughs or sneezes.  That's it!  If you aren't any closer than that and practice good hygiene, you'll be fine.  And you won't spread it to anyone else.

Here are some ways I am practicing physical distancing without being socially distant.  I had a good conversation with my neighbor yesterday, with him standing on his deck and me standing in my back yard 40 or 50 feet away.  Great social interaction without any risk because we were physically distant.  He gave me another example of physical distancing without social distancing.  He had a phone conversation with his elderly mom, got her grocery list, delivered it to her garage, and she picked it up later without her getting within 6' of him.  I even made a new friend and business connection yesterday.  The bike path I ride has a small section under construction where we have to walk our bikes for a bit.  Another guy and I were headed opposite directions, joked about staying 6' apart, complimented each other's vintage steel bikes, etc.  We talked for several minutes, from a safe distance, and I found out that his company does work that I will need done soon for my company.  He is probably going to be the one I hire, and there's a good chance he will purchase from me in the future.  Business shouldn't be stopping.

On the negative side, people are doing all kinds of things to spread the virus because of misinformation and bad "marketing".  Much of it is because of the emphasis being on the number of people gathered rather than other factors like physical distance, where people have been, etc.  For awhile we were being told that gatherings should be under 250 people.  Then 50.  Now maybe it's 10?  I don't even know.  But it's not the number that's important.  It's physical distance.  Examples I am seeing are things like a friend whose coworker was at a wedding yesterday with 20 people.  Probably from a variety of locations.  I would bet they didn't  maintain a 6' distance.  So now those 20 people are going back to their workplaces, homes, etc. with the potential of spreading it.  But my friend should be safe anyway, if she can maintain a 6' distance and practice good hygeine.  I am seeing stuff all over social media where people are gathering in small groups of less than 10 people, but not maintaining distance.  I have to admit that I was guilty of this myself last week.  But I won't be repeating that behavior.

Another thing that needs to stop for the spread to stop is the attitude that it's ok if it's "essential".  Like going out and getting food or medicine.  Just because the grocery store is open doesn't mean it's safe.  Even if they sanitize all their carts, it's still going to be difficult to stay 6' from everyone, and there's no way to tell who could be a carrier.  And no way to know if that item you picked up wasn't just coughed or sneezed on.

No one has yet convinced me that the virus itself is the big threat that we are being told.  I still think the biggest threat is the reaction to it.  People are a much bigger threat than any disease.  However, I am acting with an insurance agent mindset, where I don't expect to have high medical bills or for my house to burn down or to die at a young age, but I am protected if any of those things do happen.  I am acting as if it is a big deal, but expecting it to not be.  If I am right, I will come out of it in a better position than when it started because I am taking advantage of the situation.  If I am wrong, I will still be ok because I am protecting myself and others with PHYSICAL distancing and good hygeine.

Chaos creates opportunity for those who are looking for it and take action.  What do I mean by "taking advantage of the situation"?  No, it's not buying up all the hand sanitizer and trying to sell it at a huge profit by jacking up the prices like the guy in Tennessee.  It's differentiating oneself from the competition and meeting demands.  Like Lucky Devil Lounge in Portland, Oregon which now has their dancers delivering food and providing entertainment from a safe distance after the club was shut down.  It's smart investing.  A few weeks ago I saw an open Facebook discussion among people who were saying the stock market was going to drop, were moving their money into cash and looking for places to invest.  They were going heavy into companies providing technology for people to work from home, movie streaming, medical protection equipment, home delivery, etc.  They were actively looking for opportunity in the chaos, and took advantage.  Plenty of people are complaining about the US Senators who bailed on the markets, but those people complaining had the same opportunity, had they been paying attention.

Professionally, here are some opportunities I am taking advantage of.  I have been talking for years about increasing my ability to work from anywhere by updating my website, incorporating a platform for selling life insurance online without having to meet with people face to face, creating a bunch of videos, and doing much more online marketing.  And launching at least one other company.  Now is a great opportunity to do that, and I am taking advantage of it.  I also need to organize my office better (haven't taken advantage of that opportunity yet, but I will).

Personally, I am cleaning and organizing my home to be able to get more exercise here instead of at the gym.  I am dramatically expanding my garden.  Doing more reading and writing more songs.  I might even work on learning to play a new musical instrument.

This has been more of a brain dump for me than anything, but Social distancing is still wrong.  And it would also be wrong of me to have a blog post without sharing some music, so here's one from Corb Lund I've been listening to a lot in my bunker.

"How Much Did He Leave?" "All Of It" (Day 10)

Yesterday I wrote about what I see people do most often with retirement money, and said that instead of just complaining about their mistakes, I would offer some solutions.  As I often say, this isn't insurance advice.  Without sitting down with you and discussing the specifics of your situation, I can't make an informed recommendation.  What I'm posting here is very general, something to use to open a discussion with me or another professional and figure out an action plan, not something to take action on right now. 


People often tell me something along the lines of, "I want my money to run out the day I die, and the check to the funeral home to bounce".  They understand the old saying of "You can't take it with you."  However, they almost never actually spend their retirement money that way.  Just like a business, 401 (k) and IRA plans should have an "exit strategy" from the beginning.


These are some possibilities that in many cases are better than holding on to tax-deferred money until it gets passed to beneficiaries or a nursing home.

• Start a guaranteed income stream from the retirement funds and use it to buy a life insurance policy.  Often the best option is one that also provides a benefit if you need long term care.  Advantages:  Taxes on withdrawals are spread out over multiple years, and proceeds from life insurance to designated beneficiaries are not normally taxed.  Depending on age, health, etc, life insurance benefit could be more than the value of the retirement savings, even not figuring in tax advantages.  Depending on options chosen, beneficiaries may get both the life insurance benefit and more regular income.  At least they won't get everything as taxable.
• Gradually convert to Roth IRA.  You pay taxes on that part when you convert it, but it is later passed on without the taxes hitting all at once.  With some planning, you can offset the amount you convert with other deductions so you pay little or no tax on the money.  For example, I've had customers balance the Roth Conversion with deductions like large medical bills, HSA contributions, business losses/investments, work layoffs, etc.  I haven't had anyone do it, but it would be ideal to take a year off work to travel, live off savings, and do a Roth Conversion to turn money that's never been taxed to money that will never be taxed.  All without every paying any taxes on that money.  Do this only AFTER consulting with a tax advisor.  That's better than getting a surprise at tax time, and if the tax advisor is good, he or she often has ideas on how to do it even better than you and I think of doing it.
• Give it directly to a charity each year.
• Give a portion as gifts to family each year, paying a small amount of or no tax as you go.  With both this and the charitable giving, you get to see the benefits of your gifts, which is a lot better than saving on taxes.  They might even take you out fishing or water skiing on their new boat.

Those are just a few options.  A key to any of them is to have a plan for long term care.  Notice I didn't say, "long term care insurance" or "to pay for the nursing home".  The insurance part is sometimes involved in the plan, but just having a policy isn't enough, and often is not the best way to plan for it.  Nor is a nursing home always the best option.  But they are full of people who didn't plan because they didn't need a plan because, "I'm never going to the nursing home".