“One thing I did when this started was delete all my shopping apps. I took all the money I would have spent and redirected it to every hourly worker in my life — housekeeper, hair, nails, trainer. Also made a big PPE donation.”

“Hard to take action with anything other than money right now. I’ve been trying to send group emails to high-net-worths telling them to donate as social pressure. Some of the wealthy people I know are paralyzed with inaction. I donated $20K to this PPE thing and they were freaking out that they didn’t have an org set up yet for the tax deduction. PEOPLE ARE DYING. I’m not thinking about that first”

Many wealthy people have the same concerns — but they respond in different ways than everyone else.

Safety first
– Is my family taken care of? (“First thing I did was venno my brother”)
– Are all my affairs taken care of if I get sick? Many of these people have considerable complexity. Lots of emails to their finance people, lawyers. Making sure all their accounts are accessible, making sure their will is updated.
– Any big transactions — hold off. Too much uncertainty.

Stay consistent
– Many wealthy have the same fears as anyone. They’re impulsive, they get scared of the market…they have advisors to help them stay calm
– One friend said, “I wang more cash to keep living large, even at the expense of no buying into market dips. Hurts to sit on cash but removes my anxiety of regular market moves to know I have several years on standby”
– Another friend said he has lots of cash saved — even in his house, because “you just don’t know what will happen”

Convenience
– Doctor coming to them
– Renting a big house far away, double-paying with their mortgage
– Paying for children’s virtual tutor
– Unlimited spending on anything related to entertainment or productivity

Growth
– Lots of people eyeing steep discounts on real estate, cars
– Some people just itching to travel but understanding it can’t happen right now
– Haven’t talked to investors eyeing businesses yet, but I’m sure thats happening

Realizing what’s important
– One friend said “Im realizing the most important thing is time. You can’t get back time lost, so we’re spending lot of time with our kids, teaching golf, watching movies, going on a walk around the block.” I feel lucky we don’t have to worry about the next paycheck. It will go away and I will really miss it

Specialized for wealthy only
– Tactical example: “Max out your lifetime gift allocation ASAP up to $11m because theres zero chance that will last when we have to figure out how to pay for this stimulus”