Below is a guest post from Chris Turnbull at AirFunders. AirFunders is a very interesting new app and website which allows you to claim cashback on your shopping and put it towards your pension. This is a collaborative post which contains affiliate links.
I am delighted to be given the opportunity to provide a guest blog for The Money Builders. I want to focus on the long-term impacts of the Covid19 pandemic on key workers, hospitality workers and those in the GIG economy.
The impending recession is not being focused on now as policy makers focus on health and gradually coming out of lockdown. A recession will however cause further disparity as the economic impact of Covid19 affects those with lower disposable income and wealth disproportionately.
UNPRECEDENTED
The situation that the economy is in just now is unprecedented and both companies and individuals will have to change and adapt to a new normal. Can things go back to how they were before the coronavirus pandemic? Businesses will change as people have become used to acting differently which is leading to priorities changing. as a result. It is unclear if those priorities will change back to the pre coronavirus ways.
Currently some of the lowest paid in the workforce are the most important, but the financial rewards won’t change and while being applauded is much appreciated, it doesn’t translate into anything that can benefit nurses, cleaners, or GIG economy delivery drivers etc in the future.
the future for furloughed workers
Furloughed workers do not know what the future holds, in the hospitality or retail industries and do not have the benefit of pension entitlements building, other than perhaps the workplace pension. While this is an admirable addition to the benefits of workers, many of whom do not have any private pension provision currently, many work on a self-employed basis and lack private pension building at all.
What is the roadmap for economic recovery? Will austerity return? Is there a different way of dealing with a situation, given that a large number of society are not prepared for their future. Recent statistics suggest that 1 in 4 adults in the UK have less than £100 in savings and austerity is shown to affect those underserved by the financial system more.
lockdown changes
The lockdown we are experiencing, in many ways has changed the way people are thinking about life. People are working from home, so there is a decoupling of cities and the density of business. Social hubs are becoming more important than economic hubs and consumerism is changing as health becomes more important than wealth.
The creation of a new social understanding where ‘clapping for carers’ and valuing many who’s contribution previously was deemed as ‘low skilled’ before coronavirus shows a changing attitude to community, but not at the expense of building wealth.
building your wealth
Focusing on building our own wealth in the best way we can is important but, also understanding that the biggest impediment to building wealth is the lack of access to capital is also important. If capital is available to an individual, they can borrow against it to gear up and create more wealth. For those who capital is not available to, and may be low paid, credit is expensive and can create greater problems in the future.
Add in to the equation that people without access to capital are more likely to be those with less than £100 in savings, and are the most likely not to have any retirement wealth accumulated then there is a class of people who are underserved by the financial system.
Generally, the asset management sector does not care to serve those with assets under a certain minimum. Where do the underserved by the financial system turn therefore? The only option is the state.
Everyone does need to spend, and our aim to help this situation at AirFunders is to link expenditure to saving. We can help people build capital through their essential expenditure. We want to help our members build long term savings through spending, while not being penalised for having a low disposable income. Working as a community we have the ability to save and help those around us also. That is what AirFunders is all about. We want you to join us (it’s free) and will bring you long term benefits if you get involved.
Photo by Marcin Kempa on Unsplash