What do you think about in September? If you are like me, September brings up memories of going back to high school after a summer of pure bliss. This year, due to the coronavirus, things are a little different.

Take college students, for example, for whom September often signals a return to school. Yet at Harvard, approximately 20% of the freshman class (340 students) deferred attendance this fall. Back in August, a survey released by SimpsonScarborough, a higher education research and marketing company, found that 3 in 4 students were either somewhat or very worried that they might contract COVID-19 if they went to campus for in-person instruction during the fall semester.

Even college football has been affected, with schools like Notre Dame canceling games due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

September also is National College Savings Month, and while many parents are focusing on various ways to save money for their children’s future college education, there are roughly 45 million people who continue to work on paying off their college debt (an estimated $1.6 trillion as of the first quarter of 2019, according to the Federal Reserve Board). COVID-19 has affected their situation as well -- with possibly positive results.

Thanks to the CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, if you have certain types of college student loans, you have been provided “temporary payment relief.” That relief has since been extended through Dec. 31, 2020.

What do you need to do? The Federal Trade Commission has offered some good advice.

First, see if you qualify. The loans need to be federal student loans, and even then, not all of them are eligible. For example, older Family Federal Education Loans (FFEL) or Perkins Loans that are owned by the school you attended do not qualify.

If in doubt, contact your federal loan servicer (tinyurl.com/y4w8p4dz) online or by phone to find out if your loans are eligible. This is important: relief only applies to your qualifying federal student loan.

Second, if your federal loans do qualify, they have already been placed (by the U.S. Department of Education) into “administrative forbearance.” During this period (through Dec. 31, 2020), you do not need to make payments, and no interest is due.

Third, check to see if you can get a refund if your payments are processing automatically through your bank (starting from March 13, 2020). If so, you may qualify for a refund as part of administrative forbearance. (However, it’s my advice not to do so, since it’s better to lower your student debt, and these payments were “painless” for many people, since they were automatically withdrawn from their bank accounts.)

Fourth, if you are still making payments, you do have the option of stopping them through Dec. 31, 2020, without penalty.

Fifth, if you keep making payments through Dec. 31, the interest rate is now 0%. That’s a big incentive to keep making those payments -- you will pay off your loan faster.

Sixth, if you happen to be on an income-based repayment program and/or a forgiveness program, go to Federal Student Aid's Coronavirus page (tinyurl.com/v8om83u) to find out what options are best for you.

If you would like further advice from the Federal Trade Commission, visit tinyurl.com/y5nnnyaj.

On another note, if you are interested in learning investment basics, join me for a virtual presentation, “Should You Invest on Your Own or With an Adviser?” on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 10:00 a.m., sponsored by the Greenwich (Connecticut) Library. To register, go to tinyurl.com/yyl569zc or contact Yang Wang, 203-622-7924, ywang@greenwichlibrary.org.

Julie Jason, JD, LLM, a personal money manager (Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut) and award-winning author, welcomes your questions/comments (readers@juliejason.com). Please visit www.juliejason.com.

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Have you made an investment decision during the coronavirus market that you regret? Perhaps you sold out of your stock investments or stock mutual funds in March when news headlines were dire?

On March 21, Bloomberg reported the following:

-- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “This is the beginning of the crisis. It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”

-- James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, predicted U.S. unemployment could hit 30% in the second quarter, and the gross domestic product could plunge 50%.

Meanwhile, the stock market (S&P 500) was rapidly declining -- a nasty fall of 32% over a matter of weeks from the peak of Feb. 19.

That was March 21. Did you react? Did you sell?

Only a few days later, on March 23, the decline stopped. Since then, the S&P 500 rose dramatically (through press time, Sept. 17) by over 50% from the bottom.

What moves some to sell and others to stay the course?

Some point to behavioral biases.

“Our minds take shortcuts when we make decisions. ... Usually, these shortcuts are for the better: They help us react quickly, and they help us manage the thousands of decisions we make every day. There are times, however, that mental shortcuts lead us astray -- that’s when they become biases.”

The above quote is an introduction to a report by Morningstar, a global financial services company, titled “Bursting Biases in Volatile Times: A Behavioral Checklist for Investors Facing Turbulent Markets” (tinyurl.com/y2wecpvk). The following are the six points in the checklist:

Get to know your biases

“Research shows that understanding our biases can help us spot them in our decisions,” the report says. That’s a point well made, but it does take some homework.

Turn down the noise

“When volatility hits, you may want to create a modified schedule (of when you listen to the news), but still keep it calm and moderate -- maybe make a rule that you can only catch up on the news once at the end of the day, or even once a week.”

Another good point. And I’ll go further: Use the news to enhance your knowledge, but not to trigger an action.

Create speed bumps for decisions

“Sometimes, the only thing we need to make a good decision is time. But it can be tough to slow down when our emotions are running awry.”

Agreed. Emotions should not rule.

Reconnect with your goals

“If you start feeling anxious about your finances, take a break from day-to-day market performance and check in on your financial goals.”

This step is the most important, from my point of view as a professional money manager. Behavioral economics tells us that shortcuts come into play when we are faced with uncertainty and are without a plan.

Any good financial plan needs to include what to do in a market meltdown. For example, retirees who depend on their investments for income need assurance that they can hold steady during a declining market. Part of the plan can be as simple as setting aside a cash reserve for such times, to protect against having to sell positions during a market decline.

Be your own devil’s advocate

This point is also helpful in slowing down an emotional reaction. Argue both sides before taking any action. That is, ask yourself to state the reasons for selling an investment (the market is going to zero) and the reasons why you might want to buy that same investment (fundamentals are strong and the price is right). That exercise might give you a different perspective, revealing the logic behind a decision before taking action.

Thoughtfulness matters

“It’s extremely hard to stay calm and wait out the storm when your portfolio’s losing value -- we all have a tendency toward action. Don’t suppress this urge; redirect your efforts.”

Look at the opportunities that the current market might offer. To read more on behavioral finance, go to juliejason.com/columnist/resources.

Julie Jason, JD, LLM, a personal money manager (Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut) and award-winning author, welcomes your questions/comments (readers@juliejason.com). Please visit www.juliejason.com.

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

During this pandemic, you’re probably not thinking about celebrating 401(k) Day, especially since it occurs on the first Friday in September after Labor Day, which happens to be 9/11 this year.

But, let me tell you why you should.

Every year, National 401(k) Day, which originated with the Plan Sponsor Council of America, reminds everyone to do a personal checkup, just like New Year’s Eve reminds us to plan for the new year.

Think about these important questions: Are you participating in your company’s 401(k) plan? Are you taking full advantage of your company’s matching contribution? Are you maximizing your salary deferral? If you just started working at a new job, have you checked out eligibility requirements?

Everyone who works for a company that sponsors a 401(k) plan needs to know the answers to these questions. You owe it to yourself to participate and maximize the benefits your plan offers. If you are just starting out, my best advice is to contribute to your 401(k) as soon as you become eligible.

There is simply no better way to save for retirement. First, it’s easy to do: set up a salary deferral through payroll deductions. You won’t need to think about it again after your deferrals are in place.

Second, review your tax withholding allowances to consider reducing your withholding. By doing that, you can keep your paycheck as high as possible even though you are saving money. The rationale behind this move is this: Your salary deferral is not subject to income taxes; in fact, if you look at your W-2 after enrolling, you’ll see your taxable income decline by the amount of your salary deferral. The deferral is not reported as taxable income on your W-2.

Third, select your investment options from a menu that has been chosen for you by the sponsor of your plan, your employer. Your plan may offer target-date options that simplify investment choices -- just choose the plan that matches your age.

Last, but certainly not least, take the advice of Laura Dobbins, one of three 2020 winners of the 401(k) Champion® Award, which my company (Jackson, Grant) and I sponsor annually (see tinyurl.com/y25v5h4g).

Laura started saving small amounts of money through her 401(k) at work when she was 23; 18 years later, her 401(k) had grown to more than $300,000. What would her future retirement be like if she hadn’t started at 23? “More than likely I’d be working well into my 70s, living in a small apartment on a fixed income with no room to splurge on things I enjoy. ... I want that time of my life to be my best years, not my worst.”

Take some time now to do a personal financial checkup. It’s an investment in your future retirement.

On another note, if you are interested in learning how to set objectives to meet your personal goals through saving and investing, join me for a virtual presentation, “Investment Basics I: How to Set and Meet Investment Objectives,” on Friday, Sept. 18, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, sponsored by the Greenwich Library. To register, go to tinyurl.com/yyxmjytw or contact Yang Wang, 203-622-7924, ywang@greenwichlibrary.org.

Julie Jason, JD, LLM, a personal money manager (Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut) and award-winning author, welcomes your questions/comments (readers@juliejason.com). Please visit www.juliejason.com.

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION