By Chris Taylor
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Despite a bullish U.S. stock market and strong economy, workers axed in mass layoffs are struggling to get back on their feet.
Recent cuts include 13% of the workforce at online retailer Wayfair, 20% at toy maker Hasbro, 17% at digital music provider Spotify, and 35% at livestreaming platform Twitch.
In the new book “Bounce Back,” money coach Lynnette Khalfani-Cox deals with downsizing and other life-changing issues such as debt, disability, death of a loved one, and unexpected disasters.
“I personally have been through almost all of these situations, so telling my story was like a dam breaking,” the bestselling author said.
Resilience, a quality critical to success, can grow out of such challenges, whether we are emotionally worn out from the pandemic, lonely and isolated, or scrounging to survive without any savings.
Here are a few tips to bounce back better and faster from adversities.
THINK BEYOND FINANCES
First, be kind to yourself, the book’s first two chapters urge, because while money is important, resilience is even more basic.
“You are more resilient when you are healthy, eating right, getting sleep and exercising,” said Khalfani-Cox. “That clearer state of mind will help you make better financial choices. If you don’t take care of yourself, nothing else will matter because you are going to make bad choices by default.”
STRESS-TEST YOUR OWN LIFE
After the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the big banks focused more on ‘stress-testing’ their balance sheets: If the worst happened, how would they fare?
Individuals should do the same, Khalfani-Cox said. “Be the chief financial officer of your own world. If you or your partner lost your job, how would rent or mortgage get paid? How would childcare be covered? Could you live on one income?
Plan now, she advised, noting that few people have a strategy for such scenarios.
BUILD OUT YOUR SOCIAL NETWORK
Gilded Age novelist Horatio Alger wove rags-to-riches stories that have…
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