These are challenging times. Like everyone, you are concerned about keeping your family safe and healthy, and you're doing your part to help protect your community from the effects of the coronavirus. And if you're an investor, you must also address your financial situation. How should you respond to the current market volatility and recent declines in investment prices?
DEAR ABBY: I believe that love conquers all. The worldwide coronavirus is teaching us we are all one in body, but not yet in spirit. Every day may not be good, but there is good in every day. Don’t count the days – make the days count by throwing a kiss, sharing a smile with others, and waving a hand of greeting to them.
DEAR HARRIETTE: I live in New York City, and the disparity between the haves and have-nots is so real, it’s scary. We are an average family, but we see now that being middle class almost equals being poor these days. Many of my neighbors packed up and shipped out as soon as news of the pandemic hit our city, which has more cases than anywhere else. It was like a Friday evening in the summer, when everybody goes to the Hamptons or to wherever their country homes are. We don’t have a country home.
Jones, Helen: 89, died April 7. Services pending (Wilson, El Reno).
DEAR HARRIETTE: My parents used to talk about hiding money in their mattress. It was very old-school thinking, but now I understand the value of their thoughts. I am closer to retirement today than I was before the markets started crashing. My 401(k) has tanked in recent weeks.
Since the coronavirus reared its ugly head in the state, the Oklahoma State Department of Health has sent out a news release on a daily basis. Many have to do with the latest statistics but one we like is called “Fact or Fiction COVID-19.”
My life has changed a lot in the last month. Instead of going to class now, I see my teacher and friends on the computer thru Zoom classroom.
The polls show Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in the presidential race. Looking at the last 10 surveys in the RealClearPolitics average of polls matching Trump vs. Biden, Biden is leading in every one of them – by anywhere from 3 to 10 points. Biden's average lead, in those 10 polls, is 5.5 points.
DEAR ABBY: I have been divorced for three years. I have been dating a woman, “Stephanie,” whom I love and believe can be my next wife. We talk about marriage and have been very good for each other.
DEAR ABBY: Is my daughter headed into an abusive, controlling relationship, or am I imagining the signs because of my own experience with domestic abuse for many years? She is 18 and, of course, parents are “idiots” who don’t understand anything. The young man tries to control where she is, won’t let her go anywhere without him, and suspiciously questions her if he thinks she spent too much of her own money.