Welcome to PSA Thursday, a weekly segment in which we talk about how to handle money,

work, and life in the middle of a pandemic. My name is Paula Pat. I'm the host of the

Afford Anything Podcast. And today we're going to cover two topics, how to build an emergency

fund in the middle of an emergency, and the bear is here, what's happening with the markets right

now, and how does that affect the way that you should handle your investments during this time

of extreme economic uncertainty. So we'll talk about both of those in today's episode, but before

we do, first, as you know, my not-so-secret, not even remotely-secret, secret agenda for these PSA

Thursday episodes is that really what I hope to communicate is the message of flatten the curve.

Please take the COVID-19 threat seriously. Please stay home, wash your hands, do everything in your

power, to the best of your ability to play a role in flattening the curve. In the spirit of that,

I'd like to share this very sweet voicemail from a member of this community, a podcast listener who

is a cardiologist. Here it is. Hi, Paula. This is Stan. I'm a cardiologist over in Baltimore,

Maryland, who is currently helping the hospital prepare for the oncoming surge of COVID-19 patients.

I just wanted to say how impressed I have been with your latest podcast, not just about how,

on how to be a socially responsible citizen and a smart investor, but also how intelligently you

approached your COVID-19 infection even before you got infected. What you did clearly prevented

the infection of many people and you were able to see through all the disinformation in the media

and see the truth before others did. What you did was a model for everyone and I wish that

all the people I have been talking to and trying to educate about this could listen to what you

had to say. So thank you from a medical professional for being an upstanding citizen and a great role model

for how to be responsible during this pandemic. I am glad you're recovering and I hope you feel

back to 100% very, very soon. All the best to you and thank you for everything that you do. Take care.

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