Reno, NV — Local Starbucks manager Ada Gunt says the recent stock market instability hasn’t bothered her one bit because she is living paycheck to paycheck and doesn’t have any exposure. Gunt, 36, says that following her divorce and a recent hospital stay, the only thing she has “is a lot of debt.”
“After Jim and I divorced, that kind of zeroed out my savings account, and last year I fell off the ladders and ended up in the hospital for 20 days,” said Ms. Gunt recalling what a tough year she had. “I had some insurance, but they only paid half of the $120,000 medical bills cause everything was out of network. So I wouldn’t have any money to invest even between collection calls.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst week in over a decade as investors who spent most of the winter shrugging off coronavirus-related concerns shifted into panic mode, rapidly wiping out a year’s worth of steady gains. Wall Street’s plunge has been historic. The longest-ever bull market for stocks ended last week just days after marking its 11th anniversary.
“As a kid, I used to think $1,000 was a lot of money. But now that I’m an adult, I think it’s a tremendous amount of money now that I’m broke,” continued Ms. Gunt. “My mother called me up. She keeps her TV tuned to Fox News all day. Anyhow, she told me to buy gold because it’s all crashing down. I was like, ‘with what? My good looks, Ma?'”
Despite the falling stock market, Ms. Gunt says she might get in “if the prices fall low enough for her to afford it. I mean, I guess there’s a point after everyone’s lost their money and everything is cheap. I’ve been living cheap for years now, so I know how to snap a bargain when I see one.”
