> I was brought up to work diligently, not take on debt, and save Just keep doing that. Let's talk a worst case. Say coronavirus lasts 18 months and negative i

> I was brought up to work diligently, not take on debt, and save Just keep doing that. Let's talk a worst case. Say coronavirus lasts 18 months and negative interest rates last that long afterwards too. That's three years of negative rates. If it's in the 1-2% range, That's about 3-6% lost by keeping it in cash. So your worst case is 3-6% lost. Compare that to not working diligently, taking on too much debt, or not saving enough, your worst case of 3-6% is a drop in the bucket. We're likely to do much better than that worst case. I would, however add an item to your list which might be implicit. Invest your long term savings once you have more than a solid emergency buffer. Find a robo-advisor if you want to keep it simple. In 30 years it'll have grown a ton.