What is the single best financial move you have ever made in your life?

We want to help you make informed decisions. Certain links on this page, which are clearly marked, may take you to a partner website and may earn you a referral commission. For more information, see How we make money.

You must do it yourself.

If there is one lesson to be learned from the financial devastation caused by the coronavirus in 2020, let it be this: Help is there, but it won't just come to you.

This year, you can take that literally. As Americans who have spent the past few months in social distancing realize, at the end of the day, you are on your own. And while there is a range of relief programs available for the millions who have been derailed, almost all of them come with the same series.

“You have to ask for it—and ask for the right way,” NerdWallet's Liz Weston put it recently.

Under the federal government stimulus act, for example, if you've been affected by COVID-19, you are entitled to "accommodation" from your credit card issuer, which can include exempt late fees, lower interest rates, or even the ability to skip Payments - without negatively affecting your credit report. But in order to get this accommodation, you have to do the legal work by contacting your credit card issuer and requesting it.

What is the single best financial move you have ever made in your life?

Likewise, the same law gives you the right to require forbearance on a federally backed mortgage for at least 180 days, which means you can skip payments without accruing late fees or additional interest. These payments may be due at once at the end of the six months, or you may be able to pay them until the end of your period - but again, you need to call your lender and ask.

It's not just government programs. In March, Ally Bank's auto finance division said it would give new customers a 90-day respite from their first payment. Bank of America said it will defer loan payments and add them to the end of the term. TD Bank has said it will waive its CD-account exchange fee before the full due date. But in each case - you guessed it - you had to call and ask.

The government is adding an additional $600 to weekly unemployment benefits through July. This is automatic...if you can get the benefits in the first place. Reaching government unemployment offices has become an arduous effort as legacy systems are suddenly flooded. In fact, relatively few relief programs have been spontaneous. Stimulus checks were, within certain income limits, as well as forbearance programs for federal (but not private) student loans.

Otherwise it is on you. And in a way, personal finance experts say, that's always been the case. No one will take care of your money the way you want it to - not a broker, chartered accountant, or financial advisor. Certainly not the government.

“That was my goal when I opened Suze Orman Financial Group: to make people as independent as possible from people like me,” says personal finance author and broadcast presenter, Suze Orman. "When I started my company, [my clients] had to go to Charles Schwab and open their own account. They were going to pay me a consulting fee. I didn't manage the money - because I wanted them to understand that they could manage their own money."

"If you want to find the best financial advisor in the world, look in the mirror," Orman says. "Because no one will care about your money more than you."