A couple that was 'taken out' by the stock market crash in 2008 says they've made 2 changes to handle 2020

Their lifestyle in Ecuador makes money stretch further, from their retirement account disbursements to their Social Security checks.
They've also made their portfolio more conservative, and they feel more confident in their ability to weather a storm.
If you have a story about how the stock market drop and coronavirus are impacting your retirement plans, email yourmoney@businessinsider.com.
Read more personal finance coverage

Edd and Cynthia Staton felt the effects of the stock market crash of 2008 acutely. This time, they feel much better prepared.

The Great Recession caused their Las Vegas, Nevada, home's value to tank, and their retirement account values to fall. Since they worked in lending and real estate, their employment ended sooner than anticipated, too. "It took us out," Edd told Business Insider.

Back then, the Statons had to start from square one on their retirement plan. They moved to Cuenca, Ecuador, a southern city in the Andes Mountains. Low costs of living allowed them to stretch their money and retire sooner than they planned. The couple now writes about retiring abroad on their blog .

They says that the stock market drop brought about by the coronavirus pandemic feels like deja vu. But, they're not anticipating any major changes to their finances or retirement plan after taking drastic measures the last time around, they feel much more prepared.

Their investment strategy has changed

After seeing their investments drop during the last recession, Edd and Cynthia opted for a change.

"The financial advisers, their advice is that once you go into retirement, your investments shouldn't be as risky. Our situation is similar, except we're not depending on the stock market," Cynthia says.

Their retirement strategy relies more on cash savings and their Social Security benefits than the markets. "We are very minimally in the US stock market, and our investments are mainly centered here in Ecuador," Edd says.

In the meantime, they've moved most of their savings into CDs.

CDs , or certificates of deposit, are a type of savings vehicle that locks up money for a certain period of time, generally ranging from a few months to a few years. While you can withdraw that money, you have to pay a steep penalty fee, so they're best used for money you know you won't need in the short term.

While interest rates for CDs tend to be closer to a high-yield savings account than an investment account, they're still much higher than a checking account and pretty much risk-free. Your rate is locked in when you open a CD, but banks do change their offerings along with the federal funds rate. After multiple rate drops by the Fed, the average 12-month CD rate in the US is just .32%, according to data from the FDIC .

CDs still have high interest rates in Ecuador, which uses the US dollar and where the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak have been similar.

They moved to a place with a lower cost of living

The Statons have lived affordably in Ecuador for about 10 years. "We could never have the lifestyle that we have here if we were living in the States," Cynthia previously told Business Insider . They're able to rent a home in an urban area, which wouldn't have been within their budget in the US. They can afford to eat out and be social whenever they want, where higher prices stateside may have stopped them.

In Ecuador, "we're comfortable living on our benefits," Cynthia says. They live better on less in Ecuador, and their affordable lifestyle eases their fears about money, even in retirement.

Like many Americans, though, the Statons feel a lot of uncertainty about the economy. "We don't know how this is going to be," Edd says. "We have no idea how Ecuador's going to fare."

"Everybody's hoping that this is going to be over quickly and the economy's going to rebound quickly," he continues. "But I would just encourage people to not rely on that and to be formulating a plan B."

While that may not mean picking up and moving to another country for everyone, Edd and Cynthia encourage everyone to start thinking of ways to make their money stretch if needed. "The plan B we came up with 10 years ago is just as viable today, if not even more viable than it was," Edd says.