Wall Street Journal Money Challenge

By: Debbie Amsbaugh

Over the weekend I was reading a Wall Street Journal article on unemployment and saw an advertisement for their Money Challenge. I decided to sign up. I like these types of things and frankly, I can use all the help I can get. My kids are graduates of the Dave Ramsey school of finance. I found him too severe and unrealistic for life, but good on concepts. I immediately received a welcome email from them. Good start. I was unsure as to what to expect from the Challenges, but the Wall Street Journal delivers a decent product, so I was hopefully that it was better than the Buzzfeed quiz on money.

The Challenge sends out an email with a warmup exercise and then a challenge for the week. The first one arrived today. It starts with playing Dua Lipa’s Physical and getting moving to prepare yourself for the mental part. I love this on so many levels: great song, great idea – moving, great positive start. They even included a bonus track. The challenge was identifying financial habits and origins, setting goals, and evaluating them. J.J. McCorvey included a list of personal finance books for eager readers. There was a bonus credit section as well.

These are challenging times, I am tired of hearing that, but I could not think of another term to capture the sentiment. The unemployment article highlighted the discrepancies among workers being rehired or brought back. People are struggling financially.  Learning financial strategies and setting goals are important, but if you don’t have money to pay rent or buy food, saving goals are immaterial.

During the COVID-19 stay at home period, I spent time reviewing the bankruptcy rules and different options. Tom has bankruptcy experience from the previous 2008 recession, and he decided to start an LLM, a Masters in Taxation, to add to his M.B.A and J.D.  Bankruptcy can be a tool used to save a house, retirement, or piece of mind. No one anticipated the pandemic’s effects. If you are struggling with bills or other financial obligations, there are options for you. Bankruptcy is potentially one. Loper Law LLC is now offering a free consultation to discuss your financial situation, review your goals, and identify options.

I will let you know how this money challenge goes. The important lesson is to seek education and help from qualified people for whatever your financial situation is.