WSJ Money Challenge: Updates on Saving, Communication and Retirement

Summary

WSJ Your Money Briefing

Episode: WSJ Money Challenge: Updates on Saving, Communication and Retirement

Date: November 20, 2020

Host: J.R. Whalen
Guest: Bure Lam, WSJ Personal Finance Editor
Featured Listener: Rosalie Beard

---

Episode Overview

This episode checks in on the Wall Street Journal's six-week Money Challenge, a series designed to help people navigate their personal finances through turbulent times—most lately, the COVID-19 pandemic. Host J.R. Whalen and guest Bure Lam dive into listener feedback, discuss persistent financial challenges facing Americans, and share key tips on saving, debt, family money conversations, and retirement planning.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The WSJ Money Challenge: Reflections and Reader Experiences

• Purpose of the Challenge: To provide manageable, actionable steps for people to better control their finances during uncertain times.
• Wide Relevance: The challenge resonates “no matter where people are at in their financial journey”—from recent grads to those nearing retirement.
  • “Everyone had something to say about the Money Challenge, which I found really interesting.” — Bure Lam (01:51)
• Top Concerns: Readers crave advice on saving and investing within the wider context of a financial plan, heightened by pandemic uncertainties and historically low interest rates.

---

2. Saving Strategies in a Low-Interest World

• Many feel challenged by low yields on traditional high-yield savings accounts due to ongoing Federal Reserve policy.
• There’s heightened interest in finding safe, accessible parking spots for cash—especially important for retirees.
  • “What we say about saving and investing and where to put your savings has to change based on what’s going on in the news. It just, it just has to.” — Bure Lam (03:37)

---

3. Climbing Out of Debt: Listener Story

• Listener Highlight: Rosalie Beard shared her family's 20-year journey out of debt by tackling the smallest balances first and redirecting funds as debts were paid off (the "debt snowball" method).
  • “I've read in different columns, tackle the smallest debt first. So that's what we do... It was such a relief to get to that point where now that money is going toward our future.” — Rosalie Beard (04:08)
• She emphasizes both the emotional and practical significance of finally directing income toward savings and the future, rather than debt payments.

3a. Debt Prioritization in a Pandemic

• Bure Lam advises listeners to reassess their debt priorities, factoring in current relief programs and moratoriums (e.g., federal student loans).
  • “I would do a serious debt prioritization after learning about all the relief programs that are available to you... The prioritization is probably going to look different than when the pandemic wasn’t going on.” — Bure Lam (05:47)

---

4. The Importance of Family Money Conversations

• Rosalie discusses how getting out of debt prompted her to teach her 19-year-old son financial independence and good habits:
  • “As a parent, as a mother, it's my job... to prepare him for the time where I'm not here... if we can give him financial independence, being able to make right choices for himself... that type of knowledge I think works wonders.” — Rosalie Beard (07:07)
• The WSJ Money Challenge includes a whole edition on how to talk about money, which Bure says is a favorite among readers across ages and incomes.
  • “It’s definitely a favorite of our readers. I’ve had a lot of feedback saying they really enjoyed that edition across age groups, across income groups.” — Bure Lam (07:54)
• Even retirees and financial professionals find value: an 85-year-old retired CFP took the challenge to check if his advice is still relevant—and found that it is.

---

5. Retirement Challenges and Tips

• Many retirees (or those nearing retirement) find the post-working years intimidating, especially living on a fixed income.
  • Bure’s team, especially Ann Tergeson, writes extensively on this transition.
  • Key issues: budgeting, investment decisions, part-time work, and timing of Social Security withdrawals.
  • “There are serious budgeting issues, there are investment issues based on what's going on in the economy or the market... all those are decisions that people need to start thinking about as they near their retirement years.” — Bure Lam (09:13)
• The Money Challenge, while not tailored just for retirees, still provides useful foundational skills—particularly around budgeting.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Adapting Financial Advice:
  “What we say about saving and investing and where to put your savings has to change based on what’s going on in the news. It just, it just has to.” — Bure Lam (03:37)

• On Achieving Debt Freedom:
  “I don't know what it's like to be debt free... I wanted to learn the tools, so I don't ever want to go back to that.” — Rosalie Beard (05:06)

• On Financial Education for Children:
  “It took us 20 years to get to a point if we can give him financial independence, being able to make right choices for himself, a future family, college, a job, that type of knowledge I think works wonders.” — Rosalie Beard (07:19)

• On the Value Across Generations:
  “I heard from a retired CFP who said that he took the series just to see... whether the advice that he gives his clients and his children and grandchildren are relevant in today's economy. And, and he said it is, which is so great.” — Bure Lam (08:24)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Money Challenge Background & Accessibility: 00:36–01:43
• Biggest Listener Concerns: Saving & Investing: 01:43–03:49
• Listener Debt Story: Rosalie Beard: 03:49–05:36
• Debt Prioritization Tips: 05:36–06:56
• Talking About Money with Family: 06:56–08:48
• Retirement-Focused Discussion: 08:48–10:08
• How to Participate in the Challenge & Share Feedback: 10:08–11:12

---

How to Join the WSJ Money Challenge

• Sign up at WSJ.com/moneychallenge to receive all six editions delivered to your inbox.
• Bure encourages readers and listeners to provide feedback and suggest topics for future challenges.

---

Overall Tone:
The discussion maintains a practical, empathetic, and encouraging tone—highlighting how financial skills are relevant for everyone, especially amid the uncertainty of a pandemic. Both hosts and guests stress adapting advice to changing circumstances and the value of open, ongoing conversations about money in families.

---

For More:

• If you took the Money Challenge or want to share your own financial journey, listeners are invited to leave a voicemail at 315-992-8298 for possible inclusion in future episodes.

Transcript

[A]

Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees, but I don't really need it.

[B]

Inflation is killing me, but who cares? Big retailers are making record profits. That's why we support the Durbin Marshall credit card bill.

[A]

See banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll. This bill would cut the vital resources

[B]

they need while increasing megastore profits. They deserve it, don't they?

[C]

Tell Congress stop the Durbin Marshall money grab for corporate megastores paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.

[D]

Here's your money briefing for Friday, November 20th. I'm J.R. whelan for the Wall Street Journal. During the Pandemic, many of our listeners and readers have been taking the Wall Street Journal's six week Money Challenge for personal finance tips and pointers to help them be smarter about money.

[E]

People are really, during this pandemic, looking for places to park cash that can still access. We all know the importance of having accessible cash and having an emergency fund if you can do it.

[D]

We've heard from many of you who took the Challenge about your top money concerns. And so our personal finance editor, Beray Lam will be here to go through the Money Challenge mailbag. We'll also hear from one listener who learned the importance of Talking to her 19 year old son about being careful with money. That's after the break. The Wall Street Journal's six week Money Challenge has guided readers and listeners through tough economic times, giving them helpful tips to better manage their finances. So how's it going? Let's check in with our personal finance editor, Bure Lam. Bure, thanks for being here.

[E]

Thanks, J.R. always great to be here.

[D]

So what have you learned about our readers and listeners based on the responses to the Money Challenge, we've heard from

[E]

so many readers who've completed the challenge. And I think what's interesting is that no matter where people are at in their financial journey, whether they are at the starting line, just graduating school or just getting their first job, just starting to save for retirement, or if they're looking to buy a house or if they are near retirement. I think that everyone had something to say about the Money Challenge, which I found really interesting.

[D]

And you know, based on what some of our readers and listeners have told us, they can't get enough advice on saving and investing as part of an overall financial plan.

[E]

Yeah, that's a topic that people are super curious about, especially right now with the Federal Reserve signaling that they're going to hold rates low for the next three years, possibly until 2023. This is a question a lot of people are pondering you know, some people out there used to recommend these high yield savings account, which are yielding very low yields now. And so people are really, during this pand, looking for places to park cash that they can still access. We all know the importance of having accessible cash and having an emergency fund if you can, if you can do it during a national international emergency such as this. So a lot of people are looking to where they can put their money that will actually get them some interest and some a little bit of income. For retirees especially, this is a really important question. What if you're near retirement or in retirement and part of your portfolio has to be in cash? So I think that's, that's something that people have been wondering about and we always try to do that here in personal finance, like not just reiterate the common sense, traditional personal finance advice, but really react to the moment like what's going on in our financial system right now. I think what we say about saving and investing and where to put your savings has to change based on what's going on in the news. It just, it just has to.

[D]

The past six or eight months have been really tough on people. Those who were really careful about money before the recession are now trying to get out from under piles of debt. One listener we heard from is Rosalie Beard. She lives in Fullerton, California, and she told us how she and her husband were able to eventually get themselves out of debt. Here's Rosalie.

[F]

I've read in different columns, tackle the smallest debt first. So that's what we do. We would chop through whether it was a school loan, it was a credit card loan for department store. Then once you're done paying off, we would take that money and put it toward the next bill. And what we also did is that we would, I don't want to use the word sacrifice because we chose to live a certain life within the year to ensure that we got a tax refund and we would go out to dinner with whatever money we got back and the rest would go to put more money on the credit card if we're able to pay off something or I think our ideal goal was to be able to pay off your credit card every month. I, as silly as that may sound, that is something that I wanted to achieve in the meantime, still putting money away and saving. So it was a lot it 20 years, you know, we're paying off for things that we had on a credit card probably five, six years down the road, interest after interest. And it's just, it was such a relief to get to that point where now that money is going toward our future. And just one of the things and the reason why I had looked at the challenge in August was I don't know what it's like to be debt free. I've known friends and family who have gotten debt free and then a few years down they're back in it, you know, and it, it I wanted to learn the tools, so I don't ever want to go back to that.

[D]

So beret, you know, for a lot of people it's hard to find their way out of debt, especially with the strain that interest puts on their finances.

[E]

Absolutely. I think Rosalie's method is, is sound for those who are able to, you know, afford all their essential expenses. And then going out to dinner probably isn't an option for most people right now. So putting that money towards debt makes sense if you can do that. I think right now, while we still have the moratorium on student debt and there are relief programs for other types of debt, I would do a serious debt prioritization after learning about all the relief relief programs are available to you. So for example, if you have student debt, very likely there's only two or three kinds of federal student debt that are not in the suspension where you, where interest won't be accruing and payments won't be due until next year. And there's some speculation about whether the government's going to continue that program. So I would factor all of that into your debt prioritization and the prioritization is probably going to look different than when the pandemic wasn't going on. So I would assess your personal situation after paying for your essentials, what are your debt loads and like, which ones have relief programs and which ones are priority debt.

[D]

And Rosalie echoed the sentiment of many people who took the challenge. They realized the importance of discussing money with family. Here she is talking about discussing finances with her 19 year old son.

[F]

As a parent, as a mother, it's my job. I've always seen my job is to prepare him for the time where I'm not here. And that may sound morbid and I don't mean it to sound that way, but I want him to know the tools. I want him to, to learn as much as we. It took us 20 years to get to a point if we can give him financial independence, being able to make right choices for himself, a future family, college, a job, that type of knowledge I think works wonders.

[D]

So Bray, it seems like, you know, any kind of communication about money can be very important.

[E]

The Money Challenge has six editions and one of the editions is about how to talk about money and quiz and a how to in terms of how to, to approach this topic with people close to you and stressing the importance of understanding money, not just for children, but to understand money with your peers, with your parents. Some of us are getting to the age where we're going to take over our parents finances or help them with it if they, if they want us to. I would say of the sixth edition, it's definitely a favorite of our readers. I've, I've had a lot of feedback saying they really enjoyed that edition across age groups, across income groups. And then one, one thing I really enjoyed about the Money Challenge is I heard from a retired CFP who said that he took the series just to see like what's happening in the world and like just to see where he's at. He's 85 and he wants to see whether the advice that he gives his clients and his children and grandchildren are relevant in today's economy. And, and he said it is, which is so great.

[D]

Yeah. He's a CFP certified financial planner. And you know, we heard from retirees and not just people who've just entered retirement, but like the person you heard from people who are well into their post working years and that can be a very intimidating time trying to manage finances on a fixed income.

[E]

Yeah, I think with our coverage we really try to cover everyone at different meeting people where they're at in their lives. For retirees that is definitely a question that's really hard. And so Ann Tergeson on my team writes a lot about how to navigate these challenges. Living on a fixed income after years of whether you're single income or dual income household, it's very different. And there are serious budgeting issues, there are investment issues based on what's going on in the economy or the market, the decision of whether to work longer or not or work part time, when to start withdrawing, Social Security, if you're going to start what age you're going to start at and if you're going to delay, all those are decisions that people need to start thinking about as they near their retirement years. So I think those things are worth thinking about. And our Money Challenge, even though the Money Challenge is written for everyone, so it's not specific to these new retirees or people well into their retirement, I think there's some utility for them because budgeting is a top issue for them as well.

[D]

Now people can still take the WSJ Money Challenge. It covers important topics to help people manage their money and put their personal finances in order. How can they find a beret?

[E]

You can still take the Money Challenge. You can sign [e-mail] moneychallenge and then the newsletters will come to your inbox when you sign up. So you'll still get all six editions over the course of six weeks. Six Challenges we call them easy Money Challenges for hard times. So they are easy. We love hearing from readers and listeners about what their favorite edition of the newsletter was, which Money Challenge was most applicable to your life and most helpful to you, and maybe which ones wasn't so helpful to your particular financial circumstance. So we'd love to hear from readers and listeners also about what future challenges they want to take from the Wall Street Journal in the new year in 2021. So if you have ideas for that, for something that we can challenge you with would really be of interest of you, please let us know.

[D]

All right, that's Wall Street Journal Personal finance editor Bure Lam Bure, thanks for coming on the show. Thanks, J.R. and if you embark on the Wall Street Journal six week money challenge or plan to start, we want to hear from you. What are your biggest money challenges and what are you hoping to learn about your finances? And are you already making changes to your money habits? Call us at 315-992-8298 and leave a voicemail. We may include your voice on our podcasts. And that's your Money briefing. I'm J.R. whalen for the Wall Street Journal.

[C]

This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news in Washington. [e-mail] WashingtonWise.