Ever been so stressed out that making the smallest decision feels exhausting? Under those circumstances, the thought of making a big decision could make you feel frozen in place, unable to act at all.
If the ongoing coronavirus emergency has you feeling that way about your money, there’s a new tool that might help you pave the way for progress.
The Money Moves Quiz from online financial counseling service SmartPath takes you through a series of questions to identify your options for financial resiliency during the pandemic.
You might be thinking. “I know what to do: Save more, spend less and don’t use my emergency fund to pay for frivolous stuff.” But that’s easy to say in a normal economy, when the unemployment rate is reasonable and most non-essential workplaces are open for business.
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But right now is weird. So it can be hard to know which money management option is right for you—especially when everyone and their grandma has an opinion.
The quiz asks 15 questions about your situation, including how much you have saved for emergencies, what kind of debt you have, and whether your work situation has changed. You need to enter an email address to get your results, but you have the option to uncheck the button giving permission for SmartPath to send you marketing emails. And the company says it doesn’t save or share any of the information you provide in your quiz.
Your report will tell you how long to plan for (like 30 or 60 days, for example) and show you your options to access cash in strategic order.
Results based on an example scenario I provided.Screenshot: Lisa Rowan (Money Moves Quiz)Results based on an example scenario I provided.Screenshot: Lisa Rowan (Money Moves Quiz)Look, maybe you think you have it all figured out and you don’t need any hand-holding to get by. But you don’t get a prize for that right now.
Self-sufficiency has its place in the handbook for the American Dream, but here in Pandemicville, we’ve all got to be practical and work with the situation we have.
And if that means getting a reality check in the form of a quick quiz, by all means, use the free resource. It might help you shake that frozen feeling and get moving on steps you can take to shore up your finances for the next few months.
