What is your relationship with money? Do you budget and plan ahead or do you live in the moment and spend more than you save? Either way, we need to get better at talking about it if we ever want to be better at managing it (and eventually having more of it)—especially when you consider that globally, women drive 70 to 80% of all consumer purchasing.

Now, more than ever, we need to help women plan ahead, to take ownership of their money, and to become masters of their own financial futures. To do that, we teamed up with during our recent Money Moves digital summit for a live discussion on how we can plan it forward and have confidence in our financial well-being. 

After the chat with our CEO and founder, Jaclyn Johnson, we opened it up to a live Q&A so attendees could ask our panelists, Lindsey Bell, Chief Investment Strategist of Ally Invest and Emily Shallal, Sr. Director for Consumer Strategy and Innovation of Ally Bank all of their burning money questions—and you didn’t hold back. In fact, the questions kept coming even after the live discussion had ended in our dedicated Ally slack channel.  

So, we decided to compile a list of some relevant questions we received and asked both Bell and Shallal answer them for you. Read on to learn more about how you can plan it forward and be sure to let us know what money topics you want to learn more about in the comments below.

1. What about social impact investing? Do you have recommendations on resources for this? How I might educate myself? I want to be able to dictate where my money goes and what types of businesses I’m supporting through my investments. Where do I start?

LINDSEY: This has become an important factor for many people as they invest. For sources of education, I like this guide CNBC put out (includes examples of different funds that focus on ESG investing). If you really want to really dig into the trend, check out The Forum For Sustainable & Responsible Investment, they have a ton of research and information you can dig through.

 Just keep in mind that those resources are for informational and educational purposes only, and the information provided does not represent an investment recommendation or investment advice by Ally Invest.  

2. Would you suggest re-adjusting your financial goals for the year or just figure out other ways to make your original goals?           

LINDSEY: This is tough because it is a personal question. Reviewing your current situation as well as the risk of losing current income is the first step in making any decision. Instead of changing your goals or changing your life to meet those goals, it might make more sense to push those goals out while you weather the current storm. Writing out what your goals are and the options you have to reach those goals could be helpful in making the decision.

EMILY: If things haven’t changed for you and your income and expenses are still relatively the same, then keep your original goals. If your income has taken a hit and you think it’s likely to have long term consequences then you may want to readjust your goals. Sometimes with all of this uncertainty, working with shorter-term goals can be more manageable. Take your longer-term goal and break it down into monthly goals—what can you do in the next 30-days? This can be motivating and give you some emotional happiness that you’re still working on (and hitting) your financial goals.

3. During these crazy times, do you think it's wiser to pay down your credit card debt or stick with the minimums and put money in savings? 

EMILY: In these uncertain times, standard financial advice isn't always the best choice. Paying off high-interest debt is usually always the right choice. But the right choice today has to factor in your job stability and your emergency fund. If you have a large emergency fund, you probably want to pay down your debt.  But if you don’t, you may want cash if you’re worried about job stability or are really uncertain about the future.  The good thing is that if you don’t need those savings when we emerge from this crisis, you can use that money to pay down your credit card debt. 

MISSED THE MONEY MOVES SUMMIT? WE GOT YOU!
READ THE TOP QUOTES FROM ALLY x MONEY MOVES FINANCIAL WORKSHOP BELOW:

On prioritizing yourself…

“If you don't pay yourself first, you're always going to feel like you’re a step behind.” — Emily Shallal

On having an emergency fund…

“You never want less than three months of income sitting in your savings account.” — Emily Shallal

On investing in the stock market…

“Research shows investing in the market may be a good way to get a return on your money.”

“Start small. You don’t have to put your life savings into the stock market on day one. Start with something that you know. You have to do your homework on the company.”

“You want to get used to what the market feels like, the daily ups and downs, and the volatility of the market.” — Lindsey Bell

On putting money into a 401k…

“Once you start small, you’re going to see this momentum, you’re going to see that balance start to grow and you’re going to get excited about it.” — Emily Shallal

On adapting during COVID-19...

“Innovation and iteration are part of the business process and it will take you places you never thought you were going to go.” — Emily Shallal

On finding the right financial advisor...

“Working with a financial advisor is like working with a therapist because you really need to get along with your financial advisor.” — Lindsey Bell 

On finance resources to read...

“If you’re looking for just solid information, anything by Warren Buffett. The Wall Street Journal is also a great resource for building your financial acumen.” — Emily Shallal

“The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham will give you a great perspective about the market.”

— Lindsey Bell 

On the meaning of success...

“Success doesn’t have to be a destination. It’s about being a better version of yourself every day.”

— Emily Shallal

To see what Ally has to offer, visit Ally.com

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