MoneyCrush- an interview with Jackie Beck

Posted by Bruce Mc on Jan 18, 2011 in Information, Opinions | 0 comments

Jackie Beck is an entrepreneur who started her first “business” in the 2nd grade. (She’s since moved on to iPhone apps.) Jackie writes about learning to love your financial life and reaching your goals at http://www.moneycrush.com .

I have been reading her blog since it first began (her first post was published October of 2009, Preventing Impulse Buys) I was hooked with her post Hey, Maybe the Reason Your Business is Down Has Nothing to Do With the Economy.

Also, I am happy to mention she has a secret soft-spot for tax-related topics and real estate investing that was fostered by her grandfather.

Bruce:

Writing about finance, isn’t the easiest thing for anyone to decide to do. You write/have one of the most popular blogs on the net entertaining this subject. What took you there? To clarify, why do you write about PF issues? What Drives you to blog?

Jackie:

I wanted to do two things: get in the habit of writing every day and improve my finances, so I began a personal finance blog in order to kill two birds with one stone. Plus, I like talking about money and goal-related issues.

Bruce:

So the blogging is for you. I put my blog out to inform taxpayers about tax info and Finance info. I want to help people better their money and their taxes. In doing so I think it helps me become a better writer.  Do you gain personally from the knowledge that you help to guide your readers? I mean, in part are you writing knowing that your helping someone?

Jackie:

Whoops, I guess I only answered parts of that. What drives me to blog (as opposed to just writing in a journal for myself) is different. I love the interaction with other people — the comments, the other personal finance blogs, the ideas, etc.  I love sharing insights and inspiration. I like to make a difference by helping others learn to love their financial life and reach their goals.

Bruce:

Why do you like this field?

Jackie:

I’ve always enjoyed discussing personal finance, probably due to one of my grandfathers. He talked to me regularly about stocks, real estate investing, and taxes from an early age on.

Bruce:

I contribute a lot to my one of my Grandfathers as well. As an Electrical Engineer Professor at OU, he had absolutely no idea about what I now do, but he was a major influence in my life. What did you Grandfather do?

Jackie:

For a living? He was an engineer on the railroad. He had a couple of businesses (including a tax business that he continued for long after he retired from the railroad), owned rental property, and invested in the stock market. He liked to do woodworking, and was a very good listener and the epitome of integrity.

Bruce:

That’s cool.

Epitome of integrity, I haven’t heard that term in a while.

Bruce:

What are your weaknesses/strength as a writer?

Jackie:

Weakness: I have an extremely hard time editing my own work.

Strength: I don’t stress out about getting every word just right. Of course I like them to be just right, but I don’t let stress paralyze me.

Bruce:

In your own words can you describe today’s financial market?

Jackie:

I think it’s experiencing post-traumatic stress syndrome. The average person is still experiencing stress from the events of 2008. A huge number of folks had to deal with job loss (and sometimes multiple job losses), pay cuts, furloughs, foreclosures, short sales, and bank closures. Those who had it good just watched their retirement accounts drop like a rock and counted themselves lucky.

The constant bombardment from the news about financial events magnified everything and kept it top of mind.  Folks now are still reluctant to invest, and governments around the world are still struggling to stabilize and improve things.  So of course the financial markets are twitchy, and fearful of a repeat of those kinds of things.

Bruce:

Thanks, I am going to get back to you, here. In your own opinion, what is your biggest flaw?

Jackie:

I spend too much time worrying about the “things I have to do” sometimes, and not enough time focused on the present.

Bruce:

As a writer what is your current goal?

Jackie:

To continue improving my writing so that my meaning is clearer and actionable.

Bruce:

Okay now can you share your Goal in life?

Jackie:

That’s a pretty big thing! If I have to pick one thing it will sound cheesy, like “to change at least one person’s life for the better”.

Bruce:

That Doesn’t sound “cheesy” at all. Of course that’s where I am, so. . .

What was a major obstacle you have faced personally?

Jackie:

You know, it’s funny. I don’t feel like I’ve faced “obstacles”, but there have definitely been difficult things that I’ve gotten through: a relationship that ended in divorce, businesses that didn’t take off, long-term unemployment and living on less than poverty-level income, the deaths of close family members, and social anxiety.

Bruce:

That’s really nice to hear. Let me elaborate. A great number of people would have taken what you called “difficult things”, and classified them as obstacles, personally and financially. I think it is great that these things haven’t stood in your way. Everything that you listed, have you been able to grab yourself up and learn from what has happened?

Jackie:

Yes, I’ve definitely learned from everything that’s happened, and while it’s a total cliché to say that I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for those experiences, it’s true.

Bruce:

Can you tell us of a professional disappointment that still gives you pause?

Jackie:

Years ago I applied for a job that I felt I was very qualified for. I’d been doing the job for months on a temporary basis, my customers tried to help me get the job on a permanent basis, and I’d brought in a huge contract that was directly responsible for my area receiving a coveted award from the company. I didn’t get the job though. I still feel disappointed about that, but I wouldn’t be in the field I am now instead if it hadn’t been for that.

Bruce:

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Jackie:

Ideally retired and doing my own thing.

Bruce:

So you have a plan to get you there?

Jackie:

Sure, the majority of the plan is based on the approach outlined in the book Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. Our goal is to minimize expenses as much as possible so that the things we’re buying or spending money doing are the things that are really important to us, and to invest for the long term.  I’m also working on maximizing income to meet our next big goal of paying off our house by my self-imposed deadline of December 2011.  (And since you run a tax blog, it’s almost always been more to our advantage to take the standard deduction than to itemize, so we won’t be missing out on a mortgage-interest deduction.)

Bruce:

That’s actually a thought I have every time I hear about people paying off their mortgage. More people need to do this, but I always wonder if they consider the tax situations when they do.

Bruce:

What was the last book you read?

Jackie:

Side Jobs by Jim Butcher.

Bruce:

What reading would you recommend?

Jackie:

For personal finance, my favorite book is the one I mentioned earlier, Your Money or Your Life.

Bruce:

Thanks Jackie this has been great honor for me to get to know you. I look forward to more at http://www.moneycrush.com.

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