Take the 49 Day Financial Challenge

As originally appeared in The Jerusalem Post on April 18, 2025

“People ask me often, ‘Why did you leave Green Bay? You had the best quarterback, you were going good and all that.’ But I’ve always been one for challenges. Try to build something up, try something new, challenge myself.” -Mike Holmgren

My social media feed is full of titles like ‘over 50? take the 28-day calisthenics challenge’, ‘17-day challenge to lose 4 kilo’ , ‘steal the sock challenge’ and my favorite, ‘ try not to get hit challenge’ where they tie a water bottle to a ceiling fan and have participants blindfolded standing in a circle somehow trying not to get hit by the moving water bottle.

Earlier this week we started our annual count to 49, Sefirat Ha’Omer. I love the concept of doing something day by day, the slow and steady approach, and seeing how much can be accomplished. Entertainer Donny Osmond put it best, “If you’re climbing the ladder of life, you go rung by rung, one step at a time. Don’t look too far up, set your goals high but take one step at a time. Sometimes you don’t think you’re progressing until you step back and see how high you’ve really gone.”

As I have written previously, there are many reasons for why we count the 49 days between the 2nd night of Passover and Shavuot. According to the Baal Haturim it’s so the workers will know when Shavout is: “There are those who explain that the reason for the counting of the omer is that [the days of the omer] are the days of harvesting and the people are busy [working in the fields] and are not in their homes. They could therefore not be reached by the messengers of the courts to be informed when the new month begins. God therefore commanded us to count the days.”

While I tend to gravitate to this kind of practical answer, I saw another answer given by Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort, who writes, “We also learn that this period is meant to spiritually prepare and refine ourselves. When the Jewish people were in Egypt nearly 3,400 years ago, they had assimilated many of the immoral ways of the Egyptian people. The Jews had sunk to an unprecedented level of spiritual defilement and were on the brink of destruction. At the last possible moment, the children of Israel were miraculously redeemed. They underwent a spiritual rebirth and quickly ascended to the holiest collective state they had ever reached. They were so holy, in fact, that they were compared to angels when they stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. It was during that 49-day period that they underwent such a radical transformation.”

I know it sounds like I am a broken record, but building wealth, like spiritual growth, is a process. You can’t expect to invest today and become a millionaire tomorrow, it takes time. People may fool themselves into thinking that they can close their eyes, sing some songs while jumping up and down and instantly become on a level reserved for Angels, but this is a fleeting spirituality. In order to really elevate ourselves we need to work to be better people on a daily basis. In 7 weeks we can look back and see just how far we’ve come.

It’s the same with building wealth. Become responsible financially, live within your means and start saving money. It’s not easy and you may have some setbacks, but if you want to have a secure financial future, you have no choice.

I can’t stress enough that a key to financial independence is making good financial decisions. Living for today with no thought of the long-term, over-indulging in materialism, and hoping that you will come into money one day is not being financially responsible.

Too often I hear people complaining that they can’t get ahead financially because they don’t make enough money. It really bothers me when I hear this because it’s very doable, even on a small salary, to create a nice nest-egg. You just need to make that a priority. Saving and investing for the long-term instead of spending all your money on things that you “just need to have”.

A few months ago, I met a woman who was adding almost 2,000 NIS to her overdraft every month. She told me she hadn’t had a consistent salary in nearly 2 years. She was hoping to start a business. She had little food, was in serious debt, and decided that the best thing to do would be to take out a 2nd mortgage. When I suggested that she walk down to her local shopping center and get a job delivering pizza, or working in the supermarket, I was met with, “why should I make minimum wage when I can make 400 NIS an hour in my business?” I responded, “You aren’t making 400 an hour, and you have no food to eat. Swallow your pride and get a job!”

Stop failing financially. Take the 49-day financial challenge. Start climbing the ladder to financial security. It is not a quick process, but by constantly reinforcing good financial habits, you will be amazed at how far you can go.

The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.

Aaron Katsman is the author of Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing (McGraw-Hill), and is a licensed financial professional both in the United States and Israel, and helps people who open investment accounts in the United States. Securities are offered through Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. (www.prginc.net). Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, SIFMA, FSI. For more information, call (02) 624-0995 visit www.aaronkatsman.com or email aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il.