Put down the cleaning supplies and set financial goals
As originally appeared in The Jerusalem Post on March 20, 2026.
“Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.” -Phyllis Diller
A couple of days ago, I was at afternoon prayers in the building that we have been praying in due to their large safe room since the beginning of the war 3 weeks ago. In walked someone with a granny cart full of Pessach products and holding 3 kilos of Matza. I was in shock. I guess due to the stress of the war, getting ready for the holiday hadn’t yet set in. Now, to be honest, we generally don’t start cleaning until a week before, but at least we are thinking about what needs to be done. This year, it’s almost been an afterthought.
In most years, the weeks leading up to Pessach bring a familiar mix of urgency, stress, and, for many, a little bit of dread. Closets are emptied, kitchens are scrubbed, crumbs are hunted down with almost forensic intensity. The process can feel overwhelming. But beneath the surface of all that cleaning lies something deeper: a mindset of renewal, clarity, and intentional living. That’s exactly why Pessach is the perfect time to think not just about cleaning our homes, but about cleaning up our financial lives as well.
We are required to remove chametz, the leavened bread that symbolizes excess and inflation. It’s not just about the physical act. It’s about stripping things down to their essentials. In many ways, our financial lives could benefit from the same exercise.
Most people don’t have a financial problem because they lack intelligence or access to information. They have a problem because life happens. Accounts pile up. Investments accumulate without a clear strategy. Expenses creep higher, often unnoticed. Before long, what should be a clean, well-structured financial plan turns into a messy drawer full of old receipts, unused subscriptions, and forgotten goals.
Pessach cleaning forces us to confront what we own. Financial goal setting forces us to confront where we’re going. Start with the most basic question: What are you trying to achieve financially? Not in vague terms like “retire comfortably” or “save more,” but in concrete, measurable goals. When do you want to retire? How much income will you need? What are your priorities? Helping children, charitable giving, travel, or simply peace of mind?
Just like a home can’t be properly cleaned without first taking everything out of the cabinets, a financial plan can’t be built without first laying everything on the table. How is that for a connection!
Take inventory. List your assets. List your liabilities. Review your investments. Understand what you own and why you own it. Too many investors hold funds or stocks simply because someone recommended them years ago or because they performed well in the past. That’s not a strategy, that’s inertia. Pessach cleaning doesn’t allow for inertia. You don’t say, “Well, this cabinet was clean in 2018, so I’ll just assume it still is.” You check. You scrub. You reassess.
Just like cleaning for Pessach, financial cleanup doesn’t require genius. It requires consistency and attention.
Start by examining your expenses. Where is your money going each month? You might be surprised. Subscriptions you forgot about. Services you no longer use. Lifestyle upgrades that didn’t actually improve your happiness. Next, review your investment portfolio. Is it aligned with your risk tolerance and time horizon? Or has it drifted? Markets are changing, and that may impact your asset allocation. Rebalancing is the financial equivalent of putting things back in their proper place.
Do you have a clear plan? A well-designed plan integrates investments, taxes, insurance, and estate considerations into a cohesive strategy. Without that integration, even good individual decisions can lead to suboptimal outcomes. And let’s not forget about goals themselves. Just as families grow and change, so do financial priorities. What mattered ten years ago may not matter today. Reviewing your goals annually ensures that your plan remains relevant.
There’s also a psychological component to all of this. Cleaning, whether physical or financial, creates clarity. It reduces anxiety. It gives you a sense of control. When your environment is in order, it’s easier to think clearly and make better decisions. The same is true for money. When you know where you stand financially, you make decisions with confidence. You’re less likely to panic during market volatility. You’re less likely to chase trends or react emotionally. Instead, you operate from a place of purpose.
Take a deep breath. This won’t happen overnight. Just as no one wakes up to a perfectly cleaned house before Passover, no one stumbles into a well-organized financial life. It takes effort. It takes time. And yes, sometimes it’s uncomfortable. But it’s worth it.
Pessach is about freedom. Freedom from slavery, from constraints, from the things that hold us back. Financial clarity offers a similar kind of freedom, the freedom to make choices based on values rather than necessity, the freedom to support the people and causes that matter to you, the freedom to live with less stress and more intention.
So as you’re scrubbing countertops and checking pockets for crumbs, take a moment to think about your financial life. What needs to be cleaned out? What needs to be reorganized? What goals need to be clarified? You don’t have to do everything at once. Start small. One account. One expense category. One goal.
Because in the end, the goal isn’t just a clean house for Passover. It’s a clearer, more intentional life, financially and otherwise. And that’s a kind of freedom worth working for.
Happy cleaning!
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.
