What I Know About Personal Finance

So you have a better idea of what I’ll be writing about, here’s what I can tell you about me: 

I believe that financial planning is not about teaching people to make better choices. People are the experts in their own financial lives. The choices people make are limited to the choices people have. Our job as financial professionals (and anyone who wants to work toward social justice) is to clear barriers, so the choices people choose for themselves and their families are ones they actually want to make - without shame and with confidence.

Personal finance can be fun when it’s practical and meets you where you are instead of where the expert/writer/speaker thinks you should be. It’s also most relevant when you know what you actually want in life, so you can use money as merely a tool, what it’s meant to be. The first step is honest reflection about what you want out of life then finding the help you might need to get there. Rinse and repeat. 

The myths we tell ourselves of why people are poor in the U.S. are outdated. Stories become myths when they start shaping how a society behaves. Our American myths don’t consider the historical and current structural barriers that are in the way for the majority of us. 

Financial literacy is incomplete without knowing financial history. And understanding financial history and righting those wrongs is an important key to clearing barriers to wealth building. 

I’m a recovering perfectionist. But friends, mentors, and self-help books, have helped me realize that perfection doesn’t exist. It’s a tool used by gatekeepers to keep outside voices out. I promise to write something monthly-ish and publish it here whether or not it’s perfect.

That’s me. Thanks for reading! I hope you stick around.