We need to talk about FinCon

Since the pandemic I’ve had a hard time focusing on writing blog posts; they seem pretty out of touch for our current environment. That’s only increased since George Floyd’s murder (and Breonna Taylor! Let’s talk about her!) and the resulting Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality. I’ve been struggling with what to say that doesn’t sound flippant about what’s happening in the world right now.

I’m a very privileged white woman and have for my whole life been content to just be not racist. I, like so many other people, am currently coming to terms with the fact that that’s not enough and I need to be actively anti-racist.

I’ve been having lots of conversations with my (mostly white) coworkers: I work at an institution that on paper looks decent in terms of diversity, but in reality has a very stark divide between who works certain types of jobs. To its credit, I believe my company is seriously invested in changing how and who we hire, how we work across all of our departments, and the legacies we perpetuate. It’s been interesting watching a reckoning coming for the personal finance community at the same time, as well.

It’s long past time for us to talk about FinCon. “Where money and media meet.” Where a whole bunch of personal finance bloggers and nerds go to hang out with their friends once a year. Where I’ve been uncomfortable supporting the founder and CEO for years based on rumblings I’ve heard, but had ignored until now.

I tweeted about it, but not everyone is on Twitter and it turns out this blog I’ve had trouble writing for lately is actually my platform, not my social media accounts. So here we go. Continue reading “We need to talk about FinCon”

How I’m starting off the year

Hello, and Happy New Year, friends! (Are you tired of hearing that yet?)

I thought about jumping into 2018 with my December spending report, but instead I’m going super-topical and talking about resolutions. Or, more specifically, a lack of them.

I’m doing something new and not setting resolutions this year. Sure, I’m setting money goals, and like I said in that post, I have personal goals I’d like to work on this year. But typically every year I’ve set resolutions, so this is a weird departure from the norm for me. Continue reading “How I’m starting off the year”

My not-so-comfortable life?

So about that Washington Post article today that says you need $80,273 to live “comfortably” in DC…
1) Is that pre- or post-tax? These things matter.
2) Is this per household or average per person?
3) I guess things are looking up because last year the number was $108,092.
4) I started laughing and then I think I kept laughing to keep from crying. And then I shared the article with a coworker and we were both laughing to keep from crying.

Here’s the deal: at least as a single person, I find this ludicrous, even pre-tax. Continue reading “My not-so-comfortable life?”