Personal Finance is Personal

In Real Life

Last night I did something I have never done before.  I showed up at the local Rockstar Finance/ChooseFI get together.  This was my first chance to hobnob with my fellow personal finance geeks outside of the digital  construct we sometimes confuse for reality.  It was a great evening,  and I can say without reservation that personal finance peeps are lovely.  They are kind, giving, and generous with their compliments and opinions.  I was amazed at how all egos where checked at the door.  Although for my overwhelmingly extroverted self, nothing is more fear provoking than a room full of introverts, I found conversation flowed freely and continuously. Although there were so many take homes from this meeting, the one that stands out is fairly obvious.  Personal finance is personal!

Wonder what I mean by that?

I’ll go into greater detail in a moment.  But first I want to say that these type of get togethers are so worthwhile.  Social and gregarious, or quiet and reserved, this community will embrace you

There is so much to be learned.  So many new friends to make.

Personal Finance Is Not Just About Money!

Personal finance is personal!  It’s not about your net worth, or W2 income, or about the house hack that you are contemplating.  Sure we all talk about all of this.  But, in the end, it’s about much more emotional things.  It’s about your dad who died, or the disasterous relationship, or the time you lost all the money and started to question your own abilities.  As I have said before, money is a foil.  It is a wondrous distraction we use to hide from our deepest fears and hurts.  Much easier to be a loser in finances than in life.

And when your stare into the eyes of that wondrous soul in front of you, as opposed to that synthetic keyboard and screen, the conversation moves past money quickly and lands on something much deeper. You end up talking about life and the essentials of who you are on the inside.

Ultimately, we strive for redemption and community.  Financial freedom has become our pathway

Not Everyone Is a Blogger

I know!  Can you believe it!  The majority of people interested in personal finance don’t spew (like me) their beliefs out into the internet for other people to read.  Yet, what they have to say is no less important or instructive.  There are many, many smart people out there that can teach us all sorts of things about life.

If you don’t show up to any of these real life get togethers, you’ll never learn from their hard earned insight.

Personal finance is personal.  There is no digital substitute.

Even us bloggers have lots of thoughts and ideas that we are either too afraid, or too affected by to talk about publicly.  Yet, time and again, I found myself saying last night:

I don’t usually discuss this on the blog, but..

Proof of Concept

I did glean one personal finance related content idea that I had not spent much time thinking about.  There is a deluge of successful personal finance bloggers out there describing their own personal path to success.  But what the public really craves, in my estimation, is proof of concept.

There should be a push for more real, raw content about successes and more importantly failures.  Even those we hoist up on a pedestal are prone to struggle, make mistakes, and even fail from time to time.

Our paths are not just built on triumph, but also littered with regret and sometimes even pain.

We need to talk about that

We Gush Over The Next Generation

Seeing young people at the beginning of this path is inspiring.  It is the idea that gets most of us old timers excited.  There is a whole new generation of twenty year olds who are starting to think about personal finance and financial freedom.

Many of us have the experience and knowledge to help sky rocket this generation into the stratosphere to create and produce more than we could ever imagine.

It is our job to be the metaphorical backs for them to climb upon.

I can think of no better reason to participate in this community.

Or to attend one of these get togethers.

 

Have you gone to a meet up yet?  Have you talked with PF peeps in real life?  I highly recommend it!