FinCon is T R A S H.
In fact, it is worst than trash, it is racist & sexist trash.
Discovering the FIRE Movement early on in my working career forever changed the trajectory of my life. I became completely immersed in the world of personal finance. This meant diving all in for financial podcasts and every article I could find about how to better position myself financially.
Time and again I would hear or read about the principles of Mr. Money Mustache, VTSAX and a personal finances conference called FinCon.
On paper, FinCon seemed like a wonderful networking opportunity. Chatting about money with a bunch of people who love budgets, spreadsheets and charts? It personally sounded like financial paradise to me.
In fact, I was so enamored by FinCon I even added it on my original 20 goals for 2020 bucket list.
Why I Am Not Supporting FinCon
However, it turns out that Coronavirus won’t be the only reason why I won’t be attending FinCon this year. Simply put, Fincon is not worth it.
I repeat, FINCON IS NOT WORTH IT.
Recent stories by several equally successful women in the personal finance space has come to light and it is an eye-opener!
First, Erin Lowry of Broke Millennial started a thread about the reason why she would no longer be attending or supporting FinCon. I have never been more grateful for a Twitter tread.
Her honesty opened up the space for other people to share their experiences with the organization. And let me tell you this, it does not look good.
This in turn gave room for Tiffany of The Budgenista to share her own personal experience of the FinCon low-balling her for a keynote speech.
Why People Are upset With Fincon
This spurred other people in the FinCon Community to speak out about the clear issue of pay inequality.
Why Fincon Is Trending
When it rains, it pours. The courageous voice of a few opened the door for other to start speaking up about what they had witnessed the CEO Phillip Taylor support.
Phillip Taylor has since deleted all his racist tweets, “likes” of sexists and racist propaganda and any other social proof that show him in a bad light.
Let us be clear that the voices of the people can never be deleted. I fully expect more stories shared as the news develop.
Tanja Hester of Our Next Life wrote an amazing article that further highlights the issue of inequality. I encourage you to check out her informative post about racism in the personal finance sphere.
Agreed. The lack of conversation connecting our political situation to personal finance is ridiculous! Clearly our system is set up to benefit some more than others and I find it frustrating that so many people shy away from acknowledging this in their writing. Thank you for working to expose this, I otherwise would not have known about the pay disparity for keynote speakers at Fincon which is truly shameful.
Couldn’t have said it better. There really is a lack of conversation. Topics are often labeled as “political” – thus off limits. It is truly a disservice. Racism, Gender Pay Inequalities, Recorder Differences In Treatment are not “political”. I am glad people are starting to feel more comfortable speaking out. We can’t move forward without addressing these issues. Thank you for commenting.
I’ve been saying I won’t go to FinCon for years. I put in all the bloggers comment, but they don’t publish it.
Yikes! That is not good. I feel like people need to know what/who they are supporting. I am glad that these women shared their stories. Thank you also for commenting!