This week I’m in Orlando for Fincon, the annual gathering of folks who work at the intersection of money and media. As a result, I haven’t had time to do all of the things I normally do during a week. I haven’t been reading or writing about money. Instead, I’ve done a lot of chatting with colleagues.
We’ve been coming together at Fincon since 2011. At first, we were nearly all strangers to each other. Today, many of these people are my closest friends — but they’re friends I see in person only once or twice each year. I value every moment I get to spend with them.
On Tuesday, for instance, a group of us booked a private VIP tour through the Disney theme parks. We had a blast. I mean, look at this wretched hive of scum and villainy…
Chatting with other money nerds this week has given me additional clarity about the future direction of Get Rich Slowly — on the web, on YouTube, and in the email newsletter.
You see, most money bloggers (and podcasters and YouTube creators) are in it for the money. That’s fine. I have no problem with that. But that’s not me.
Yes, I would very much like to earn income from the work that I do, but I’m in the fortunate position that I don’t need to earn that income today. I had a windfall from the site thirteen years ago, which allows me to pursue this as a passion project (at least for a time).
Instead, I can focus on making Get Rich Slowly meaningful to me and useful to you. I can ignore the financial side of things while I work to build a resource that helps people master their money — and their lives. While I might not earn anything from the site today (or next week or even next year), I have faith that if I provide value, then eventually I’ll discover a way to make money in a way that doesn’t compromise my values.