el unfiltered 3

Been sentimental reading notes, words, and reactions about the "legacy" I left at my former employer: our 'lil Club I started there more than sixteen years ago. Another kind gal today sent another email to me with these similar sentiments just today, saying, "...you’ve always been so generous with your knowledge especially on a subject that is often considered taboo, so I applaud you for starting a conversation that has changed the lives of many including my own!" And I was so touched, and throughout the day I reflected... Here's my unfiltered thoughts on it all tonight...

I nurtured this Club totally selfishly.

I went to its first meeting out of necessity to make up for a knowledge shortfall I had on the topic of stocks. I later took over its leadership, also out of necessity to keep it going, so I could keep being helped by its members and our guest speakers. It grew organically, just by word of mouth about its value. And many years into it, well, always fighting imposter syndrome, feeling daunted myself by some critics, and being short on bandwidth as my responsibility to the mothership grew in my day job, I actually almost moved to sunset it at one point.

I was burning out. The day job was a lot. I was becoming more senior in the organization I was in, and The Club, a voluntary past time of mine at night and on weekends and the occasional lunch hour, took a lot of extra cycles and effort to keep it alive, well, cared for, and fed. Volunteer helpers were scarce. The responsibility over the sixteen years would usually be sourced by just little old me. There were great helpers, certainly, from time to time, no way I could have stuck with the Club without at least a few of these angels along the way (you know who you are!). But, many times, I pondered to "ZBB" it (zero based budgeting way of saying 'no time for it in the scope of my workday.' But I didn't. I would vent a bit, take the occasional hiatus, and then set up another lunch-n-learn and keep it going by doing the research, writing, and logistics on nights and weekends and the hosting on the occasional Tuesday over my lunch hour. Never wanting to attract attention that it was creating a conflict of interest with my job one, I always ran our Club in my free time. Never wanting it to die on the vine, I'd blow wind into its sails and keep it afloat.

Why?

I gave it all I could because the Club truly helps people (me included), it meets a need the employer can't legally resource on their own. So, during long work weeks, pondering the Club's needs of me (which were often thankless with some pretty audacious demands), I would at times be ready to deflate with a sigh, hang it up, and be done, and then just before I'd run right out of steam, on a walk to the cafe the next day, I'd get stopped in the halls by someone I didn't even know who wanted to thank me for the information they learned at The Club which empowered them to gain more financial confidence, acumen, or power. And like that [snapped fingers sound here], I'd be all recharged, and ready to go. I'd set up the next Club session and just try to not worry about the critics, my lay-ness/lack of any financial credentials, or whether I was even helping enough people. I loved it. Even if I helped just one.

My company wasn't paying me to run this Club. It was not my day job. In fact, the real "Powers"-that-be would rather have likely wished, I bet, that I wasn't running it on their premises and network assets. It could create exposure or liability if any content were to be taken out of context or assumed to be sanctioned, personalized advice from the company--the type of which no employer should be doling out. But I was careful and empowered by a senior leader who trusted me, so I proceeded and just copiously disclaimed The Club as not representative of the corporation at all. Every time. And I was careful never to document anything in writing without it carrying The Club disclaimer. I also never recorded anything, well save for one lunch-and-learn session on the topic of crypto currency mining, which the compelling presenter on that topic wanted recorded, so an exception was made. Not recording our sessions made me feel more comfortable to be myself too and it created a safe space for a 'no-dumb-questions' culture at The Club. Several scoffed at not being able to replay the sessions. Nothing I was going to do about that, but to recommend they start their own clubs and record those for playback.

The original Club, on the day I bid it farewell, had nearly 5,500 members. The notes, hallway-delivered words of thanks, and the DMs I've received over the years and since retiring, probably amount to being from less than 2% of the membership. But they fueled my why. Less than .01% made up the audacious demanders and they aren't getting me down anymore. I figured as I always do, you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.

And at so many times over the more than decade and a half being in service to my peeps at the mothership of course on my own time and my own dime, any of their heartfelt notes of how I helped positively change someone's financial life by making it easier to learn about money, always truly made me cry joyfully, fulfilled, and sappily feel it was all absolutely worth it. I'd occasionally read your notes to my sons too, just so they'd know how my enduring time on the PC or away from them was meaningful and important and for a good cause for which they could be proud of me. How can I not stay on this mission today? I am able to, so I gladly keep at it. I still have anxiety about the record button. May try to overcome it. New sessions coming soon. So, we'll see.

The Club will take a less specific approach now to unpacking the mothership's exact benefits' designs so no liability will occur there. It will help all workers of any employer consider financial benefits of any design, for themselves, for their families, because money always matters no matter where you hang your cardi (short for cardigan; office spaces are so very cold).

Money matters, as you know well too, are not always the most easy or entertaining of topics to cover. And playing back my sessions are not likely to be too entertaining. But 'money' can be stressful, so at our sessions, I've always tried to put money topics into readable, plain language the way a friend would talk with you and put you at ease. And I've always loved when others do a better job than I ever could of making these types of talks entertaining (or even edu-taining). I am inspired by the creatives!

So, before I wrap this post up... Two things left to say tonight...

1. Thank you, once again, for the heartfelt notes you've written about what The Club means to you. If you've ever done that, you're in my two percent who fuel me! Grateful. Let's help out more of your peeps too. Tell the others. Or share what you've gained from The Money Matters Club below in the comments and signal me about what you've loved, or still want to learn even more about.
   

2. Here's another nod I'd like to give, this time to the makers of these five, top-of-mind, and very edu-taining shows to watch about money at your next opportunity. I wish I could pop you all some popcorn too. But you take care of the snacks, while you sit back to watch and enjoy these picks below and let me know what you think of the lessons and the morals of these stories you can playback on-demand for now:

• The first is PBS's Frontline documentary about the "Retirement Gamble" workers face in the US. I hadn't seen this myself until today (I used to live under a rock, until about a month ago). Thank you, Club Friend Danielle for sharing it with me this morning! So good that I was inspired to share it tonight. Why only 5.9M views out of the 250M total available adult US Market? I wish I knew. Let's boost that viewership, Club Friends! Every American should have to watch this Frontline episode! The documentarian deserves our thanks!

• John Oliver's exposing description of the same challenges in the US retirement system. Always fun to watch this again and again. Calamity meets hilarity meets reality. Enjoy the 20-ish minutes you will spend on this one, it covers much of what the PBS one does in a lighter way.

• Netflix's stream of "The Big Short," a plain-speak account of the 2008 housing bubble bursting and the fraud that led to it, told by celebrities we can't take our eyes off of. Rewatched this yesterday just because I was doing some reminiscing about living and working through that crash too and its impact on me at work when it happened (I had to prepare the company's notification and response to employees who were invested in the Reserve Primary Fund in their 401(k) Plans after Lehman Brothers folded and their Fund 'broke the buck' for the first time, ever).

• Netflix's stream of "Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street." This is a sad truth and cautionary tale. It shaped my inability to trust much of anyone with ever managing my money. Just nope. Do not ever be the one to take the bait. Treat it all as bait. Be safe! Vet. Check. Monitor. Audit. Repeat.

• Netflix's streaming series, "Money, Explained." Great intro to money for the whole family, especially if you like the "How it's Made" style TV shows.

Please do not let any of our Club's topics or any of these shows listed above scare or daunt you about money, investing, saving in this country's retirement system, or managing credit, mortgages, and insurance along the way to retirement. Knowledge is power. Decide what you'll do to play empowered in the system. This Club wants to help.

I'm preparing a podcast for you to listen to too (it will be recorded, audio only), to help you learn about one specific money topic, Power of Attorney designations, through a cautionary tale discussed girlfriend-to-girlfriend style... coming soon and sure to be entertaining, my girlfriend is hilarious to listen to! Just trying to pick a podcast platform out still. Tips welcome. And soon, we'll be talking about annual enrollment before your plan elections are due! And more!

You matter to me. You are my why. Thanks, Club Friends!

Because money matters,

el*

*not an expert, just care. please forgive the typos tonight (but thank you for catching them, and if you do, send me a note).

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