You’ve seen the stories, 27 year old pays off $72,000 in 7 months. Or, this Ventura, CA couple paid off $200,000 in 13 months. You’re so excited for them but with each story it makes you wonder why your slow and steady financial work doesn’t get as much play in media. I began to think about the elevation of financial unicorns in media when talking to someone that I know very well and they said something that was very concerning to me. First, they’d internalized that everyone meets their financial goals faster than they had. That the financial unicorns were the norm and that this person’s years of hard work wasn’t the norm. It took everything in my soul not to scream in frustration at the normalization of what isn’t the norm. And, I had to record an episode about this because I think it’s dangerous, demoralizing, and keeps large numbers of people from cleaning up their debt, growing their income, or believing that these goals are even worth working towards. I’ve lost track of the number of people who’ve said “But, I’m in my 40’s” “It’s too late for me” “They did it when they were 32” I’m done. Let’s talk about the financial unicorns and why the elevation of their stories is both a very good and very bad area of focus in money media.
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How to Achieve Your Next Financial Goal. Are you working on paying off debt, earning more, or creating a first time savings? Watch the following video with Michelle’s tips on how she paid off over $60,000, grew her income, and finally began saving. She shares what she would have done differently and what you should avoid too.
Show Notes
- For those who don’t know, I’m blocked by Dave Ramsey on Twitter. The funny thing is I discovered this blockage during a time when I was a super fan of his. But, I wrote a blog post that his team (or, he) didn’t like. I basically wanted to know why a rich, white guy was so damn angry with the people he was serving. I basically said that there were people he could be serving but that he’s so mean he was repealing people from him as a resource. This was also the same time when I had to stop listening to his show because I would be so wound up by the end of each episode.
- Personal finance unicorn content has left me feeling the same way. I’m kind of over it and even though I love the stories, they’ve become a distraction from my story and others which are just as valid. In fact, my slow financial journey feels like the perfect GenX money story. Do we even exist and matter? Yes, the slow and steady financial goals community exists and is valid.
- I began my personal finance journey in 2012. I literally had an incredible financial mess on my hands.
- I had easily over 30 bills that I owed.
- The majority were in collections or about to be.
- I literally was in a constant state of financial fear and overwhelm
- Every single day I would get numerous text messages, emails, letters, and calls about my debt. Seriously, every single day.
- But, for some reason I just decided to start. One penny, nickel, dime, quarter, dollar, 5 dollars, etc. a time.
- My personal finance journey was so freaking messy. But, what I didn’t realize was that even though my journey was slow and messy, I was still making progress towards my end goal.
- In fact, I was watching ECO Challenge Fiji this week on Amazon Prime Video and the journey for the teams were BRUTAL. No one was left without injuries, scars or bruises from their journey and ultimately just finishing was the most important thing-and, the journey.
- I’ve stalled out on my journey, sped up, and stopped my money journey more times than I can count.
- When I shared my story I would sometimes feel like a loser and feel embarrassed that I hadn’t finished my journey yet. I was wrong to think this.
- In 2020 we experienced a pandemic. Who would have thunk it? And, as I sat in my house for 3 freaking months I just thought what if I hadn’t slowly worked towards cleaning up my financial situation?
- I’d paid off thousands and thousands of dollars of debt and had changed my life and it didn’t really hit me how profoundly things had changed until I sat in my home getting passive income payouts, looking at my budget and my stack of toilet paper without feeling financially stressed.
- It’s taken me 8 freaking years. Eight. But, in a 80,90, or 100 year life those 8 years are nothing. That’s the point I want to make. I focused on a goal. I focused on it for freaking years. The process wasn’t sexy. It was a hot mess. Then, I complicated it by deciding to work for myself.
- I’m not a financial unicorn. I’m living the story that I’ve heard from a number of people that I know in the personal finance space. Let me share how the journey looked for me.
- Setting a goal
- Life happens and I got off track
- I start again
- I get pushed off course again
- Then, I get focused
- A relative or friend needs help-so, I helped.
- I decide to go on vacation to reenergize. I paid cash.
- People judging everything that I’m doing.
- Feeling embarrassed that I’m in the personal finance space and haven’t gotten this sh$t done.
- Oh, look, a new bill showed up.
- I accidentally restart collections on debt that had aged out.
- Then, I got a summons to go to court for not one, but three fucking debts during the same year. Not realizing that you could have fought the validity of the bill in court. And, sitting in the court room you see so many Black and Brown faces plus a sprinkle of White people who just look so damn tired.
- If a person like me who spends a significant part of their week relearning their money habits, working on learning how to better manage my money, and how to grow my can make some of the mistakes that I’ve shared how is it going for people who don’t know what they don’t know?
- I’m not a Unicorn. My story is just as valid and just as important to share. During a time when millions of Americans are looking at eminent financial disaster and stress, I feel like this message needs to be heard more.
- You can do this
- It might take longer than you would like
- Even the smallest starting step is movement in the right direction
- I was afraid too.
- Rest when you need to.
- It’s ok to be proud of the Unicorns and love their stories. And, it’s 100% ok not to be one. Unicorns are Unicorns for a reason.
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I love this! Outliers are just that. It’s disingenuous to suggest, “Here’s how X did [insert amazing financial accomplishment] at [younger than average age]!” without mentioning every step they took, including every form of help and every type of advantage, both tangible and intangible. I would love to hear more about people’s stories of financial independence from an honest, comprehensive, warts and all POV.
Thank you so much for listening to the show and the feedback Alana! While I’m excited for those Unicorns, I’ve begun to really get concerned about how these stories are being internalized by people who could be distracted by seeing this constant financial messaging.
I’m not a financial unicorn either. There are no silver spoons or anyone to help me. This is getting done on my own.
PS. I love the shirt design.
Exactly. I’ve had to do everything and I mean everything myself. But, we’ve got this. Thanks for the feedback on the shirt!!
Michelle!!! Thank you soooo much for writing this piece. It’s one reason why I’m turned off to personal finance gurus in the first place. I just wanna turn off the noise and run my race in my way. As you said, slow and steady is the norm, not the unicorn stories.
And I’m so glad to see a Sista in this space! I’ll be reading your articles from now on.
Hi Ketsia! Thank you so much for stopping by. I recorded the podcast episode because I was really worried when I kept hearing people share that what they were doing financially wasn’t good enough. Then, I would hear people say why bother. So, I had to say something because this trend is problematic for many reasons.