Money Matters Festival: Introduction
Emilie Bellet’s introduction to money matters
Welcome to our very first Vestpod Festival.
It all started 7 years ago, when I sent this very first newsletter about money to about 30 of you and it felt really awkward and a bit embarrassing. I didn’t know much about personal finances, I was an investor already but never actually had any money conversation.
It’s not something I used to do at home growing up - or during my business studies or even when I was working in banking. I’ve also been raised in a way that made me feel that talking about money was rude or impolite. Managing money can be lonely and we don’t always have the support we need. But the topic of money is hard to ignore, it’s the elephant in the room.
I feel that today we want and are ready to have these conversations. Why does money matter? We’re all at different stages in our financial journeys (debt, start saving or investing / teaching money management / giving advice / sustainable investing). But what I have learned is that managing money is not linear, especially for women. We also have this timeline in our head. By 30, 40, 50 I would have done this or that. We think we get it, and then it doesn’t go as planned or we start doubting ourselves or we fear we’re not doing enough: will I have enough money? Achieve my goals? Personal situations change — work, markets. How we feel and especially now: the news and the economy.
Things we can control, and can’t control. There is a lot of noise out there. It’s about how we react to what’s happening, how we plan and constantly reassess where we are. We still believe that how much money we earn defines how valuable we are to society, and that money is a definition of success. I can tell you it’s not. This is why we need each other.
I wanted us to get together today to solve problems we may not be able to solve on our own, to celebrate where we are and to make decisions for our future selves. Today, we chose to gather at the heart of the financial centre, next to the bank of England in a place that for the best part of the 20th Century - was the Midland Bank - was one of the UK’s largest banks.
It feels really weird to be here at this point in time for me. We have to acknowledge some privilege, especially in a cost of living crisis - but it also feels powerful to be in a room full of women who I believe want to change things. Money is a tool, an enabler and we need it in our lives. For us, for our communities, families, for the causes we care about and to help people who need it the most. We’re here to unlearn things that we have been told for most of our life about money. And to learn them again - to be able to take action and set an intention for ourselves. We will do that today via stories, from those on stage (who are still learning) and also all of you.
It’s about finding a balance between today’s needs, and planning for tomorrow.
I’d love us to start with a super short exercise to get to know each other - we will be spending the day together: Can I please ask you to turn to the person next to you and share a story, a moment or an experience that changed the way you view or manage your money?
Before we start I have one rule for you: today, I want you to set an intention for yourself about money and share it with someone in the room before we say goodbye tonight. We gave you these friendship bracelets as a reminder of this.
Enjoy our day because MONEY MATTERS.
