2024-09-24 –, Junior Ballroom
Tech is attractive to folks because of the pay and the standard of living it provides. However, if you come from a background where you have no financial education beyond, you may accumulate less wealth than you could. I will share my story, background, the mistakes I've made and how I operate now in the hopes of making it a little easier to discuss in the future.
Talking about finances is awful.
There are several things I'd rather talk about with a group of strangers before finances. However, I believe that as a part of the tech community, there's a moral responsibility to make sound personal financial decisions because you earn a comfortable salary. I have made several mistakes along my career, and I'm probably still making some. The goal here is to make it a bit easier for us to have these conversations.
I was the first in my family to graduate from college. One of my parents attended some college. They knew how to balance a budget, and they knew to max your employer's 401k matching program. Beyond that, there wasn't much of a plan.
I didn't have any financial literacy when I entered the tech industry. In fact, I fell prey to a corporate insurance provider, bought an insurance-investment type product and contributed to it for years! I've left money in my savings account because I was scared of the market.
At the end of this talk you will have a basic understanding of:
- The importance of planning, budgeting and saving
- Maximizing employer contributions
- What to look for in life insurance
- How to evaluate health insurance plans
- How to evaluate an index fund
Tim Schilling is the lead developer at AspirEDU, an education analytics company. For most of the 2010’s he spent his time working as a remote freelance contractor working with small businesses and individuals. He currently assists with the Django Debug Toolbar, has a handful of Django commits, is a part of the DEFNA board, helps organizer DjangoCon US and is an organizer for Djangonaut Space. Outside of software, he enjoys learning, reading fantasy/sci-fi and attempts gardening, making hot sauce and bread baking.