Breaking the Taboo of Personal Finances
Looking into Emilie Bellet's VestPod

Ieva Karvelytė,  London 23/10/18

Women in Finance Society, UCL

Each one of us was raised differently.  However, through cultural experiences and upbringing, it seems as if we all come to form an odd relationship with money. Money usually means security, opportunities and power. However, in some cases it seems as if conversations on money were a taboo.
We may feel comfortable discussing inflation, interest rates and other related phenomena. However, personal experiences and relationships with money remain un unfavored topic complementing a dinner with friends, for example.

Personal expenses and money management are more frequently exposed through social media. That new bag your friend bought, that watch you saw on new vlog of your favourite youtuber. The temptation of spending on certain things or experiences grows, leading people to buy with no real necessity - and, especially, with no real consciousness.
According to Bloomberg, Millennials are almost 4 times more likely to be in debt than Baby Boomers – would it be student loans or credit card debts. And most of Millennials have no financial education at all.
This is what Emilie Bellet wants to change. Having worked as an analyst in private equity merchant banking for 7 years, she realized how there was a general lack of  financial education and was stunned to see how difficult it was to obtain advice on how to manage money.

It has been almost 2 years since Emilie founded Vestpod, a digital platform for women in particular, that addresses the issue of money management. It started as Emilie’s personal blog about finance management and became a business of her own. It has grown and just recently been shortlisted in the 2018 Women in Finance Awards as Disruptor of the year.

Vestpod comprises a weekly newsletter of interviews and articles, a Facebook group, where women can ask questions and share knowledge and advice regarding personal finance, and also monthly events and many workshops.

Vestpod is also running a new initiative, What On Earth Are We Doing With Our Money?, aimed at breaking the taboo and actually speaking up about money.
It is never too early to start learning about personal finances, and having a go-to place such as Vestpod makes it all the more easy to seek advice and knowledge on the matter.

​As the slogan of Vestpod states: “ Let’s talk about money”.