“I wish I were more confident with money…”
“Money stresses me out and makes me anxious…”
“I spend money to make myself feel better, but then feel worse…”
“My mental health makes it tough to manage my money…”
“I don’t even know where to start with my money…”
Do these statements sound familiar? As a finance writer and money mindset coach, I hear these comments every day from readers and clients.
Owing $81,000 to Nelnet (my loan servicer — you may also know their subsidiary U-fi, their refinancing arm) made me so anxious and depressed. I remember when I fell down the Google rabbit hole in 2012 searching “how to pay off debt” and discovered the vast and wonderful world of finance blogs. I felt like I found a path toward something. But something huge was missing. At that time, no one was acknowledging the mental health impact of debt.
After spending an entire year crying every day, feeling lost and ashamed for having a useless M.A. from a fancy private school, it was clear that my student loan debt was taking a toll on my mental health.
As someone who has experienced clinical depression, anxiety, and OCD, experiencing situational depression and anxiety due to money sucked.
It was what led me to start DearDebt.com, my blog (and later book) which shared my journey of paying off debt.
I remember writing anonymously and thinking I was all alone. As I shared more of my story, people commented and shared and told me they too were feeling depressed and anxious because of debt and money in general. I realized that money and mental health are much more intricately linked than I previously thought.
Now I’ve paid off my debt and have worked in the personal finance space for eight years. I launched Dear Debt’s sister site, MentalHealthandWealth.com, and the podcast The Mental Health and Wealth Show in early 2020. Just a few months later, these two topics that are so taboo — mental health and money — suddenly became relevant for everyone as the COVID-19 crisis hit.
Over the past year, I’ve seen how important it is that we change the conversation around money and mental health. We also need to help people talk about these topics and get information in a shame-free, no-judgment zone. So much personal finance advice and mental health care lacks empathy and can feel clinical or straight-up pathologizing.
I want to change that and that’s why I created The Mental Health and Wealth Summit in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month in May.
If you want open and honest conversations around money and mental health, while getting actionable advice and resources, this is for you.
Below is the schedule for the week-long summit. All of the sessions are “live” over Zoom, so you can attend at the scheduled time below and bring your questions and interact with others. Can’t make it but still want the content? No worries, all ticket holders will get video recordings of the sessions (just FYI the hangout and party will not be recorded).
We have a range of speakers from financial therapists to a Certified Financial Planner®, author and breathwork specialist, student loan expert, and more. Learn more about the Summit here.
Mental Health & Wealth Summit Schedule
Feel free to jump in whenever you can! All sessions are “live” but you’ll get a recording if you can’t make it but still want the content.
Monday, May 17th
Welcome & Breathwork: Unlocking the Power of Intentional Breathing to Set, Reset and Relax by Jason Vitug 4pm-5pm PT/ 7pm-8pm ET
Break 5pm-5:30pm PT/8pm-8:30pm ET
Transform Your Money Mindset by financial therapist Lindsay Bryan-Podvin 5:30pm-6:30pm PT/8:30pm-9:30pm ET
Tuesday, May 18th
HSAs: Investing in Your Health and Wealth by Begonya Klumb, Head of HSAs at Fidelity Investments 4pm-5pm PT/7pm-8pm ET
Break 5pm-5:30pm PT/8pm-8:30pm ET
Breathe In Money: How to Release Money Blocks to Reconnect MIND, BODY, SPIRIT, & BANK ACCOUNT by Dr. Nicole Garner Scott 5:30pm-6:30pm PT/8:30pm-9:30pm ET
Wednesday, May 19th
Managing Student Loan Debt and Mental Health — a conversation with Travis Hornsby about the 2021 Student Loan Planner Mental Health survey + Q & A – 4pm-5pm PT/ 7pm-8pm ET
Break 5pm-5:30pm PT/8pm-8:30pm ET
How to Manage Your Spending Triggers by Wendy Wright 5:30pm-6:30pm PT/8:30pm-9:30pm ET
Thursday, May 20th
Ask a Financial Planner by Bryan Ruiz, CFP® (bring your money questions!) 4pm-5pm PT/7pm-8pm ET
Mental Health and Wealth Hangout 5pm-6pm PT/ 8pm-9pm ET
Friday, May 21st
Financial Win Party 4pm-5pm PT/7pm-8pm ET
I am so excited to share this summit with you and this is the first time I’m doing something like this online (I’ve planned plenty of events IRL with Lola Retreat). It’s no small undertaking and I’m putting my heart and soul into this. I believe this is my life’s work after struggling so much myself with mental health and money. I am paying speakers and putting my time to make this a great experience.
All of this to say, the summit is not free but there are sliding scale options that are capped up to a certain amount.
$10 – for attendees with limited to no discretionary income
$35 – this is the regular ticket price, for attendees who can afford the full price
$50 – for podcast and summit supporters who can afford more and wants to help cover the sliding scale.
Have any questions? Email me at deardebt@gmail.com. I’d love to see you at The Mental Health and Wealth Summit “live”. If you can’t make it, you can still buy a ticket and get the recordings.
Melanie Lockert is the founder of the blog and author of the book, Dear Debt. Through her blog, she chronicled her journey out of $81,000 in student loan debt. She is also the co-founder of the Lola Retreat, which helps bold women face their fears, own their dreams and figure out a plan to be in control of their finances. She is passionate about empowering women, helping others get out of debt, and focuses on the intersection of debt and mental health. Every September she organizes a Suicide Prevention Awareness Blog Tour, to help share resources for those struggling with debt and suicide. In addition to her love of personal finance, art and music, she is also a karaoke master and a cat mom to Miles and Thelonious.