He remains anonymous for a good reason
When I first contacted the Mystery Money Man, I was suspicious.
Why wouldn’t a person reveal their name – especially when they’re discussing something as serious as money? Was this a scam, or some part-time gig he cooked up to make a few extra bucks?
And then he told me why.
“As ironic as it may seem, I feel like I can be more honest with my writing,” says MMM. “In other words, anonymity provides a freedom of expression that I don’t know I would feel otherwise.”
It sounds like an excuse. As I pressed him about it, he continued. “I think that I might be tempted to filter my content if I knew it would be read by all of my friends, colleagues and family.”
Now we were getting somewhere. Money is always personal, and the source of a lot of arguments and judgment.
“I write a lot about the negative impact of excessive consumerism, the silliness of people going into large amounts of debt to buy fancy houses and $50,000 pickup trucks,” says MMM. “But I have friends and family, and colleagues who do just that.”
Losing friends and fighting with family members isn’t something that interests him. If they don’t share his financial priorities, he says that’s fine. After all, he’s made poor financial decisions in the past, too — he received a raise and immediately bought a $40,000 car. Some lessons, for some people, are only learned the hard way.
But MMM learned from them and optimistically hopes to help others avoid them. He’s also a former financial adviser, and says he felt most rewarded getting clients through dire circumstances.
“I’ve had the opportunity to help a lot of clients get through some pretty rough stuff,” he said. “Helping people recover financially after tragic events such as a divorce, or the death of a spouse are pretty high on the list.”
The Mystery Money Man may not reveal his name, but his reasons for writing his blog are clear. I’ll use his words: “My purpose is not for anyone to feel judged, but to help people make smarter financial decisions so they can live a better and more prosperous life.”
Published by Debt.com, LLC
