Investing in cryptocurrency is a form of ‘schmuck' insurance and other talk about money

tech.hindustantimes.com:

This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve the world’s most pressing policy challenges. It has been edited for length and clarity. 

Alexis Leondis: You’re an illustrator, musician and founder of a financial firm, The Hell Yeah Group, that helps creative people with their personal and business finances. Earlier in your career, you worked at a major bank as a collections agent, and also at a more traditional financial planning firm. In your new book “Finance for the People: Getting a Grip on Your Finances,” you take those experiences being “inside” to help those who have felt ignored or underserved when it comes to money management. What’s the most important message for those readers?

Paco de Leon, founder, The Hell Yeah Group and author, “Finance for the People”: This world is for them. And I am a testament to that. I’ve been on the inside and I’ve still felt like I was on the outside. The reason why was because I didn’t feel like there was somebody there to usher me in and welcome me in. And I’m going to be that person for everyone who wants to go along for the ride.

If I had to boil it down to one theme, it’s not to fear your finances and not to be afraid to speak up and talk about it. There’s this cultural [idea] that it’s inappropriate to talk about money. It’s frowned upon in some workplaces to talk about your salary with your employees, which to me is so gnarly — because you’re literally at work to earn the money! And so, you’re walking around not saying the thing that you’re there for. This book and all the work I do is really about opening up a larger conversation about money. Because I believe once we’re more comfortable talking about money, people are going to start facing