Money, Meaning, and What Comes Next

Joe Conklin Shure, CFP®

Conklin Shure Financial

I'm a financial planner who works with people who care about doing good in the world and want to make sure their money life reflects that. I didn't start out serving wealthy clients — I co-founded a nonprofit that provided microloans and business training to aspiring entrepreneurs, many of whom were new to the country or navigating the aftermath of the Great Recession. That's where my interest in the intersection of money and justice took shape.

These days, many of my clients are nonprofit professionals, social workers, educators, and advocates — people who've made real trade-offs to do work that matters, and who deserve actual financial guidance, not just "cut the lattes."

I'll be honest: I'm genuinely ambivalent about capitalism. I think that's actually an asset when you're trying to help people think clearly about money in a system that wasn't really designed for most of us.

What we'll cover

Here's what the session looks like

This isn't a lecture about budgeting apps. We're going to spend real time on the stuff that usually goes unspoken — the tension between values and money, the weird experience of feeling both privileged and financially precarious, and what it actually means to build security in a world that's not set up to make that easy. Then we'll get practical.

~30 min

Values and Money

The tension between work that matters and a world that doesn't always pay for it

You've made choices — or are about to — that reflect what you care about. Those choices often mean earning less. We'll talk honestly about that trade-off, how to plan around it without abandoning what you believe, and why there's more flexibility here than the conventional wisdom suggests.

We'll explore together What does "enough" look like for you? What are you willing to trade for meaningful work, and what's non-negotiable?

~25 min

Privilege, Scarcity, and Self-Compassion

You can be privileged and also struggling. Both things are true.

A lot of socially conscious people feel guilty about their financial anxiety — like they're not allowed to struggle because they know they have advantages. We'll sit with that tension honestly, and I'll make the case that some self-compassion here isn't indulgent: it's actually necessary for doing sustained, effective work in the world.

We'll explore together When have you been harder on yourself about money than you'd ever be on a friend in the same situation?

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~10 min

Break

~20 min

Community as Infrastructure

The safety net that personal finance forgot

Conventional financial advice is built around the individual. But a lot of people — especially those living communally or involved in mutual aid — already know that security isn't just something you build alone. We'll talk about how community is a legitimate, underrated part of your financial life, and how the practices you've built this year might carry forward.

We'll explore together What does your community-as-safety-net already look like? What might you want to carry forward from this year?

~30 min

Practical Financial Tools

Concrete skills for the transition ahead

This is where we get into the actual mechanics — applied to the specific moment you're in: leaving a stipend and provided housing and stepping into independent financial life. We'll cover cash flow and spending plans, building a starter emergency fund, navigating student loans (including Public Service Loan Forgiveness), understanding retirement accounts on a nonprofit salary, and a honest look at socially responsible investing.

We'll explore together What's one financial question or worry you're carrying into the next chapter that you'd like to leave with more clarity on?