Top Bloggers to Meet at FinCon Masters 2017

FinCon Masters is a new event series produced by the team behind FinCon, the premier conference for financial blogging and media. Launching this year in San Francisco, New York City and London, the event aims to bring together elite and experienced financial bloggers, podcasters and content creators for advanced sessions and networking. I made my first foray to FinCon as a member of RealtyShares in September, and I won’t miss another one. If you are lucky enough to be headed to the New York City and San Francisco events, make sure to maximize your time at the conference by connecting with these top industry influencers (and me).

Farnoosh Torabi (NYC)

Longtime personal finance media personality Farnoosh Torabi has been on camera in front of millions on shows like Today, Good Morning America and The View. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, The New York Times and other media outlets. She now runs the award-winning podcast So Money. Farnoosh is one of the featured speakers at FinCon Masters New York.

Jordan Goodman (NYC)

Finance media veteran Jordan Goodman is billed as “America’s Money Answers Man.” Jordan has authored 13 books on financial topics and spent nearly two decades on staff at Money Magazine. With regular appearances on The View, Fox News Network, Fox Business Network, CNN, CNBC and CBS Evening News, Jordan is a trusted voice in the busy world of financial media. You can find his writing in various publications, including his website, Money Answers.

James Altucher (NYC)

If you have not heard of James Altucher, you are in for a treat when he takes the stage at FinCon Masters. James has founded or co-founded more than twenty companies. He has 13 published books and is managing director of Formula Capital. He has written for a variety of media outlets, including TheStreet.com, The Financial Times, Seeking Alpha, Daily Finance and TechCrunch. He is a successful investor, media personality, author, podcaster and more. Be sure to say hello to James at FinCon Masters.

Lynnette Khalfani-Cox (NYC)

Lynette has a background in journalism, and leveraged that background to become a trusted name in personal finance. A weekly guest on the Russ Parr Morning Show, a nationally syndicated radio show, she became entrenched in financial media after taking a job at Dow Jones & Company as a Wall Street reporter. She has also worked at the Wall Street Journal and as an on-air talent at CNBC. She is author of six finance books. Lynnette blogs at her website, Ask The Money Coach.

Andrew Fiebert (NYC)

Andrew Fiebert is the “Chief Nerd” at Listen Money Matters. The Listen Money Matters blog and podcast focus on all things money, ranging from income and debt management to owning rental properties. With a team of 12 contributors, Listen Money Matters has grown into a top destination for people to “manage [their] money like a badass!”

Tom Drake (NYC)

Tom Drake is a longtime staple in the FinCon community. Tom runs the Canadian Finance Blog, one of the most recognizable sites for Canadians to manage their money, as part of his empire at Drake Media. While he still maintains a full-time day job as a financial analyst, he is recognized as an expert in online business. Through partnerships with other bloggers, Tom has built a reputation as an expert of the business behind a successful blog.

Stephanie McCullough (NYC)

Stephanie McCullough is founder of Sofia Financial, a woman-focused destination for financial information online and financial services offline. Whether women want a one-time session or an in-depth financial advising relationship, they can find it at Sofia Financial. As a leader in the growing financial segment targeting women, Stephanie is a name to remember in the finance industry.

Scott Alan Turner (NYC)

Scott Alan Turner brings rockstar flair to finance. Through his website and podcast, Scott blogs about getting out of debt, increasing savings and retiring rich. He admits he was not always so financially savvy, but by opening up about past mistakes he has built a following due to his open, relatable style and his refusal to accept any advertising of any kind. And when he’s not blogging, he really does play in a rock ’n’ roll band.

Toni Husbands (NYC)

Toni Husbands is the woman behind Debt Free Divas, a blog and podcast focused on helping women get out of debt and take control of their personal finances. Noting on her “about” page that 76 percent of American households are living paycheck to paycheck, Toni has a goal to create a community to support each individual as they progress on their debt freedom journey. After paying off $107,000 in debt in seven years, she went to the web to share her story and built a strong fan base looking to her for guidance to do the same thing.

Kirk Chisholm (NYC)

Kirk Chisholm is a principal at Innovative Advisory Group. As a financial advisor, Kirk has an inside view into many unique personal finance situations, and has built an online presence around providing answers and commentary on common but perplexing financial topics. Coming down to New York from his home in Massachusetts, Chisholm runs a fee-only advising practice. He and his company have been featured in major publications like The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times, Boston Magazine and The Boston Globe. If you want to meet someone with real-world finance expertise, Kirk should be at the top of the list.

Lacey Langford (NYC)

Military money life coach Lacey Langford is a personal finance blogger, speaker and life coach with roots in the United States military. After growing up as an “Army brat” moving around the world, she joined the Air Force and married another military member. She draws on her history with the military to help other military families overcome unique money challenges that come with military service.

Emilie Burke (NYC)

Emilie Burke blogs at Burke Does, a personal finance and lifestyle website. Having lost 100 pounds, she promotes a message of both physical and financial health to her growing audience of dedicated followers. Burke is a founding member of Tech Ladies, a community of 10,000 women focused on improving the position of women in the tech industry.

Claudia Pennington (NYC)

Claudia Pennington is a digital marketing and SEO specialist. She runs a training website at SEO Audit Guide, where she helps bloggers and online marketers of any background reach a larger audience through smart search engine optimization. Claudia leverages her online community to help people pay off their debt and move toward a life of self-employment.

Gyutae Park (NYC)

Gyutae Park is a member of the team at Money Crashers, one of the biggest personal finance websites in the world. Gyutae drew on his extensive digital marketing background to catapult Money Crashers to national attention, with features in The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes and MSNBC. The site has an email list of over 75,000 followers, so it’s safe to say that when Gyutae and his team speak, people listen.

Moshe Rosenblum-Amsel (NYC)

Moshe Amsel spends part of his day as a sales engineer, but he is best known online for his work at DreamBuilder Financial. DreamBuilder is a blog and company dedicated to helping business owners manage accounting, bookkeeping and business strategy. With a focus on coaches and online business owners, Moshe’s company helps businesses that reach everyday consumers grow and thrive.

Melisa Boutin (NYC)

Melisa Boutin knows a thing or two about student loans. She worked hard to pay off her student debt and now wants to help others achieve the same financial success. Recognizing that a degree is not the guaranteed path to riches it once was, Melisa helps readers at Your Money Worth leverage their degrees to get out of debt and obtain the life of their dreams.

Jason Reposa (NYC)

Serial entrepreneur Jason Reposa is founder and CEO of MyBankTracker, a website that tracks bank, credit card, and loan interest rates so consumers always know they are making the best decision. Additional website features and guides help people choose the best account for their needs, even if it is not the best interest rate on the market. By empowering consumers to make the best financial decisions, Jason and his team are making a serious impact to better people’s finances.

Priya Malani (NYC)

Priya Malani started her career at Merrill Lynch before co-founding Stash Wealth. Stash Wealth is a company that helps individuals, couples and entrepreneurs master their finances with programs focusing on reaching their own goals, consolidating and simplifying their financial lives, and building plan they can follow to achieve those goals. Through a custom-tailored plan, Stash Wealth staff help people learn about finance while getting on a path to a better financial life.

Zac Johnson (NYC)

Zac Johnson is an online marketing and website guru who has reportedly made millions online. He is an active blogger, podcaster, and author of “Blogging Tips: Confessions of a Six Figure Blogger.” After experimenting with click ads, affiliate marketing and more, he has developed a brand and resources around helping others achieve the same level of online income and success.

Stephanie Genkin (NYC)

While spending 15 years at CNN and contributing to Money magazine, Stephanie went back to school and earned a Certificate in Financial Planning at NYU and her CFP designation. She now works as an adjunct instructor at NYU and runs financial workshops around New York. She also blogs about money at Brokelyn, a cleverly named blog about being broke in Brooklyn.

Paula Pant (SF)

Paula Pant is one of a small group of speakers at FinCon Masters San Francisco. Known for her blog, Afford Anything, Paula and her mantra that “you can’t afford everything, but can afford anything” have struck a chord with readers around the world. Paula is a thought leader in smart budgeting, real estate investing and building a business that can operate while you travel the world. Connect with her and learn more at Afford Anything.

Bobby Lee (SF)

Bobby Lee organizes the annual FinTech competition at FinCon, and has his finger on the pulse of what’s going on with money-focused startups across Silicon Valley. Bobby’s blog, 2 Minute Finance, has been around since 2008 with a focus on personal finance. You can also find him hosting videos at Money Crashers, on the Young and Oldish Money Podcast with Barbara Friedberg, and the E’Ville Eye blog focusing on his hometown of Emeryville, California. His strong background in media earned him the emcee role at FinCon Masters.

Nick Loper (SF)

Nick Loper thinks you can earn a lot outside of your 9–5 day job, and founded Side Hustle Nation to bring like-minded hustlers together. This site has been a breakout success over the last year, putting Nick at the forefront of the side hustle movement. Nick maintains a blog, podcast, a very active Facebook group and a 50,000-member email list. He focuses on helping his community find legitimate, trustworthy opportunities to turn downtime into dollars.

Lee Huffman (SF)

Travel blogger at Bald Thoughts, Lee recently transitioned his blog from a solo enterprise to a part of the elite BoardingArea travel blogging community. Lee is a very active blogger and social media presence, notably in his Travel More. Spend Less. Live Better. Facebook group. Located in Southern California, Lee maintains a full-time job in banking while running dual side hustles in real estate and travel blogging. But he isn’t home very often — you are more likely to find him in an airport on the way to his next exciting destination, and odds are he paid pennies on the dollar to get there thanks to travel hacking.

Chris Peach (SF)

Chris is the founder of MoneyPeach, a blog and podcast all about — you guessed it — money. The Arizona-based blogger has a dedicated following who purchase his courses, follow him on social media and tune in to his weekly online live training sessions. These mini webinars have helped launch Chris to a new level of success, and his trajectory shows no signs of slowing.

Deacon Hayes (SF)

Another Arizona-based blogger, Deacon runs Well Kept Wallet, where he helps readers manage debt and budgets, and manage money as a couple. Deacon’s story began with paying off $52,000 of debt in 18 months. He shared his story online and found many kindred spirits looking to his story for inspiration and guidance.

John Rampton (SF)

Founder of Due.com, John Rampton is a voice for the payments startup community across the web. The entrepreneur’s contributions can be found in publications including Inc., Forbes, Entrepreneur, Mashable, TechCrunch, Time, Fortune, CNN, Fox News, ABC News and more. The Salt Lake City native is a regular public speaker and online marketing influencer. Due.com is a business focused on helping online business owners get paid with invoicing and digital wallet tools.

Jay Fleischman

Jay Fleischman does not fit the typical finance blogger profile because he is not a typical finance blogger. The student loan and bankruptcy attorney is host of the Student Loan Show, a podcast about managing and paying off student debt. Located in sunny Pasadena, California, this attorney has been featured as an expert on a range of national media outlets, has 20 years of experience and is reaching out to a community of student loan borrowers who are in crisis trying to manage their debt.

Zina Kumok (SF)

Freelance writer Zina Kumok burst into the FinCon scene with a five-minute talk at Ignite FinCon in Charlotte in 2015. As the owner of Debt Free After Three, Zina shares her story of paying off $28,000 of student debt in three years on a $30,000 income. But she makes quite a bit more now writing for a variety of publications. She has a journalism background and had covered sports and other topics before committing to personal finance, where she specializes in saving, retirement and loans.

Casey Flemming (SF)

Casey Flemming has nearly 40 years of experience in the real estate industry. The former appraiser-turned-mortgage lender is based in San Francisco and has authored the book The Loan Guide. He runs a blog of the same name. Casey is a recognized expert in the mortgage industry. Through his company, C2 Financial Corporation, he continues to originate new loans and broker real estate transactions throughout much of the United States.

Yulin Lee (SF)

Yulin Lee is the woman behind Project M — Money and Mind. Yulin focuses on helping independent, entrepreneurial, and recently divorced women take control of their money and their lives. Through coaching, blogging and live events, Yulin reaches a wide audience of women, many of whom have joined her Project M community.

Andrea Amir (SF)

Smart Money Chicks is an online project from Andrea Amir, an experienced real estate agent and mortgage banker on a mission to help women take charge of their money. Growing up in Las Vegas with a mother working in the casino industry, Andrea knows the exact value of a dollar and how quickly some people are willing to throw their hard earned dollars away. Readers at Smart Money Chicks learn about everything from managing debt to mastering investments, and they have a great guide with Andrea at the helm.

Bill Dwight (SF)

Bill Dwight is the founder of FamZoo, a website designed for families to “prepare their kids for the financial jungle.” The education system does a terrible job of preparing young people to manage their finances as an adult, and Bill jumped in to help solve the problem. FamZoo offers apps and debit cards for parents and children to learn to manage money responsibly. With early banking experience, kids are much better prepared to manage their money as adults.

Dan Kadlec (SF)

Best known as a journalist at both Time and Money, Dan Kadlec is author of three books and founder of Right About Money. With over 30 years of industry experience, Dan is a true expert in financial topics and media. Dan recognized that finance education resources exist, but are disjointed and can be challenging to find and work with. At Right About Money, his goal is to connect organizations around the world with data and content that can help everyone succeed.

Karen McCall (SF)

At Financial Recovery, Karen McCall aims to help people turn a bad money situation into a holistic and healthy relationship with money. Through a blog, training sessions, online classes, and connections with real life financial counselors, Karen helps women master their finances. USA Today, Woman’s Day, Entrepreneur, and Money are just a few of the publications to take notice.

Bonus: Phillip “PT” Taylor

At the back of the room, you are likely to find Phillip Taylor, better known as PT. The founder of FinCon does not yearn for the spotlight on stage as many attendees and speakers. Instead, PT focuses on building a strong community of money experts and enthusiasts together both online and offline. If you get a chance to meet the de facto leader of the financial media community, don’t pass up the opportunity.