On 27 November 2025, the Financial Freedom Forum (“Financial Freedom Forum 2025”), to be held at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre “Litexpo”, will once again bring together several thousand people interested in finance, dozens of speakers and investment professionals, the press release states.

This is the fourth time that the largest financial literacy conference in Lithuania is being organised. Its aim is to help people better understand personal finance and the principles of responsible investing. This year, the programme will also include a special live continuation of the “Pokalbiai apie pinigus” episode with Skirmantas Malinauskas. On the conference stage, Skirmantas Malinauskas – former journalist and advisor to the Prime Minister, author of the YouTube channel “Tiesa yra svarbu” (“Truth Matters”) – and Miglė Grybinienė, creator and host of the show “Pokalbiai apie pinigus”, Head of Marketing at the crowdfunding platform “PROFITUS Crowdfunding” and lecturer in financial education, will meet for a discussion. Both experts agree: open conversations about money help break stereotypes and shape a healthier view of financial freedom.

The conversation will follow up on the episode released in early September and will bring the audience back to the topics that attracted the most interest – from YouTube income and financial freedom to fraud schemes and the impact of advertising on independence.

Myths about money and freedom and their impact on decisions

In society, the belief is still widespread that money “spoils people” and takes away freedom. In the “Pokalbiai apie pinigus” episode, this logic is turned on its head – the focus is on the idea that the problem lies not so much in money itself as in the decisions, compromises and responsibility that a person assumes. M. Grybinienė reminds us of our attitude to money and the kinds of decisions it encourages. “Money in itself is neither good nor bad, what matters is the meaning we give it,” says the host, speaking about financial decisions and the responsibility they can bring.

S. Malinauskas focuses not on money itself, but on the people who manage it. “I always talk about money only from the best side, but about the people who have that money – sometimes not from the best side. The questions are: how do they get that money, then how do they spend it, whose money it really is,” he says. He openly admits that he lives simply and far from the way the audience often imagines. “I don’t have as much of it as people think. I really live a very simple, modest life – I have a three-room apartment bought with a mortgage and no other assets,” says S. Malinauskas, adding that his biggest expenses are usually related to family trips and experiences.

Such stories help deconstruct the myth that financial freedom always means a luxurious lifestyle. In the conversation, financial freedom is linked to the ability to choose and to live in line with one’s values, rather than just with the numbers on a bank statement.

Money and trust as a strategic financial instrument

S. Malinauskas does not hide the fact that today his main and only source of income is his YouTube channel. “It is not my main source, it is my only one; I have absolutely no other income, and that is my decision,” he says. According to him, the principle is very simple: if you take money, you take on an obligation. That is why, instead of commercial integrations, he chooses to depend on a community of supporters rather than on individual advertisers. “If you take money, you commit yourself, so I want to commit myself to my supporters, of whom there are thousands and many of whom I do not personally know,” he explains.

S. Malinauskas also emphasises that the key capital is not short-term income but the audience’s trust. “The audience is always and everywhere the essence. […] Money is a side thing anywhere – if you do something well, if people are interested, even if they don’t pay with money, they pay you with their attention and time,” he says, speaking about content creators’ responsibility and the price of reputation. In this context, financial freedom is presented as the ability to choose whom to work with, which offers to accept and when to say “no” to advertisements that pose a conflict of interest. M. Grybinienė stresses that here money becomes a means of preserving independence and a strong value backbone, rather than a goal in itself.

Risk – an ally, not an enemy

S. Malinauskas shares his personal experience of trying active trading in financial instruments and seeing up close how easy it is to be tempted by “simple” solutions. “At first it seems that everything is very simple, super simple – the price only goes up or only goes down, and you can win either way. […] Then you realise how complicated everything is, but that does not make it any less interesting,” he recalls.

Speaking about his biggest financial decisions, he stresses that the most important investments were not in individual stocks or cryptocurrencies, but in himself and his loved ones. “Probably my greatest financial decisions were my education, my travels, the broadening of my horizons – because if you want to give something to someone, you need to receive something. I have always invested in myself, and now I invest in my family,” he says. S. Malinauskas points out that the most dangerous offers are usually those that seem too good to be true, especially when it comes to double-digit returns and “guarantees”. Instead, he encourages people to assess not only percentages, but also the cost of reputation, peace of mind and time.

Financial Freedom Forum – a place for knowledge and insights

The Financial Freedom Forum will take place for the fourth time on 27 November 2025 at the “Litexpo” exhibition centre in Vilnius. The organisers expect to attract more than 2,000 participants and over 40 speakers and to fill several themed halls – from investment strategies to the economy of the future, real estate and personal finance management. The mission of the event is to raise the level of financial literacy among Lithuania’s residents, to bring together experts and companies from different fields and to provide concrete, practical knowledge to those who need it most.

Participants will be able to choose between several zones: the “Future Forum”, the investment strategies hall, the real estate investment area, the investment laboratory and a special networking and jam session space. Alongside the presentations, an investment fair will be held, bringing together representatives of various areas of finance and investment in one place.

It is precisely in this context that a live continuation of the “Pokalbiai apie pinigus” episode with Skirmantas Malinauskas is planned – as a space where questions well-known to the online audience move into a live discussion with the participants gathered at the Forum. Here, the conversation will focus not only on individual mistakes or success stories, but also on broader themes: the audience’s trust as a creator’s greatest capital, the cost of financial independence, and the ways in which freedom can be limited not so much by a lack of money as by opaque compromises.

The organisers hope that an open discussion combined with dozens of other presentations and practical sessions will help participants to see money differently – not as a goal, but as a tool that, when used wisely, can become a true ally of both financial and personal freedom.