September 12, 2024 • 46 mins
Building financial literacy is important for overall financial wellness. From learning what a credit score is, to learning what is good debt versus bad debt, it can be a lot! Not to mention the cultural barriers with investing in the Latino community.
Jessica Perrone, CEO and founder of Her Financial IQ, shares how her experiences shaped her understanding of hard work, frugality, and the importance of financial literacy. As she navigated her way through adulthood, she learned the ins and outs of personal finance, ultimately leading her to Wall Street.
Jessica shares her practical advice that can help you take control of your financial future. With nearly half of Hispanic Americans not owning investments, Jessica highlights the cultural barriers and misconceptions that often hinder financial growth.
Connect with Jessica Perrone:
Website: www.herfiniq.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jessicak/
Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCZ__uZTpk0qxqX9aC3_DmqA
Instagram: instagram.com/herfiniq
Facebook: facebook.com/HerFinIQ/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Violeta Sandoval (00:02):
Welcome to the Money Chisme Podcast, a fun and
safe space for personal finance, investing and entrepreneurship
tips, where we get the chismeon all things money with sass
and humor.
I am your host, violeta, afirst generation Mexican
immigrant, a real estateinvestor, entrepreneur, and I am
(00:26):
here to help you kick ass inthe financial game.
Each week, I not only bring youexpert tips, but also share the
financial freedom andentrepreneurship journeys from
our own community, because youknow, representation is
important.
So grab un cafecito or, siquieres, an adult beverage and
(00:46):
let's get into this week's moneychisme.
Hola, welcome to anotherepisode of the money chisme
podcast.
I am Violeta, your host, andeveryone has a pretty unique
personal finance journey and forthe typical person, when you
(01:09):
start that journey, it's prettyintimidating and scary.
So with me today to share herown journey and give us some
tips and tricks to help usnavigate our own journey is
Jessica Peron, ceo and founderof Her Financial IQ.
Hi, jessica, thank you so muchfor joining me today.
(01:30):
Hello, thank you so much forhaving me.
Awesome, I'm excited for thisconversation, but I always like
to hear how I mentioned that wehave pretty unique stories of
how we fall into learningpersonal finance and trying to
get our money together, so Iwant to hear about your story.
How did that go?
Jessica Perrone (01:50):
Well, you're absolutely right.
Everyone does have their ownmoney journey, and it's
interesting because a lot ofpeople have assumptions, when
they see me, that I must havegrown up in an affluent
household with all the wisdomthat I have about personal
finance and investing.
And, believe it or not, I grewup the oldest of eight children
(02:14):
and my mom was an immigrant anda single mom, so we had so much
stacked against us growing upbut I learned some amazing
lessons from my mom, and one ofthem was how to work super hard.
She was an amazingly hard worker.
The second one was she was sofrugal I just remember every
(02:38):
single penny counting and likejust being very good at using
the various resources out thereor bartering or exchanging.
There was just that sort offrugality that was bred into me
growing up as well, and then Iwould say the third part was
(02:58):
just how to stick to a budget.
I will say that I also didlearn about the importance of
credit scores from growing up ina household that relied heavily
on cash, and this is somethingI'd love to talk to your viewers
a little bit more about lateron in the conversation is the
importance of credit scores,especially as being part of the
(03:21):
US economy.
I would love to talk a littlebit more about that as well, but
yes, I did not have financialconversations growing up,
because there wasn't any moneyto have those conversations and
it really was growing up and myfinancial journey that I went
upon myself, where I learned thebasics of personal finance,
(03:43):
where I learned the basics ofinvesting, and then I ended up
on Wall Street as well.
So what I really love to teachwomen is that you can have
little to no knowledge aboutfinance and still understand it
and still succeed in it, and Ifeel like with the classes I've
(04:05):
created, or TikToks, or coachingthat I've done, I've really
learned how to create anenvironment that is accessible
and approachable and kind, and Ifeel like that is really a big
thing for women, because theycome into that First of all.
They, they, they lack theconfidence, something else that
(04:32):
we talk about and you and I willtalk about, and hopefully
anyone that's watching thispodcast will start identifying
and say, yes, oh, I can do that.
I might feel I might have alittle anxiety around it, but oh
, I can do this, yeah.
Violeta Sandoval (04:42):
Yeah, I, yeah, that is totally.
I agree.
I think like historically didseem intimidating, like it's for
the wealthy people, and then soyou start this like journey, or
like for me, as I was comingout of high school, and it was
like, okay, I really probablyshould start knowing how to at
(05:05):
least know what to do with mymoney, and one of the things
that I like about now is thatmore people like yourself and
one of the things that I'mtrying to do is make personal
finance and financial literacyimportant and make it more
accessible and not asintimidating.
But I do want to go into one ofthe main things that you wanted
(05:27):
to talk about, which was likecredit score, because I feel
like that was the biggest onewhen I first started.
My personal finance is, ofcourse, yeah, like saving and a
little bit of budgeting, becausemy parents were the same way,
were like kind of frugal andvery anti-debt credit cards and
(05:47):
all that stuff, but then I hadto buy a car and then all of a
sudden, I have to deal withcredit scores.
Definitely want to get intothat conversation on like some
tips or what is your advice forsomeone that has no idea about
credit score, like how does itwork, what is it and what you
can do with it.
Jessica Perrone (06:08):
Absolutely, and I even noticed a lot of the
housing posts that you have onyour blog and one of the biggest
things you can do to get agreat interest rate on a loan is
to have a fantastic creditscore, and people don't
understand that it really isyour financial passport to all
(06:30):
these products out there, andespecially immigrants.
When they're coming to the US.
They are so used to casheconomies, they are so used to
mistrusting institutions and youwould absolutely.
There's the envelope strategyout there for budget saving and
you're like, yes, if I am usingcash, if I am staying with just
(06:52):
within the cash that I'm using,I'm doing great.
And frankly that's true, that'sfact, but it doesn't help your
credit score.
So what is a credit score?
Let's just like back up alittle bit on that.
And thank you so much forasking this question, because I
do this is something that isdear to my heart as well,
because going to college,because my mom did not and my
(07:15):
stepfather did not have a goodcredit score, they could not
co-sign my loans for me, so Icould not get out loans to go to
college.
So I actually had to take ayear off between high school and
college to work and save upenough money so I could get to
(07:35):
college that first year.
So that is exactly one of thoselessons that you learn.
You're like oh my gosh, youknow, no one ever told me about
credit scores.
Like your mama will say to youbrush your teeth.
Your mama will say to you keepyour hair nice, keep your skin
nice, but she doesn't tell youto keep your credit score nice,
right yeah?
Violeta Sandoval (07:55):
exactly.
Jessica Perrone (07:56):
That is one of those things that are critical
to financial wellness in the US.
Critical to financial wellnessin the US.
So credit scores Credit scoresare reported by the three credit
agencies out there andbasically it is a track record
of all of your debt andrepayments and credit cards that
(08:21):
you have, and so one of thebest ways to start a credit
score is by having a credit cardand paying it off on a monthly
basis, and that is a very largepart of where people go wrong in
their finances.
They get this first credit cardand they're like, oh, I like to
(08:44):
shop.
And they're like, oh, I'll payit off next month, I'll pay it
off next month.
But then you have compoundinginterest at 23% and you're like,
oh my gosh, wait, how did thishappen, Right?
So that is something that youreally have to think about when
you are spending on a creditcard, and that's really to rein
(09:08):
it in and only spend what youcan pay off on a monthly basis.
And when you do that, you canstart building your credit score
, because payments on-timepayments is like the number one
thing you can do to get a goodcredit score.
So you asked another questionabout how our credit score is
used.
(09:28):
So credit scores can be usedfor all types of things,
including and people don'trealize this employment.
So if you are applying for ajob and you and me, violetta, we
are close contenders, right Ifone of us has a good credit
(09:48):
score and one of us doesn't,potentially that could be used
in the decision-making process.
So, definitely, credit scoresare important there.
Even renting an apartment, theywill look at your credit score
as well, but especially, likeyou were saying, even car loans
(10:10):
and the lower I mean.
It's shocking, I wish I had Icould share my screen and I wish
I was a little bit moreprepared of this, because in one
of my in the before investingcourse, which talks about the
financial ducks, I actually havea slide that talks about the
difference of the cost of a carloan with a good credit score
(10:32):
versus a poor credit score.
Violeta Sandoval (10:34):
So how much?
Jessica Perrone (10:36):
more you pay in interest just by not having a
good credit score when you'relooking to buy a house.
Getting together a deposit andgetting your credit score in
order is so helpful for gettinga really great interest rate on
that mortgage.
Violeta Sandoval (10:55):
Yeah, I definitely learned that the hard
way.
My first car I didn't have acredit score because my parents
were like so anti-debt, likeeverything was paid in cash.
If you don't have it in cash,you cannot afford it.
And so then I go to try to getthis car and I can't even
(11:15):
remember I probably could pullit up if I go back in like my
statements or something.
I don't know if it's stillthere, but I think it was paying
like.
I think it was like around 18,probably more than that percent
on this car loan and it was likea credit card interest rate.
Jessica Perrone (11:32):
Yeah, yeah it was a used.
Violeta Sandoval (11:34):
It was a.
What was it?
Maybe 2008, something like thatgold honda accord.
Love that car and I used it forlike 10 years and stuff, but
those car payments were soexpensive at the beginning but
like I needed a car, what was Igoing to do?
And so that was one of thethings that really kicked my
(11:57):
butt at the beginning when and abig kick in the face of what
credit score, how much it reallyactually affects you.
And now, with investing in realestate and stuff, it obviously
gives you better access forinterest rates and all that
stuff, like you mentioned.
So, yeah, big eye opener, and Ireally think that my community
(12:21):
needs to start working towardstheir credit score and kind of
get over this mentality of beingscared of debt, like, yes,
definitely be cautious, because,like you said, you don't want
to run up credit cards now youdon't learn how they work, and
so I do want to get a little bitinto that of the good debt
(12:45):
versus bad debt and a little bitof how you were talking about,
of how to use these debts morewisely and make sure that you're
paying them on time.
Jessica Perrone (12:55):
And it's so funny you and I are like on the
same page because I was justthinking we should really talk
about good debt versus bad debtnow.
Violeta Sandoval (13:01):
I'm reading you.
Jessica Perrone (13:03):
Yes, because your example of the car.
There are times when a car canbe good debt, but there's times
that when a car can be bad debtas well.
I don't know if you can tell.
I got really excited about that.
I don't know if you can tell,but I'm slightly applying it
because I get totally excited.
But just to digress, just justone minute, if you don't mind.
(13:26):
I often attribute my financialsuccess to not having a car
because I did not even get mydriver's license until I turned,
get this 30.
Until I turn, get this 30.
Wow.
So just think of like if youtook all of those payments for
(13:52):
that car, if you took all themaintenance for that car, all
the gas, the insurance and Iactually have a blog post.
And again, I wish, if anyonehas a chance and they want to go
over to my blog post, orVioletta, maybe we'll share that
blog post on to.
Yeah.
I'll link it below Is ditch thecar to pay off debt, and pay off
(14:14):
high bad debt, because you knowand then I actually go through
the numbers of how much youwould save if you just ditch the
car altogether.
So, I was able to save up mynest egg really super early and
start investing and start myinvesting journey a lot earlier
because I did not have a car.
(14:35):
I did not have the costs andtherefore it all went into a
savings account and therefore,when my credit cards were all
paid off, my student debt waspaid off and I was completely
debt free.
I had this net nest egg, I hadthis surplus and I was like, ok,
it's time for me to start myinvesting journey.
Violeta Sandoval (14:53):
So I think that's where I am right now.
A little bit, I kind of wentback kind of to a starting point
because I got rid of my car.
Right, I still have a car, butit's just like a paid off little
rink-a-dink car.
Oh, I think it's like from 2010or something, but it's like
little Honda Civic but no carpayments and like easy to
(15:14):
maintain.
But I just don't want a carpayment at the moment because
I'm doing kind of like a reset,I guess, to save up some money
and continue my journey.
And so I agree like if you canget away with doing the car
payment, it could really reallyaccelerate your journey.
Jessica Perrone (15:36):
Yes, and I also want to preface this too
Everyone's journey is differentand everyone's goals are
different too.
And it might be your goal that,instead of owning a house one
day, you just want a nice carand you are happy with the
rental, and that if you setyourself up for that and you do
(16:01):
it appropriately where, like yousaid, you're not in debt for it
, you can, you're paying it off,you're putting gas in it, no
problem and you still have youremergency fund Then by all means
treat yourself.
I'm not saying don't do it atall.
It's just that you have tofinancially set yourself up and
so that you can afford thesethings in an appropriate manner,
(16:24):
in a manner that's not going toget you in the weeds
financially.
So I do want to preface that I'mnot against looking nice or
having nice things.
No, it's when it's appropriateand you can actually afford it
yes, totally agree on that.
Violeta Sandoval (16:41):
and with that, what are some of going back to?
A little bit of the question islike can they make sure that
they set themselves upespecially with the debt and
things like that, so that waythey can feel less, I guess, get
rid of that guilt of havingthese nice things?
Jessica Perrone (17:00):
Sure, absolutely, and I also and thank
you for bringing us back tothis but I also believe in
everything, in moderation,including moderation because,
like we want to have healthyrelationships, we want to have
with money, we want to have itwithin our means, right, and so
(17:26):
that's just something that Ialso want to bring up, because
there are you'll hear somepeople out there that are like,
oh no, you can't have any nicethings and oh yeah but yeah,
that was the big thing with theprevious main I guess people,
influencers or personal financeeducators, I guess that you
(17:47):
would see in the finance spacethat was the big thing of
frugality, like how dare you goenjoy a cup of coffee or things
like that.
Violeta Sandoval (17:57):
So now I think I like that we're turning that
around to yes, let's make moreeducated and calculated
financial decisions, but not tothe point where we just forget
to enjoy life.
So I'm glad that we're goingthat route and having a good
balance now.
Jessica Perrone (18:18):
Yes, absolutely , and I feel that once you have
that balance in anything, notjust finances, you can have a
joyful life.
But let's go back to that needsversus wants and the good debt
versus bad debts, actually thegood debts versus bad debts.
When I'm thinking about gooddebt versus bad debt, there's a
couple of things I think about.
(18:38):
But probably the biggest aspectof trying to figure out whether
a good debt, whether a debt, isa good debt or a bad debt,
excuse me, is if that debt paysyou more than what you pay into
it.
Okay, so historically,education could be a good debt
(19:00):
because you're going to school,you're investing in yourself and
then, potentially, you aregoing to have a return on that
education that helps you earnmore.
Now there's a lot ofcontroversial studies going on
now about cost of a collegeeducation versus the debt that
you're put into it versus whatyou make coming out of school.
(19:21):
So that is a whole otherconversation.
That's why I put a little bitof potentially there too.
But that in itself, Violetta, Ithink is a whole nother podcast
that we could do Absolutely forsure.
So, and then another aspect,violetta, that we've also hit
upon another potential good debtcould be a home loan.
(19:42):
Right, you are taking out debton something that will
potentially increase in valueand give you a return in the
long run.
So those are two mainstreamthoughts of what a good debt
versus a bad debt is.
So a bad debt would be, forexample, credit card debt, and
(20:05):
I'll say most credit card debt,and I'll put an asterisk on this
because I have put my own spinon good debt and bad debt as
well.
So, but most credit card debtis bad debt for something.
Some shiny object that you saw.
You said, oh, this is pretty, Iwant it, and it doesn't give
you a return, and you're payinginterest on it, not getting a
(20:28):
return on that debt.
So traditionally, credit carddebt would be a bad debt.
So, where do we get into sort ofthe fuzzy gray area?
The fuzzy gray area would be,for example, if you need to
invest in yourself, so you needto dress up for an interview.
(20:52):
Okay, and I'm not talking aboutgoing out to Bloomingdale's and
picking out a $500 suit.
I'm not saying that at all.
What I'm saying is okay, I needto look nice for an interview.
I'm going to go to TJ Maxx, I'mgoing to find something very
nice that is not extremelyexpensive, that I could see
(21:15):
myself paying off very quicklyif I get this job.
Well then, that is investing inyourself.
If you are a nurse and you needscrubs and shoes the accurate
shoes to cause you're on yourfeet all day and you don't have
the money's necessarily rightcash and I write a way to pay
for that, while putting that ona credit card and those will
(21:38):
give you a return.
Well, that's another story.
So it's really what is thereturn on this debt?
And I actually talk about thaton everything is looking at life
from the eyes of an investor,because there's a lot of
emotions that go around moneyand if you can take the emotion
(21:58):
out of it and just look at itfrom a perspective of, okay,
what is the return?
And looking at it with theinvestor hat on, you can take a
lot of emotion out.
So an example of this would beand I was just in TJ Maxx over
the weekend- and you know that Ihave all these fun stuff.
Violeta Sandoval (22:18):
Oh, I always lose to that aisle, I know right
, right.
Jessica Perrone (22:23):
And now they have the Halloween stuff out too
.
And can I tell you, I loveHalloween, I do.
I have a lot of Halloween stuff.
I come to terms with that I'mworking on it.
But I literally went down thataisle and I didn't pick up one
thing.
I did.
And I but I, I was thinkingabout it and as I was going, I'm
(22:45):
like I don't need that, I don'tneed that.
Nope, I don't need that, Idon't need that.
It really is.
What is the return on thisinvestment?
So if you're going down thataisle and you see another
scented candle and you're like,oh, like those scented candles,
get me too, like those candles,get me.
But how many scented candlescan you really have?
(23:06):
And then you have the almostempty ones like laying around
and you don't want to throwthose out because they're so
pretty on the outside.
I've been there.
I've got to go through thethought process as well, but
really, like, what is the returnon that candle?
For sure, like another candle?
What is the return on that?
And you mentioned actuallycoffee just a little bit ago,
(23:28):
missy and I I actually have aStarbucks challenge where,
especially in January, after theholidays, when we are looking
at our credit cards and evenright now this is August, at the
time that we're recording thiswe've done a lot of us have done
an awful lot of summer spending.
We've been like, oh, just tothe beach and I'll just do this
(23:50):
trip and I need that outfit andall these things when we're
having these challenges toreally save money and I call it
financially skinny.
When you get financially skinnysuper fast, you want to.
You go on a spending diet andone of the things that I do
challenge people to do is findthat one thing whether it's the
candle at TJ Maxx, whether it'sStarbucks, and do a savings
(24:14):
challenge instead of spending iton that item, that it's just
like, it's a habit and you'relike, oh I know it's a habit I
can't help myself Putting awayinto a savings account that's
outside of your current savingsaccount.
And another trick that I have isthe various types of savings
(24:35):
accounts out there.
But one type of savings accountare high yield savings accounts
.
Those are typically from onlinebanks.
You can usually get reallysuper high APYs at these banks.
You open up a separate account,separate from your checking
account, and you put it in thatsavings account.
That savings challenge.
Oh my goodness, I totallydigressed.
I totally went down a rabbithole.
(24:56):
We were talking about good, bad, worse and sad.
I totally digressed.
Violeta Sandoval (25:00):
I totally went down a rabbit hole All the way
to high yield savings accounts.
Jessica Perrone (25:06):
Apologies, hey the conversation evolves
Absolutely, absolutely.
But so, what is your habit,violetta?
What is your habit, violetta?
What is your habit?
What is that one thing you weregoing to do?
A savings challenge?
What would you challenge?
Violeta Sandoval (25:23):
yourself on.
I think right now is my husbandand I.
We're so busy, so it's thecooking and just like getting
just food all the time, and thenwe'll try.
But I think we haven't figuredout a good way to cook at home
(25:44):
as much, because mostly we'lljust have like simple things and
we do have it, but for the mostpart it's just become a habit,
like I get home tired and this.
But it's mostly now because Ihave my daughter.
She's five months old, about tobe five months old, so it's
been so hard and so we'venoticed that we have been
(26:05):
ordering or getting food,whether it's like quick things,
from like fast food places orwhatever, or restaurants or
whatever, just because it'seasier right now, because we're
just tired, so we're it's funnybecause we already we did talk
about it we're like, okay, we'redoing too much, we're eating
(26:25):
out, spending too much eatingout, so we are going to go in a
little, I guess, diet for that.
So that's going to be our habit, that we're going to try to
break this coming after we getback from busy my family.
Jessica Perrone (26:39):
I love that and I love that you are identifying
it together and I know that Imentioned this before we started
our conversation that I'vestarted doing couples coaching
as well as my educationalclasses, and just having
conversations can be stressfulfor people saying to each other
(26:59):
Ooh honey, we've been eating outan awful lot.
We should really rein in thespending, like having the money.
Conversations can be reallydifficult.
So good for you, violetta, tohave that conversation with your
spouse.
Now I have a question for you.
So there's something calledmoney scripts and I like having
couples that are first workingwith me take these money scripts
(27:21):
.
Violeta Sandoval (27:21):
So uh, when you have a chance.
Jessica Perrone (27:23):
Violetta, definitely take the money script
quiz with your significantother and you can just Google
money script uh quiz.
It's a free quiz that you cantake and you would take it and
then your significant otherwould take it.
But would you say that you havesimilar money sort of
(27:43):
philosophies or differing moneyphilosophies?
Violeta Sandoval (27:50):
I think it's slightly different because I
think I am a little bit more, Iguess, ahead in my financial
journey.
I know I've been learning moreabout it and he's just kind of
like a little bit more behind.
He's not there, he's learningabout some of these things and
(28:11):
budgeting, but I think he'sstill dealing with the financial
guilt and trying to get himinto the habit.
So, like right now, it used tobe me with the budget, but now
I've given him the reins so hecould start knowing about like
more about personal finance.
He's starting to get interestedin the real estate investing
(28:32):
that I do and I'm trying to gethim up to speed so that way we
can actually not now start beingkind of like in the similar
space or, I guess, level.
So I think that's where we'reat right now is I've kind of
just really dove deep intopersonal finance and learning
(28:55):
about that and he's still kindof a little bit like now
starting.
So I think I'm likeintermediate and he's still like
entry level.
So that's a little uh difficultat times and stuff.
So it's funny like he's willingto learn.
Jessica Perrone (29:11):
It feels like, from what you're saying, it
feels like he's willing to learnand he.
It's not that he's like no, I'mnot going to take care of my
finances.
He just didn't understand theimportance of it, and a lot of
people are in that space.
They're not necessarilyintentionally bad with their
finances and just saying screwit, but because there are
(29:33):
different types of people, rightand there's different people
are at different points of theirjourney, but also are different
types of people, right, andthere's different people are at
different points of theirjourney, but also at different
points of their knowledge and.
I remember even my financial IQ.
When I first met my ex-husband,my financial IQ was like a
toddler compared to him and Ilearned so much from him and
(29:54):
there were times that he's likewhat do you mean?
You don't know what that means,and I've had a lot of men say
that to me in my financialjourney.
But I had to say look, I'm sorry, I'm not on the same level as
you.
I actually got sassy, a littlesassy like sassafras, and I know
some people would have beenlike taken aback or humble about
it, but I'm like no.
I'm like I just didn't throw upwith a silver spoon in my mouth,
(30:16):
mister, like I want to learn,tell me about it.
So there is like a little bitof tenacity, and stand up for
yourself as a woman and say youknow what?
No, I don't know this, oranyone, not just a woman.
No, I don't know this, but Iwant to learn and I can learn
and I will learn.
Gosh darn it.
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Violeta Sandoval (30:38):
He's yeah, he's definitely in that mindset
that he wants to learn.
And I think my community we'reat that level where we're a lot
of us are in the beginner stagesand I want them to give
themselves grace and because Iknow the mindset is like, oh, I
did this at the age of 20 orwhatever.
We all have our own journeysand some of us just start a
(31:01):
little bit later in life andthat's okay, and at least you're
doing it now.
That's what matters.
It's like I had to learn togive myself a lot of grace and
really let go of like man.
If I really if I knew this backthen, I could have saved myself
this blah, blah, blah.
But that's the past.
Now I'm doing it.
(31:22):
That's what matters the most.
And speaking a little bit ofthe community, I know because I
want to make sure I don't forgetto include it, because I know
we were speaking offline aboutit that you did bring some
statistics on, like the Latinocommunity, and so I do want to
give you a chance to share thosestats and your thoughts.
Jessica Perrone (31:43):
Sure, absolutely.
So.
I what I did was I ran somestats on the Latino community
and investing, like we've beentalking about just personal
finance, and banked versusunbanked, and just what a lot of
people just would feel areeveryday finances, personal
finance, not to mention movingin regards to lower investment
(32:06):
ownership in general, and itsaid here that Latinos are less
likely to own investmentscompared to their non Latino
counterparts.
This survey found that nearlyhalf of Hispanic Americans don't
(32:31):
own any investments.
Oh, wow, isn't that an amazingstatistic?
And then in for the ones thatdo own investments they have a
smaller investment portfoliosand they go on to say when
Latinos do invest, theirportfolios tend to be smaller
than those of non Latinos andthey have a preference for
(32:57):
they're saying here moretraditional investments.
I would say liquid.
I would go on to say liquid.
And what is liquidity?
Liquidity is when you are ableto convert an asset into cash
very quickly.
Okay, again, distrust of theinstitution, distrust of not
(33:17):
having it in a cash form.
So this part says that Latinosoften prefer more traditional
investment vehicles like savingsaccounts and certificates of
deposit, things that morequickly can be turned into cash.
Those certificates of depositshave a little bit more risk than
a savings account.
I do talk about that in mybefore investing class class,
(33:38):
and that could be a whole nothertalk of you.
Violeta Sandoval (33:40):
Let us know, I think we have like five times
at this point.
Jessica Perrone (33:43):
Yeah, absolutely, I don't mind coming
back and so those types ofinvestment vehicles rather than
riskier options like stocks andbonds.
Then they go on to talk aboutlanguage and cultural barriers.
Language barriers and culturaldifferences can hinder access to
financial information andservices, making it more
(34:05):
difficult for Latinos to learnabout investing, and they also
have lack of trust in financialinstitutions.
You and I have brought that up.
Historical mistreatment anddiscrimination can lead to
mistrust in financialinstitutions, making it
difficult for Latinos to buildrelationships with advisors and
brokers.
(34:25):
And then I had also just put onthe side and we really talked
about this two things that Iwanted to talk about.
I wrote down with big and bigletters.
Which is what we talk about.
Is cash?
Right, we're noticing a lot ofcash, and there's also the trend
of being selfless here in theStates and sending monies back
(34:46):
to families that are at home,and so you talked about the
selfless aspect of it as well.
Do you want to talk a littlebit more about that?
Violeta Sandoval (34:57):
yeah, for as far as like the parents sending
money to mexico yeah, that wasyou know growing up, I kind of
like why are you sending moneyover there?
and but like that's their familyand the latino culture is more
of a collective culture, whereaswhereas here in the US is a
(35:17):
little bit more individualistic.
I guess the money is seen morelike if you can to help support
somebody else, you should.
My mom sends money for randomthings.
I think the most recent one wasfor funeral expenses for
somebody that they knew fromMexico, so that was one of the
(35:39):
most recent ones.
But everything is kind of likeeverybody helps each other out
because that's just the way thesystem is.
It's not like how we have herewith like investing and things
like that that you can retirefrom.
Everybody really depends on,like the, I guess, the prior
generation.
So my mom takes care of her mom, then now it's falling on me
(36:02):
and so I think my generation,the first generation here, is we
have this unique I guess Idon't want to really say burden
but, for the lack of betterwords, yeah, like a burden of to
try to break that still, butalso still balance that with
taking care of your family andstill keeping some of that
(36:23):
cultural collectiveness, butalso learning how to balance it,
and we're also responsible forhandling our parents because
they don't know all that stuff.
They don't know the financesI'm having to right now.
My parents are getting close towell.
My dad retires pretty much thisyear he's eligible and my mom
(36:45):
in a few years.
So then I'm having to do startlearning about like life
insurance, start learning abouthow this social security works.
What are they going to get,their benefits and Medicaid,
like all that stuff, and it's ahuge weight on our shoulders.
Those statistics really show uphow the experience of the first
(37:06):
gen we have to deal with that,trying to get our parents and
realizing that our parentsdidn't invest.
They probably saved money in abank, but it's not enough.
Because of inflation or theymisjudged, the cost of living is
definitely higher now.
So all those things puts a lotof stress in my generation.
(37:27):
That is here trying to balanceboth and push our own journeys
forward, but also bring ourparents with us as much as we
can to make sure that they'renot high and dry.
It's interesting how thosestatistics and I'm going to make
sure that I put that in theshow notes because all of that
(37:47):
is true Like they don't trust,they don't know, like my mom has
access to a 401k and it's beenkind of like a struggle to try
to get her to do anything withit because she doesn't
understand what stocks are and Itried to explain it to her.
But it's just that mistrust andit's kind of hard to get over.
(38:08):
Help them overcome that fear.
And same thing with the highyield savings account.
You mentioned that earlierearlier and I'm still on that,
trying to get her.
I'm hoping to be able toaccomplish that this week that
I'm here, but it's been slowprogress trying to convince her
that a high yield savingsaccount is safe and better.
(38:30):
So yeah, a lot of struggles.
Definitely.
I can see how you said it waslike 50% that has 49%.
Jessica Perrone (38:40):
Yeah, nearly half.
Violeta Sandoval (38:41):
Yeah, yeah.
Jessica Perrone (38:42):
So in such a tight knit culture, and there's
so many other cultures out theretoo that really believe in the
(39:03):
younger generation taking careof the older generation.
And in their mindset why do Ineed to save for retirement?
My kids are going to take careof me.
And if something happens andthere's a fallout in the family,
that potentially, if theparents haven't been saving for
retirement, that couldpotentially really leave them in
(39:24):
a tough position.
And that actually happened tomy grandma.
I don't want to go into it, butshe also believed that she was
going to be taken care of by theyounger generation and she
basically she passed in ahospice with nothing and it was
the saddest thing that I've everseen.
(39:46):
I don't want to scare people,but if you don't look out for
yourselves and especially women,right, we're afraid to really
take these items on.
And just to go back to thecourses, this is also one of the
reasons why I created it wasbecause even I, when I started
off my journey and I said I hadthe financial IQ of a toddler,
(40:10):
frankly I didn't even understandthat if I was investing in my
401k.
Violeta Sandoval (40:15):
I was investing in the stock market.
Jessica Perrone (40:16):
I did not make that.
I did not make that connectionand even and I had this mentor
at work and he said you reallyshould be putting money away
towards your 401k, you shouldreally be putting money towards
the stock of employee stockpurchase plan, and I had no idea
that I was investing in themarket.
And then, as a result of that, Iactually have some funny
(40:38):
investing jokes.
That happened where I gotinvolved in some penny stocks,
and that's another story,because I just realized that I
could have just been allocatingmore money to my 401k and the
match, and I am in the marketsand it will be growing.
So these are all things that weshouldn't be embarrassed to not
(40:58):
know, because if our parentsdon't understand this, how are
we supposed to understand this?
So that's one another one ofthe reasons why I put together
my courses.
So I have before investing,which talks about your financial
docs and personal financetricks and how to make your
money grow before investing, andthen investing basics what are
(41:19):
the different ways you can putyour monies to work, what is a
401k?
What are IRAs?
What is a robo-advisor?
What does a financial advisordo?
What do retail brokers do?
And so that's my investing forbeginners course.
And then I also have my stocksand ETF simplified, because once
you figure out where you wantto put your money to work, you
kind of have to understand whatthey're investing your money
(41:41):
into.
That's course, three stocks andETF simplified.
So that's how I broke it downin the courses.
And then, of course I hadpeople saying hey, jessica, will
you just help me one-on-one?
I'm such a people person.
I love people.
So I said okay, I'll startcoaching too.
So I have expanded out intocoaching one-on-one coaching.
(42:01):
So, regardless of where you arein your life, whether it is
trying to just save more, budgetmore, increase your credit
score, or if you're starting tothink about investing, or if
you're about to buy a house andyou want to get your credit
score up, these are all waysthat a financial coach, whether
it be me or another person, canhelp an individual get their
(42:25):
finances in a row.
Violeta Sandoval (42:27):
Yeah, yeah, they sound great.
I went on your website and Ireally really love how you did
the step-by-step.
Each course is in for certainthings, like the beginning, the
sort of beginning, and then themiddle and continue building up.
So I really like that.
I think that's um, definitelyhow people um learn pretty well,
(42:52):
like all the, especially me.
That would have helped me backthen if I had like, okay, first
start with this and then withthis and then go from here,
instead of like havingeverything like being so
overwhelming.
It's like, oh my god, I gottalearn about savings, I gotta
learn about credit score, Igotta learn about this and you
know God, I got to startinvesting and I have no clue
(43:15):
what that means, and so I reallylove how you set up your
courses.
Again, I will have that linkedbelow, but I am thankful that
you came on here to share yourstory and have all these
conversations, so I appreciateyou coming on my podcast and
sharing your expertise.
Jessica Perrone (43:37):
This was so much fun.
Thank you and I know, financeand fun in the same like
sentence.
How could that be?
But this was really really fun.
Thank you so much, violeta.
I really appreciate having meon the show.
Violeta Sandoval (43:49):
Awesome and, again, all of her information
will be linked down below, alongwith the blog that was
mentioned and the statistics,the report that you had.
But other than that, I will seeeveryone in the next episode.
Bye, thank you so much forlistening.
(44:11):
Don't forget to like and sharethis episode so others can also
find this podcast.
Don't forget to follow me onall my social medias listed in
the show notes below, where youcan also find resources to help
you in your financial journey.
If you're interested inbecoming a guest on the podcast,
(44:31):
you can find that informationin the show notes.
Other than that, thank you somuch for your support and I will
see information in the shownotes.
Other than that, thank you somuch for your support and I will
see you in the next episode.
Bye.
Welcome to the Money Chisme Podcast, a fun and
safe space for personal finance, investing and entrepreneurship
tips, where we get the chismeon all things money with sass
and humor.
I am your host, violeta, afirst generation Mexican
immigrant, a real estateinvestor, entrepreneur, and I am
(00:26):
here to help you kick ass inthe financial game.
Each week, I not only bring youexpert tips, but also share the
financial freedom andentrepreneurship journeys from
our own community, because youknow, representation is
important.
So grab un cafecito or, siquieres, an adult beverage and
(00:46):
let's get into this week's moneychisme.
Hola, welcome to anotherepisode of the money chisme
podcast.
I am Violeta, your host, andeveryone has a pretty unique
personal finance journey and forthe typical person, when you
(01:09):
start that journey, it's prettyintimidating and scary.
So with me today to share herown journey and give us some
tips and tricks to help usnavigate our own journey is
Jessica Peron, ceo and founderof Her Financial IQ.
Hi, jessica, thank you so muchfor joining me today.
(01:30):
Hello, thank you so much forhaving me.
Awesome, I'm excited for thisconversation, but I always like
to hear how I mentioned that wehave pretty unique stories of
how we fall into learningpersonal finance and trying to
get our money together, so Iwant to hear about your story.
How did that go?
Jessica Perrone (01:50):
Well, you're absolutely right.
Everyone does have their ownmoney journey, and it's
interesting because a lot ofpeople have assumptions, when
they see me, that I must havegrown up in an affluent
household with all the wisdomthat I have about personal
finance and investing.
And, believe it or not, I grewup the oldest of eight children
(02:14):
and my mom was an immigrant anda single mom, so we had so much
stacked against us growing upbut I learned some amazing
lessons from my mom, and one ofthem was how to work super hard.
She was an amazingly hard worker.
The second one was she was sofrugal I just remember every
(02:38):
single penny counting and likejust being very good at using
the various resources out thereor bartering or exchanging.
There was just that sort offrugality that was bred into me
growing up as well, and then Iwould say the third part was
(02:58):
just how to stick to a budget.
I will say that I also didlearn about the importance of
credit scores from growing up ina household that relied heavily
on cash, and this is somethingI'd love to talk to your viewers
a little bit more about lateron in the conversation is the
importance of credit scores,especially as being part of the
(03:21):
US economy.
I would love to talk a littlebit more about that as well, but
yes, I did not have financialconversations growing up,
because there wasn't any moneyto have those conversations and
it really was growing up and myfinancial journey that I went
upon myself, where I learned thebasics of personal finance,
(03:43):
where I learned the basics ofinvesting, and then I ended up
on Wall Street as well.
So what I really love to teachwomen is that you can have
little to no knowledge aboutfinance and still understand it
and still succeed in it, and Ifeel like with the classes I've
(04:05):
created, or TikToks, or coachingthat I've done, I've really
learned how to create anenvironment that is accessible
and approachable and kind, and Ifeel like that is really a big
thing for women, because theycome into that First of all.
They, they, they lack theconfidence, something else that
(04:32):
we talk about and you and I willtalk about, and hopefully
anyone that's watching thispodcast will start identifying
and say, yes, oh, I can do that.
I might feel I might have alittle anxiety around it, but oh
, I can do this, yeah.
Violeta Sandoval (04:42):
Yeah, I, yeah, that is totally.
I agree.
I think like historically didseem intimidating, like it's for
the wealthy people, and then soyou start this like journey, or
like for me, as I was comingout of high school, and it was
like, okay, I really probablyshould start knowing how to at
(05:05):
least know what to do with mymoney, and one of the things
that I like about now is thatmore people like yourself and
one of the things that I'mtrying to do is make personal
finance and financial literacyimportant and make it more
accessible and not asintimidating.
But I do want to go into one ofthe main things that you wanted
(05:27):
to talk about, which was likecredit score, because I feel
like that was the biggest onewhen I first started.
My personal finance is, ofcourse, yeah, like saving and a
little bit of budgeting, becausemy parents were the same way,
were like kind of frugal andvery anti-debt credit cards and
(05:47):
all that stuff, but then I hadto buy a car and then all of a
sudden, I have to deal withcredit scores.
Definitely want to get intothat conversation on like some
tips or what is your advice forsomeone that has no idea about
credit score, like how does itwork, what is it and what you
can do with it.
Jessica Perrone (06:08):
Absolutely, and I even noticed a lot of the
housing posts that you have onyour blog and one of the biggest
things you can do to get agreat interest rate on a loan is
to have a fantastic creditscore, and people don't
understand that it really isyour financial passport to all
(06:30):
these products out there, andespecially immigrants.
When they're coming to the US.
They are so used to casheconomies, they are so used to
mistrusting institutions and youwould absolutely.
There's the envelope strategyout there for budget saving and
you're like, yes, if I am usingcash, if I am staying with just
(06:52):
within the cash that I'm using,I'm doing great.
And frankly that's true, that'sfact, but it doesn't help your
credit score.
So what is a credit score?
Let's just like back up alittle bit on that.
And thank you so much forasking this question, because I
do this is something that isdear to my heart as well,
because going to college,because my mom did not and my
(07:15):
stepfather did not have a goodcredit score, they could not
co-sign my loans for me, so Icould not get out loans to go to
college.
So I actually had to take ayear off between high school and
college to work and save upenough money so I could get to
(07:35):
college that first year.
So that is exactly one of thoselessons that you learn.
You're like oh my gosh, youknow, no one ever told me about
credit scores.
Like your mama will say to youbrush your teeth.
Your mama will say to you keepyour hair nice, keep your skin
nice, but she doesn't tell youto keep your credit score nice,
right yeah?
Violeta Sandoval (07:55):
exactly.
Jessica Perrone (07:56):
That is one of those things that are critical
to financial wellness in the US.
Critical to financial wellnessin the US.
So credit scores Credit scoresare reported by the three credit
agencies out there andbasically it is a track record
of all of your debt andrepayments and credit cards that
(08:21):
you have, and so one of thebest ways to start a credit
score is by having a credit cardand paying it off on a monthly
basis, and that is a very largepart of where people go wrong in
their finances.
They get this first credit cardand they're like, oh, I like to
(08:44):
shop.
And they're like, oh, I'll payit off next month, I'll pay it
off next month.
But then you have compoundinginterest at 23% and you're like,
oh my gosh, wait, how did thishappen, Right?
So that is something that youreally have to think about when
you are spending on a creditcard, and that's really to rein
(09:08):
it in and only spend what youcan pay off on a monthly basis.
And when you do that, you canstart building your credit score
, because payments on-timepayments is like the number one
thing you can do to get a goodcredit score.
So you asked another questionabout how our credit score is
used.
(09:28):
So credit scores can be usedfor all types of things,
including and people don'trealize this employment.
So if you are applying for ajob and you and me, violetta, we
are close contenders, right Ifone of us has a good credit
(09:48):
score and one of us doesn't,potentially that could be used
in the decision-making process.
So, definitely, credit scoresare important there.
Even renting an apartment, theywill look at your credit score
as well, but especially, likeyou were saying, even car loans
(10:10):
and the lower I mean.
It's shocking, I wish I had Icould share my screen and I wish
I was a little bit moreprepared of this, because in one
of my in the before investingcourse, which talks about the
financial ducks, I actually havea slide that talks about the
difference of the cost of a carloan with a good credit score
(10:32):
versus a poor credit score.
Violeta Sandoval (10:34):
So how much?
Jessica Perrone (10:36):
more you pay in interest just by not having a
good credit score when you'relooking to buy a house.
Getting together a deposit andgetting your credit score in
order is so helpful for gettinga really great interest rate on
that mortgage.
Violeta Sandoval (10:55):
Yeah, I definitely learned that the hard
way.
My first car I didn't have acredit score because my parents
were like so anti-debt, likeeverything was paid in cash.
If you don't have it in cash,you cannot afford it.
And so then I go to try to getthis car and I can't even
(11:15):
remember I probably could pullit up if I go back in like my
statements or something.
I don't know if it's stillthere, but I think it was paying
like.
I think it was like around 18,probably more than that percent
on this car loan and it was likea credit card interest rate.
Jessica Perrone (11:32):
Yeah, yeah it was a used.
Violeta Sandoval (11:34):
It was a.
What was it?
Maybe 2008, something like thatgold honda accord.
Love that car and I used it forlike 10 years and stuff, but
those car payments were soexpensive at the beginning but
like I needed a car, what was Igoing to do?
And so that was one of thethings that really kicked my
(11:57):
butt at the beginning when and abig kick in the face of what
credit score, how much it reallyactually affects you.
And now, with investing in realestate and stuff, it obviously
gives you better access forinterest rates and all that
stuff, like you mentioned.
So, yeah, big eye opener, and Ireally think that my community
(12:21):
needs to start working towardstheir credit score and kind of
get over this mentality of beingscared of debt, like, yes,
definitely be cautious, because,like you said, you don't want
to run up credit cards now youdon't learn how they work, and
so I do want to get a little bitinto that of the good debt
(12:45):
versus bad debt and a little bitof how you were talking about,
of how to use these debts morewisely and make sure that you're
paying them on time.
Jessica Perrone (12:55):
And it's so funny you and I are like on the
same page because I was justthinking we should really talk
about good debt versus bad debtnow.
Violeta Sandoval (13:01):
I'm reading you.
Jessica Perrone (13:03):
Yes, because your example of the car.
There are times when a car canbe good debt, but there's times
that when a car can be bad debtas well.
I don't know if you can tell.
I got really excited about that.
I don't know if you can tell,but I'm slightly applying it
because I get totally excited.
But just to digress, just justone minute, if you don't mind.
(13:26):
I often attribute my financialsuccess to not having a car
because I did not even get mydriver's license until I turned,
get this 30.
Until I turn, get this 30.
Wow.
So just think of like if youtook all of those payments for
(13:52):
that car, if you took all themaintenance for that car, all
the gas, the insurance and Iactually have a blog post.
And again, I wish, if anyonehas a chance and they want to go
over to my blog post, orVioletta, maybe we'll share that
blog post on to.
Yeah.
I'll link it below Is ditch thecar to pay off debt, and pay off
(14:14):
high bad debt, because you knowand then I actually go through
the numbers of how much youwould save if you just ditch the
car altogether.
So, I was able to save up mynest egg really super early and
start investing and start myinvesting journey a lot earlier
because I did not have a car.
(14:35):
I did not have the costs andtherefore it all went into a
savings account and therefore,when my credit cards were all
paid off, my student debt waspaid off and I was completely
debt free.
I had this net nest egg, I hadthis surplus and I was like, ok,
it's time for me to start myinvesting journey.
Violeta Sandoval (14:53):
So I think that's where I am right now.
A little bit, I kind of wentback kind of to a starting point
because I got rid of my car.
Right, I still have a car, butit's just like a paid off little
rink-a-dink car.
Oh, I think it's like from 2010or something, but it's like
little Honda Civic but no carpayments and like easy to
(15:14):
maintain.
But I just don't want a carpayment at the moment because
I'm doing kind of like a reset,I guess, to save up some money
and continue my journey.
And so I agree like if you canget away with doing the car
payment, it could really reallyaccelerate your journey.
Jessica Perrone (15:36):
Yes, and I also want to preface this too
Everyone's journey is differentand everyone's goals are
different too.
And it might be your goal that,instead of owning a house one
day, you just want a nice carand you are happy with the
rental, and that if you setyourself up for that and you do
(16:01):
it appropriately where, like yousaid, you're not in debt for it
, you can, you're paying it off,you're putting gas in it, no
problem and you still have youremergency fund Then by all means
treat yourself.
I'm not saying don't do it atall.
It's just that you have tofinancially set yourself up and
so that you can afford thesethings in an appropriate manner,
(16:24):
in a manner that's not going toget you in the weeds
financially.
So I do want to preface that I'mnot against looking nice or
having nice things.
No, it's when it's appropriateand you can actually afford it
yes, totally agree on that.
Violeta Sandoval (16:41):
and with that, what are some of going back to?
A little bit of the question islike can they make sure that
they set themselves upespecially with the debt and
things like that, so that waythey can feel less, I guess, get
rid of that guilt of havingthese nice things?
Jessica Perrone (17:00):
Sure, absolutely, and I also and thank
you for bringing us back tothis but I also believe in
everything, in moderation,including moderation because,
like we want to have healthyrelationships, we want to have
with money, we want to have itwithin our means, right, and so
(17:26):
that's just something that Ialso want to bring up, because
there are you'll hear somepeople out there that are like,
oh no, you can't have any nicethings and oh yeah but yeah,
that was the big thing with theprevious main I guess people,
influencers or personal financeeducators, I guess that you
(17:47):
would see in the finance spacethat was the big thing of
frugality, like how dare you goenjoy a cup of coffee or things
like that.
Violeta Sandoval (17:57):
So now I think I like that we're turning that
around to yes, let's make moreeducated and calculated
financial decisions, but not tothe point where we just forget
to enjoy life.
So I'm glad that we're goingthat route and having a good
balance now.
Jessica Perrone (18:18):
Yes, absolutely , and I feel that once you have
that balance in anything, notjust finances, you can have a
joyful life.
But let's go back to that needsversus wants and the good debt
versus bad debts, actually thegood debts versus bad debts.
When I'm thinking about gooddebt versus bad debt, there's a
couple of things I think about.
(18:38):
But probably the biggest aspectof trying to figure out whether
a good debt, whether a debt, isa good debt or a bad debt,
excuse me, is if that debt paysyou more than what you pay into
it.
Okay, so historically,education could be a good debt
(19:00):
because you're going to school,you're investing in yourself and
then, potentially, you aregoing to have a return on that
education that helps you earnmore.
Now there's a lot ofcontroversial studies going on
now about cost of a collegeeducation versus the debt that
you're put into it versus whatyou make coming out of school.
(19:21):
So that is a whole otherconversation.
That's why I put a little bitof potentially there too.
But that in itself, Violetta, Ithink is a whole nother podcast
that we could do Absolutely forsure.
So, and then another aspect,violetta, that we've also hit
upon another potential good debtcould be a home loan.
(19:42):
Right, you are taking out debton something that will
potentially increase in valueand give you a return in the
long run.
So those are two mainstreamthoughts of what a good debt
versus a bad debt is.
So a bad debt would be, forexample, credit card debt, and
(20:05):
I'll say most credit card debt,and I'll put an asterisk on this
because I have put my own spinon good debt and bad debt as
well.
So, but most credit card debtis bad debt for something.
Some shiny object that you saw.
You said, oh, this is pretty, Iwant it, and it doesn't give
you a return, and you're payinginterest on it, not getting a
(20:28):
return on that debt.
So traditionally, credit carddebt would be a bad debt.
So, where do we get into sort ofthe fuzzy gray area?
The fuzzy gray area would be,for example, if you need to
invest in yourself, so you needto dress up for an interview.
(20:52):
Okay, and I'm not talking aboutgoing out to Bloomingdale's and
picking out a $500 suit.
I'm not saying that at all.
What I'm saying is okay, I needto look nice for an interview.
I'm going to go to TJ Maxx, I'mgoing to find something very
nice that is not extremelyexpensive, that I could see
(21:15):
myself paying off very quicklyif I get this job.
Well then, that is investing inyourself.
If you are a nurse and you needscrubs and shoes the accurate
shoes to cause you're on yourfeet all day and you don't have
the money's necessarily rightcash and I write a way to pay
for that, while putting that ona credit card and those will
(21:38):
give you a return.
Well, that's another story.
So it's really what is thereturn on this debt?
And I actually talk about thaton everything is looking at life
from the eyes of an investor,because there's a lot of
emotions that go around moneyand if you can take the emotion
(21:58):
out of it and just look at itfrom a perspective of, okay,
what is the return?
And looking at it with theinvestor hat on, you can take a
lot of emotion out.
So an example of this would beand I was just in TJ Maxx over
the weekend- and you know that Ihave all these fun stuff.
Violeta Sandoval (22:18):
Oh, I always lose to that aisle, I know right
, right.
Jessica Perrone (22:23):
And now they have the Halloween stuff out too
.
And can I tell you, I loveHalloween, I do.
I have a lot of Halloween stuff.
I come to terms with that I'mworking on it.
But I literally went down thataisle and I didn't pick up one
thing.
I did.
And I but I, I was thinkingabout it and as I was going, I'm
(22:45):
like I don't need that, I don'tneed that.
Nope, I don't need that, Idon't need that.
It really is.
What is the return on thisinvestment?
So if you're going down thataisle and you see another
scented candle and you're like,oh, like those scented candles,
get me too, like those candles,get me.
But how many scented candlescan you really have?
(23:06):
And then you have the almostempty ones like laying around
and you don't want to throwthose out because they're so
pretty on the outside.
I've been there.
I've got to go through thethought process as well, but
really, like, what is the returnon that candle?
For sure, like another candle?
What is the return on that?
And you mentioned actuallycoffee just a little bit ago,
(23:28):
missy and I I actually have aStarbucks challenge where,
especially in January, after theholidays, when we are looking
at our credit cards and evenright now this is August, at the
time that we're recording thiswe've done a lot of us have done
an awful lot of summer spending.
We've been like, oh, just tothe beach and I'll just do this
(23:50):
trip and I need that outfit andall these things when we're
having these challenges toreally save money and I call it
financially skinny.
When you get financially skinnysuper fast, you want to.
You go on a spending diet andone of the things that I do
challenge people to do is findthat one thing whether it's the
candle at TJ Maxx, whether it'sStarbucks, and do a savings
(24:14):
challenge instead of spending iton that item, that it's just
like, it's a habit and you'relike, oh I know it's a habit I
can't help myself Putting awayinto a savings account that's
outside of your current savingsaccount.
And another trick that I have isthe various types of savings
(24:35):
accounts out there.
But one type of savings accountare high yield savings accounts
.
Those are typically from onlinebanks.
You can usually get reallysuper high APYs at these banks.
You open up a separate account,separate from your checking
account, and you put it in thatsavings account.
That savings challenge.
Oh my goodness, I totallydigressed.
I totally went down a rabbithole.
(24:56):
We were talking about good, bad, worse and sad.
I totally digressed.
Violeta Sandoval (25:00):
I totally went down a rabbit hole All the way
to high yield savings accounts.
Jessica Perrone (25:06):
Apologies, hey the conversation evolves
Absolutely, absolutely.
But so, what is your habit,violetta?
What is your habit, violetta?
What is your habit?
What is that one thing you weregoing to do?
A savings challenge?
What would you challenge?
Violeta Sandoval (25:23):
yourself on.
I think right now is my husbandand I.
We're so busy, so it's thecooking and just like getting
just food all the time, and thenwe'll try.
But I think we haven't figuredout a good way to cook at home
(25:44):
as much, because mostly we'lljust have like simple things and
we do have it, but for the mostpart it's just become a habit,
like I get home tired and this.
But it's mostly now because Ihave my daughter.
She's five months old, about tobe five months old, so it's
been so hard and so we'venoticed that we have been
(26:05):
ordering or getting food,whether it's like quick things,
from like fast food places orwhatever, or restaurants or
whatever, just because it'seasier right now, because we're
just tired, so we're it's funnybecause we already we did talk
about it we're like, okay, we'redoing too much, we're eating
(26:25):
out, spending too much eatingout, so we are going to go in a
little, I guess, diet for that.
So that's going to be our habit, that we're going to try to
break this coming after we getback from busy my family.
Jessica Perrone (26:39):
I love that and I love that you are identifying
it together and I know that Imentioned this before we started
our conversation that I'vestarted doing couples coaching
as well as my educationalclasses, and just having
conversations can be stressfulfor people saying to each other
(26:59):
Ooh honey, we've been eating outan awful lot.
We should really rein in thespending, like having the money.
Conversations can be reallydifficult.
So good for you, violetta, tohave that conversation with your
spouse.
Now I have a question for you.
So there's something calledmoney scripts and I like having
couples that are first workingwith me take these money scripts
(27:21):
.
Violeta Sandoval (27:21):
So uh, when you have a chance.
Jessica Perrone (27:23):
Violetta, definitely take the money script
quiz with your significantother and you can just Google
money script uh quiz.
It's a free quiz that you cantake and you would take it and
then your significant otherwould take it.
But would you say that you havesimilar money sort of
(27:43):
philosophies or differing moneyphilosophies?
Violeta Sandoval (27:50):
I think it's slightly different because I
think I am a little bit more, Iguess, ahead in my financial
journey.
I know I've been learning moreabout it and he's just kind of
like a little bit more behind.
He's not there, he's learningabout some of these things and
(28:11):
budgeting, but I think he'sstill dealing with the financial
guilt and trying to get himinto the habit.
So, like right now, it used tobe me with the budget, but now
I've given him the reins so hecould start knowing about like
more about personal finance.
He's starting to get interestedin the real estate investing
(28:32):
that I do and I'm trying to gethim up to speed so that way we
can actually not now start beingkind of like in the similar
space or, I guess, level.
So I think that's where we'reat right now is I've kind of
just really dove deep intopersonal finance and learning
(28:55):
about that and he's still kindof a little bit like now
starting.
So I think I'm likeintermediate and he's still like
entry level.
So that's a little uh difficultat times and stuff.
So it's funny like he's willingto learn.
Jessica Perrone (29:11):
It feels like, from what you're saying, it
feels like he's willing to learnand he.
It's not that he's like no, I'mnot going to take care of my
finances.
He just didn't understand theimportance of it, and a lot of
people are in that space.
They're not necessarilyintentionally bad with their
finances and just saying screwit, but because there are
(29:33):
different types of people, rightand there's different people
are at different points of theirjourney, but also are different
types of people, right, andthere's different people are at
different points of theirjourney, but also at different
points of their knowledge and.
I remember even my financial IQ.
When I first met my ex-husband,my financial IQ was like a
toddler compared to him and Ilearned so much from him and
(29:54):
there were times that he's likewhat do you mean?
You don't know what that means,and I've had a lot of men say
that to me in my financialjourney.
But I had to say look, I'm sorry, I'm not on the same level as
you.
I actually got sassy, a littlesassy like sassafras, and I know
some people would have beenlike taken aback or humble about
it, but I'm like no.
I'm like I just didn't throw upwith a silver spoon in my mouth,
(30:16):
mister, like I want to learn,tell me about it.
So there is like a little bitof tenacity, and stand up for
yourself as a woman and say youknow what?
No, I don't know this, oranyone, not just a woman.
No, I don't know this, but Iwant to learn and I can learn
and I will learn.
Gosh darn it.
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Violeta Sandoval (30:38):
He's yeah, he's definitely in that mindset
that he wants to learn.
And I think my community we'reat that level where we're a lot
of us are in the beginner stagesand I want them to give
themselves grace and because Iknow the mindset is like, oh, I
did this at the age of 20 orwhatever.
We all have our own journeysand some of us just start a
(31:01):
little bit later in life andthat's okay, and at least you're
doing it now.
That's what matters.
It's like I had to learn togive myself a lot of grace and
really let go of like man.
If I really if I knew this backthen, I could have saved myself
this blah, blah, blah.
But that's the past.
Now I'm doing it.
(31:22):
That's what matters the most.
And speaking a little bit ofthe community, I know because I
want to make sure I don't forgetto include it, because I know
we were speaking offline aboutit that you did bring some
statistics on, like the Latinocommunity, and so I do want to
give you a chance to share thosestats and your thoughts.
Jessica Perrone (31:43):
Sure, absolutely.
So.
I what I did was I ran somestats on the Latino community
and investing, like we've beentalking about just personal
finance, and banked versusunbanked, and just what a lot of
people just would feel areeveryday finances, personal
finance, not to mention movingin regards to lower investment
(32:06):
ownership in general, and itsaid here that Latinos are less
likely to own investmentscompared to their non Latino
counterparts.
This survey found that nearlyhalf of Hispanic Americans don't
(32:31):
own any investments.
Oh, wow, isn't that an amazingstatistic?
And then in for the ones thatdo own investments they have a
smaller investment portfoliosand they go on to say when
Latinos do invest, theirportfolios tend to be smaller
than those of non Latinos andthey have a preference for
(32:57):
they're saying here moretraditional investments.
I would say liquid.
I would go on to say liquid.
And what is liquidity?
Liquidity is when you are ableto convert an asset into cash
very quickly.
Okay, again, distrust of theinstitution, distrust of not
(33:17):
having it in a cash form.
So this part says that Latinosoften prefer more traditional
investment vehicles like savingsaccounts and certificates of
deposit, things that morequickly can be turned into cash.
Those certificates of depositshave a little bit more risk than
a savings account.
I do talk about that in mybefore investing class class,
(33:38):
and that could be a whole nothertalk of you.
Violeta Sandoval (33:40):
Let us know, I think we have like five times
at this point.
Jessica Perrone (33:43):
Yeah, absolutely, I don't mind coming
back and so those types ofinvestment vehicles rather than
riskier options like stocks andbonds.
Then they go on to talk aboutlanguage and cultural barriers.
Language barriers and culturaldifferences can hinder access to
financial information andservices, making it more
(34:05):
difficult for Latinos to learnabout investing, and they also
have lack of trust in financialinstitutions.
You and I have brought that up.
Historical mistreatment anddiscrimination can lead to
mistrust in financialinstitutions, making it
difficult for Latinos to buildrelationships with advisors and
brokers.
(34:25):
And then I had also just put onthe side and we really talked
about this two things that Iwanted to talk about.
I wrote down with big and bigletters.
Which is what we talk about.
Is cash?
Right, we're noticing a lot ofcash, and there's also the trend
of being selfless here in theStates and sending monies back
(34:46):
to families that are at home,and so you talked about the
selfless aspect of it as well.
Do you want to talk a littlebit more about that?
Violeta Sandoval (34:57):
yeah, for as far as like the parents sending
money to mexico yeah, that wasyou know growing up, I kind of
like why are you sending moneyover there?
and but like that's their familyand the latino culture is more
of a collective culture, whereaswhereas here in the US is a
(35:17):
little bit more individualistic.
I guess the money is seen morelike if you can to help support
somebody else, you should.
My mom sends money for randomthings.
I think the most recent one wasfor funeral expenses for
somebody that they knew fromMexico, so that was one of the
(35:39):
most recent ones.
But everything is kind of likeeverybody helps each other out
because that's just the way thesystem is.
It's not like how we have herewith like investing and things
like that that you can retirefrom.
Everybody really depends on,like the, I guess, the prior
generation.
So my mom takes care of her mom, then now it's falling on me
(36:02):
and so I think my generation,the first generation here, is we
have this unique I guess Idon't want to really say burden
but, for the lack of betterwords, yeah, like a burden of to
try to break that still, butalso still balance that with
taking care of your family andstill keeping some of that
(36:23):
cultural collectiveness, butalso learning how to balance it,
and we're also responsible forhandling our parents because
they don't know all that stuff.
They don't know the financesI'm having to right now.
My parents are getting close towell.
My dad retires pretty much thisyear he's eligible and my mom
(36:45):
in a few years.
So then I'm having to do startlearning about like life
insurance, start learning abouthow this social security works.
What are they going to get,their benefits and Medicaid,
like all that stuff, and it's ahuge weight on our shoulders.
Those statistics really show uphow the experience of the first
(37:06):
gen we have to deal with that,trying to get our parents and
realizing that our parentsdidn't invest.
They probably saved money in abank, but it's not enough.
Because of inflation or theymisjudged, the cost of living is
definitely higher now.
So all those things puts a lotof stress in my generation.
(37:27):
That is here trying to balanceboth and push our own journeys
forward, but also bring ourparents with us as much as we
can to make sure that they'renot high and dry.
It's interesting how thosestatistics and I'm going to make
sure that I put that in theshow notes because all of that
(37:47):
is true Like they don't trust,they don't know, like my mom has
access to a 401k and it's beenkind of like a struggle to try
to get her to do anything withit because she doesn't
understand what stocks are and Itried to explain it to her.
But it's just that mistrust andit's kind of hard to get over.
(38:08):
Help them overcome that fear.
And same thing with the highyield savings account.
You mentioned that earlierearlier and I'm still on that,
trying to get her.
I'm hoping to be able toaccomplish that this week that
I'm here, but it's been slowprogress trying to convince her
that a high yield savingsaccount is safe and better.
(38:30):
So yeah, a lot of struggles.
Definitely.
I can see how you said it waslike 50% that has 49%.
Jessica Perrone (38:40):
Yeah, nearly half.
Violeta Sandoval (38:41):
Yeah, yeah.
Jessica Perrone (38:42):
So in such a tight knit culture, and there's
so many other cultures out theretoo that really believe in the
(39:03):
younger generation taking careof the older generation.
And in their mindset why do Ineed to save for retirement?
My kids are going to take careof me.
And if something happens andthere's a fallout in the family,
that potentially, if theparents haven't been saving for
retirement, that couldpotentially really leave them in
(39:24):
a tough position.
And that actually happened tomy grandma.
I don't want to go into it, butshe also believed that she was
going to be taken care of by theyounger generation and she
basically she passed in ahospice with nothing and it was
the saddest thing that I've everseen.
(39:46):
I don't want to scare people,but if you don't look out for
yourselves and especially women,right, we're afraid to really
take these items on.
And just to go back to thecourses, this is also one of the
reasons why I created it wasbecause even I, when I started
off my journey and I said I hadthe financial IQ of a toddler,
(40:10):
frankly I didn't even understandthat if I was investing in my
401k.
Violeta Sandoval (40:15):
I was investing in the stock market.
Jessica Perrone (40:16):
I did not make that.
I did not make that connectionand even and I had this mentor
at work and he said you reallyshould be putting money away
towards your 401k, you shouldreally be putting money towards
the stock of employee stockpurchase plan, and I had no idea
that I was investing in themarket.
And then, as a result of that, Iactually have some funny
(40:38):
investing jokes.
That happened where I gotinvolved in some penny stocks,
and that's another story,because I just realized that I
could have just been allocatingmore money to my 401k and the
match, and I am in the marketsand it will be growing.
So these are all things that weshouldn't be embarrassed to not
(40:58):
know, because if our parentsdon't understand this, how are
we supposed to understand this?
So that's one another one ofthe reasons why I put together
my courses.
So I have before investing,which talks about your financial
docs and personal financetricks and how to make your
money grow before investing, andthen investing basics what are
(41:19):
the different ways you can putyour monies to work, what is a
401k?
What are IRAs?
What is a robo-advisor?
What does a financial advisordo?
What do retail brokers do?
And so that's my investing forbeginners course.
And then I also have my stocksand ETF simplified, because once
you figure out where you wantto put your money to work, you
kind of have to understand whatthey're investing your money
(41:41):
into.
That's course, three stocks andETF simplified.
So that's how I broke it downin the courses.
And then, of course I hadpeople saying hey, jessica, will
you just help me one-on-one?
I'm such a people person.
I love people.
So I said okay, I'll startcoaching too.
So I have expanded out intocoaching one-on-one coaching.
(42:01):
So, regardless of where you arein your life, whether it is
trying to just save more, budgetmore, increase your credit
score, or if you're starting tothink about investing, or if
you're about to buy a house andyou want to get your credit
score up, these are all waysthat a financial coach, whether
it be me or another person, canhelp an individual get their
(42:25):
finances in a row.
Violeta Sandoval (42:27):
Yeah, yeah, they sound great.
I went on your website and Ireally really love how you did
the step-by-step.
Each course is in for certainthings, like the beginning, the
sort of beginning, and then themiddle and continue building up.
So I really like that.
I think that's um, definitelyhow people um learn pretty well,
(42:52):
like all the, especially me.
That would have helped me backthen if I had like, okay, first
start with this and then withthis and then go from here,
instead of like havingeverything like being so
overwhelming.
It's like, oh my god, I gottalearn about savings, I gotta
learn about credit score, Igotta learn about this and you
know God, I got to startinvesting and I have no clue
(43:15):
what that means, and so I reallylove how you set up your
courses.
Again, I will have that linkedbelow, but I am thankful that
you came on here to share yourstory and have all these
conversations, so I appreciateyou coming on my podcast and
sharing your expertise.
Jessica Perrone (43:37):
This was so much fun.
Thank you and I know, financeand fun in the same like
sentence.
How could that be?
But this was really really fun.
Thank you so much, violeta.
I really appreciate having meon the show.
Violeta Sandoval (43:49):
Awesome and, again, all of her information
will be linked down below, alongwith the blog that was
mentioned and the statistics,the report that you had.
But other than that, I will seeeveryone in the next episode.
Bye, thank you so much forlistening.
(44:11):
Don't forget to like and sharethis episode so others can also
find this podcast.
Don't forget to follow me onall my social medias listed in
the show notes below, where youcan also find resources to help
you in your financial journey.
If you're interested inbecoming a guest on the podcast,
(44:31):
you can find that informationin the show notes.
Other than that, thank you somuch for your support and I will
see information in the shownotes.
Other than that, thank you somuch for your support and I will
see you in the next episode.
Bye.
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