EP74 Empowering Latina Voices: Luzy's Journey from Student Debt to Financial Independence

Reframing the stigma around debt is important for breaking the cycle of shame and achieving financial freedom. Luzy King, CEO of Say Hola Wealth, shares her practical strategies to manage debt effectively, emphasizing personal growth and the need for investing in financial knowledge and community support, rather than solely focusing on frugality and expense-cutting.
Check out the Highlights of this episode!
• Luzy's journey from a challenging financial background to becoming a personal finance advocate 
• Overcoming the stigma of debt 
• Understanding debt types and repayment methods 
• Increasing income through personal skills and efforts 
• Investing in financial education and community support is essential for long-term wealth building

Connect with Luzy King:

Website: https://sayholawealth.com/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/luzy-d-king-cpfi-mba-78b366b2/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sayholawealth/

Chapters

• 0:00 Reframing Debt
• 14:00 Overcoming Student Debt Shame and Guilt
• 19:47 Empowering Financial Literacy and Forgiveness
• 28:58 Navigating Barriers to Financial Education
• 37:37 Investing, Identity, and Building Wealth
• 45:40 Empowering Latina Mothers to Dream

Transcript

Violeta: 0:00

Hola, welcome to another episode of the Money Chisme podcast, where we talk about real estate, investing, personal finance, entrepreneurship and really just other money chisme. I have an awesome guest joining me today, lucy King, a trailblazer in personal finance and founder of Say Hola Wealth. She's here to share five strategies to pay off your debt and start investing. Hola, lucy, thank you so much for joining me today.

Luzy: 0:28

Hola, hola. Thank you so much for having me and I'm so ready for money chisme.

Violeta: 0:33

Yes, that's my favorite chisme about dinero and I know we are going to talk about debt and it's a very important topic. But before we get into that, I want to hear a little bit more about you, what you do, give us a background.

Luzy: 0:49

Yeah, you'd really want the chisme, right? Yeah, yeah, give us the chisme. Yeah, I love that. So I am a first generation Latina. I grew up very humble. I always think when people say like I'm low income, I was like I don't think I was even low income. I was very, very, very humble growing up. I'm of an amazing woman who had five kids and she left a very abusive relationship and so she was always hustling, trying to find just like the money to really raise her children, and so my mom was such a hustler growing up. She was always gone, she was always working, and so I knew at a very early age that I wanted to do something. And I don't know where this passion came from, but I've always knew that I wanted to do something big right. And growing up we like we watch a lot of novellas and a lot of people are like, yeah, I just want to find maybe a number of Rico, like, no, I don't want that, I want to go to school. I want to go to college and I did.

Luzy: 1:53

I had some of my ways through community college. That's how I earned my bachelor's degree while I was working, and so I was very passionate about working in the hospitality industry, like that was my dream, and I started working when I was 16. I wanted to join the cross-country team and I wanted to just start having my own money, right. And so I was able to get the job. I climbed the corporate ladder and then, when I was at the top, I was kind of thinking like, is this it, like it was for me? And so in 2019, I decided to stop working for this company, primarily because I was underpaid and overworked.

Luzy: 2:34

And that's when it hit me that I had been building somebody else's dreams rather than focusing on my own dreams, my own personal finance, my own dreams, my own personal finance. And I came home and my husband and we started thinking about hey, now we have a new house, we have kids and we have $220,000 in the student loan. What are we going to do? Right? And that conversation, for me, was so much different than what I saw growing up, because I saw arguments around money. I saw a lot of financial stress growing up around money, and so I was terrified to have these like unhealthy conversation. But it was totally the opposite, I suppose. As an American, I always like to say that because I take a lot of pride in how he approaches finances, but we come from the same background. He also grew up income, except he has like such a beautiful relationship with money that I didn't have. And so here I am now looking at my money and wondering, ok, what's next?

Violeta: 3:35

Nice. Yeah, that's kind of like a similar story, and I hear that it's like we get so focused on trying to get money and everything. Because we grew up and I would say I think I'm similar where I used to think it was like low income, but I think it's more like humble right, like we were okay, it's like we weren't probably lower end of middle class at that time. But yeah, then you hit the ground running trying to make money and everything like that. And then you go all the way up and then you're like, what do I do now? Like you hit this wall and you realize that what have I been doing? Like is this my passion? Is this like what I'm supposed to be doing? And so I'm glad you shared that because I feel like there's like I don't know, like an awakening or something.

Violeta: 4:26

Like a lot of people Latinas and even Latinos are out there, just kind of like waking up from this haze, of like chasing just the career, the high paying job or whatever. You had some debt and that is the topic that we're going to talk about, and I think I got a little bit lucky because my dad really pushed that like to not get debt and everything like that, even with school, I ended up just joining the Navy. So that's what kind of like saved me was, like you know what, no se que más hacer. So I just went to the Navy and that I was able to get my degree through there. But I want to go a little bit into your story and share, like, your journey with the school day. I think that's what you mentioned.

Luzy: 5:13

Yeah, absolutely. So I can share so many things about my story which I know people will resonate with. But one of the things that we did and I want this conversation to be practical for the listeners of your show and so I want to talk about five steps, right, because those are the steps that I follow and those are the steps that I want people to embody. So step one was reframing our relationship with death. We have to do that, especially as Latinas. Step number two is we need to understand the importance of what is really what keeps us like in debt. And then three is like knowing which strategy is the one that you want to pay. And then number four is I don't believe in cutting expenses. So when I say that I grew up like low income, then I say humble, I was actually meaning I grew up very poor. Okay, so where we live in in houses that even have like proper, like flooring or proper like ceiling and all of these because, yeah, we know my mom was feeding five kids, and how do you do that? And so for me, when I started my journey, cutting expenses and frugality was not even part of the picture. I was thinking like wait, like I, this is how I grew up. Of the picture I was thinking like wait, like I, this is how I grew up, I don't want to continue to deprive myself, because for me, it was also an identity. And then, lastly, we also got clear on the ROI between investing or paying off debt. Okay, and so I'm going to, I'm going to walk now people through the steps. Okay, so the first step is we have to reframe our relationship with debt. Right, because our parents, our community specifically, has this unhealthy thing with la deuda es mala. Right, like we shouldn't be talking about borrowing money because we don't do that. Right, which is not a horrible thing to do, but that is because our parents don't know. And I always say if you want to seek financial advice, don't ask your parents, because our parents don't know. And I always say if you want to seek financial advice, don't trust your parents because your parents don't know. And I say this with my hand and my heart because they really don't know. They have such intentions, but they don't know.

Luzy: 7:16

Okay, so when my husband and I look at our house full day which was $220,000, we were looking at that as like ay, que pena, que vergüenza. Don't look at that that day, if we look at the computer, the day is going to come and hunt us, or it's like a horrible monster that now is here to take our life. Because for us, both my husband and I, education was upward mobility and so we wanted to really embody that. The fact that we had to apply for a student loan day. Did we get scholarships along the way? Absolutely, but we didn't want to see it as we made a bad decision because society already shamed us in that regard, where you hear even people in personal finance saying if you have bad day or good day, right, there's always that conflict. In reality, day has no moral value. Yeah, just the tool, just like money.

Luzy: 8:08

So once we were able to reframe that, then your brain and your nervous system is ready to say okay, so what's next now? What are the things that I need? So for us, the next step was okay, let's look at our savings. Do we have peace of mind? Do we have enough money set aside for 12 months of emergency? And I also like to reframe that right, like I don't want to be saving for an emergency. And so we look at our numbers and say, yeah, we are fine for 12 months. We had our daughter. At that time, we just bought a house and we're like, okay, we're fine, for 12 months, we're good.

Luzy: 8:42

And then after that is, how can we continue to increase our savings while still paying off debt? And then for us was, well, let's look at the strategy. What is the strategy that is going to save us the most? And there really isn't the right strategy, unless you make the time, because I cannot tell you like, use this snowball method right, where you focus on paying the debt that has the lowest balance, versus the avalanche method, which is you focus on paying the debt with the highest interest rate. For us, it was like let's look at what is going to save us the most in the long run.

Luzy: 9:21

Now, this strategy might not work for everyone, because there's people that are listening to your podcast right now that truly need the small wins, right. So there is no right or wrong method. The method that is going to work for you is the method that you make the time to create. And a lot of people come to us and say tell me what to do, right. And I also have to reframe them like no, I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm here to help you make the choice that is going to work for you, because we always talk about it, right, Personal finance is personal, and so once you have that, then you can also look at maybe you can do a debt consolidation right, look at the pros and the cons and see what works for you. But no one has the magic wand because, first of all, you're not going to know what to do just by listening to podcasts, right, and so you have to really invest in what's going to save you the time. And so after that, what we did was increase our income.

Luzy: 10:21

So, for me, I had just left my corporate career and I remember looking at my bank account and I have $2,000 in a regular checking account because I was so busy going after the American dream. And I feel shame. I feel a lot of shame when I look at the number and I was like, and I was like, wow, you've been with this company for 17 years and this is all you have. And, of course, I had a 401k, but I didn't know what it was. I didn't know how to work. I didn't even know that I had it actually until like months after I left, I got a letter in the mail that said hey, if you want to do a rollover, if here's the information, I was like what the heck is a rollover? I don't even know what that means, and so I feel a lot of shame, and I think that people right now listening to your podcast is letting their shame control their actions, right?

Luzy: 11:17

And so we also need to understand that if you are shaming yourself, that's not serving you. So you have to stop doing that to yourself and you have to really start like make that time. Because here's the thing when it comes to breaking the cycle of day or the cycle of relying on somebody else for your finances, you're never going to have the right time, right. And the other thing is okay, now I'm sitting with my husband and we're like okay, now we have to increase our income. And so I was like okay, I have a baby and I'm probably going to have another one soon.

Luzy: 11:52

What are the things that I can do? And so I use my corporate background to start making money and also my hobbies, so I start looking at okay, I love talking, right, so can I start speaking? Can I start charging for speaking? I love creating, so can I create logos for small businesses. I love to like delegate and become.

Luzy: 12:17

What I now know is that it's actually a project manager. I know there was such a thing, right. So what are the things that I, the skill that I have, and how can I utilize the same skill set to increase my income? And so I started doing that and it worked for me. Right Now, is this going to work for you?

Luzy: 12:34

It depends how fast you want to start your financial freedom journey and how fast are you wanting to break the cycle. Right, because that's what we're doing. People think that we're building, like all these millions, but what we're really doing is breaking the cycle at the core. That's what we're doing. And so, for those of you that are listening, I will invite you to think about, like, what is the skill set that I have right now that I can make money? And your skill set might be making tamales. Your skill set might be taking pictures, and there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes, especially right now, in the times that we live, there's so many people that say, well, launch a podcast, write a blog, blah, blah, blah. That stuff makes money, but it takes time, it takes years, it takes a strategy. So if you want to make money tomorrow, you have to start using the skill set that you have.

Violeta: 13:29

Yeah, that's available. I'm glad you were saying that tamales like the lonchera that I see on TikTok and people that do meal prep, like something that works for you. Matter of fact, my babysitter that's what she's doing, she's making extra cash, her kids are in school and whatever. She has a remote job. So she's like, oh, what else can I do during the day? And so she comes over here and takes care of the baby. So, like, yeah, you have to kind of just como lisa's, be a little bit creative based on what skills you have.

Violeta: 14:00

And before we like go a little bit further, I want to make sure that something that you said that really resonated with me with regards to, like, the student debt and everything and I kind of wanted to get your thoughts on you were saying that we have to get over that guilt and what. I guess, what kind of like words of advice or encouragement Because, like recently you saw, I think it was like the student debt payoff. There was a lot of drama with that and a lot of shaming, and I feel like, especially with that type of debt, and you're trying to heal and try to not feel guilty. Pero acá, you see it in the news and on Instagram and the comment section is like oh, you know, I paid my debt, blah, blah, blah. And that's like what is? Your know, I paid my debt, blah, blah, blah.

Luzy: 14:49

And that's like what is your advice? To kind of like shut out that, yeah, I can tell you, but I don't even know if I can cuss in your podcast. I do all the time. Go ahead, good. So my advice is don't you just have to learn how to not give a fuck right?

Luzy: 15:02

And so, any decision that you make, make somebody else is always going to have a comment or feedback about it. Right like, and not just about money like right, if you lose weight or gain weight, oh my god, right. So people, we're always going to have an opinion about other people's, because we're we just we're trying to avoid looking within, right, and I always say, like, when people are giving you feedback about what they wouldn't do and it's like deal, that's a reflection on that right. So, if you want to pay off your student loan debt, don't wait for the government to quote unquote give you a forgiveness, right? I could have chosen the same path with my house full and say, okay, let you a forgiveness, right. I could have chosen the same path with my house full and say, okay, let's just wait. Right, and, believe me, everyone had an opinion about how, why we shouldn't pay it off, todos, right, I don't have.

Violeta: 15:56

that's another drama, yeah.

Luzy: 15:59

Yeah, like you can put it in the market, you can make more money. Everyone had an opinion, right? So what we learn is to have that conversation within our household, right? If you're married, have the conversation with your partner. If you're single, maybe have a conversation with your friend. You have to do that, but, yeah, at the end of the day, it's like what is going to feel better for your nervous system, right? Are you going to be waiting? And I actually dislike that.

Luzy: 16:28

We have these stupid titles on it, everything that has to do with money, right, like student loan forgiveness. It's like there's nothing that you need to be forgiving about. You invested in your education, and a lot of us didn't have a trust fund from our parents that were like hey, mijita, mijito, here's the money. Go to college, follow your dreams, right, because our parents didn't know. And so my advice to answer your question will be is you have to make a decision. No one is coming to save you. I'm not going to come save you. Yolanda is not going to come save you. We're here to help you and support you, but we're not here to save you. I'm not gonna come save you. Your letters are gonna come save you. We're here to help you and support you, but we're not here to save you, so you have to make a decision. Hey, you know what I? I'm gonna pay it off.

Luzy: 17:13

And what blows my mind, to answer your question, is some people have a thousand dollars student loan day and some people have like hundreds and thousands of dollars and they're still like, okay, my way is voy a esperar to get that forgiven, right, but it's like what is that doing to your abundance? What is that doing to like your mindset? And so don't look for advice outside, like we are such a beautiful human beings that we know. So if your God is telling you just pay it off, just create a plan, do that. So if your God is telling you just pay it off, just create a plan, do that Because you would want to be in control, and especially right now, with a political climate like we don't know what's going to happen. And are you willing to go another four years letting somebody else tell you what to do? I hope the answer is no. So that will be my advice Just be on the drips, yeah.

Violeta: 18:04

I'm glad, yeah, I agree, porque hay mucha gente that are just waiting for the next thing. It's like and my thoughts is the same Just start doing it Y si te cae, the luck that you do get forgiveness, that's awesome. Pero you don't want to keep on waiting for something que may or may not happen, like start taking the steps now and, like you mentioned, of seeing it as an investment, because I there's a lot of shame of student loan and then the whole debate don't even get we started of whether, like, a college degree is worth any blah, blah, blah. But it's the. You have those, that little pajarito, the little voice telling you también, and you just gotta like shut it out and you know heal with your debt and then figure out, okay, pues, ni modo, I have the debt, it's not gonna go away, no matter if I act like it's not there, and then move forward and like how you were saying, with your strategies, and there's I.

Violeta: 19:05

Yeah, I hear different types of strategies of, like some people pay off the higher interest and some people like to do the lower one, but I agree that some people need that small like. You have to see progress, because for a lot of people, a kid with that delayed gratification. They give up. They have to see something. Even like weight loss or whatever, if you don't see that moving, you kind of lose motivation. So same thing with a lot of goals in life, a little small wins.

Violeta: 19:47

So, like me personally, I think I, if I had a debt, I probably would go that route, because I'm that type of person que tengo que ver Que there's something, something's happening, that the needle is moving. And then you were going into back to now to finding other ways of income and también like trying to figure out what kind of income you can bring in. And, yeah, the podcast. It takes a while but I have the luxury que lo que I could take my time with this, but if you're someone that like que necesita the extra cash to start paying it off, entonces find something que te va a, something right away, like babysitting or whatever. Yeah, absolutely.

Luzy: 20:34

And I'm not saying don't do a podcast or don't do a blog, because obviously that is essentially also part of the strategy to create multiple income streams, which are needed for people who want to say, okay, now I pay, I pay off my debt and I want. Right, the goal is to become financially free, and so those are also strategies that you will use. But don't think that you're going to write a blog and in 30 days you're going to start making money, because it doesn't work that way. I know this because I have a blog. It's year three and I still I'm not monetizing the blog. I'm still writing the blog, but I don't monetize it, and so it takes time.

Luzy: 21:12

Right, and you said something that I was thinking about. Sometimes we think of the debt being this large amount of money, but the cost of avoidance is higher than the actual balance of your student loan debt. Yeah, and the money avoidance is higher than the actual balance of your student loan debt. Yeah, and the money avoidance is higher than the credit card debt that you have. And if you've never heard of like money avoidance, like just Google, like what happens when someone has money avoidance right, like my avoidance cost me thousands of dollars. I was thinking like man, if I would have known that my 401k was an actual investment account or just savings for retirement, I wouldn't mess the crap out of that, right. And so knowledge is power. And I'm not sure. I'm not sure, like I'm being transparent, like I'm not sure like the demographics that you of listeners, but I work with Latina professionals Okay, so that's like my audience that I work with, and sometimes those mujeres are so busy climbing the ladder and they're like laser focused on the ladder and they're not even thinking about like, okay, let me max the investments, let me become a leader of my money, because we think that money, oh, no, que pena, right?

Luzy: 22:29

No, se habla de eso. And so become a leader when you take control of your finances, because a true leader doesn't wait for someone to lead them. A true leader says, okay, this is what I'm going to do and I'm going to run with it, right. So, for those of you that are listening, you also don't have to have a professional career to lead your own finances, right? Because, yeah, there's people that are like, yeah, I love college degree, let's go for it. And there's people like, no, I'm okay, just buy me a blue-collar job and that's fine too. You people can become millionaires that way as well.

Violeta: 23:12

Yeah, I'm well. You mentioned the 401k, and que latinas, we tend to have that habit of like getting hyper fixated on just like our job, or trying to get to the next promotion or whatever, because I did the same thing then. Yeah, it's equivalent to the 401k, just has a little bit slight differences on the military side. It's called the tsp and for years four years, este tambien. I didn't know what to do with that. I was just sending money to it and I had it in a government fund which, like, gives me like barely anything yeah, but how are you supposed to know?

Luzy: 23:43

right, like you know, we don't have a playbook of. Hear me, tita, this is what you do. You will have the playbook for your kids, and the people that invest in financial literacy and financial literacy knowledge will have the playbook for their children and the children of their children, and that skill it's way more valuable than any skill that you can learn.

Violeta: 24:13

Any skill. Yeah, yeah, skill it's way more valuable than any skill that you can learn. Any skill, yeah, yeah, like you were saying, we're breaking the cycle, this thing, but the struggle and having to figure things out and luckily I finally figured it out and I switched it and getting better returns. But I try not to dwell on it like ni modo. It already happened, but I used to think like man, like dude, I want to say it was like no, seven to eight years. It then yeah, and I was just doing that dang, you know seven, eight years. If I would have known this in the app. But up with the model, you got to just push forward. Forgive yourself, I didn't know better. You know I just do better. So, yeah, that's all financial forgiveness practice, financial forgiveness of.

Luzy: 24:51

I didn't know, but you were still sending money which is 10 times better than the average american. Yeah, but because we are high achieving, because we I don't know if you are, but some of the listeners might be like the eldest daughter, right that feel like they have shit together. So there's a lot of cultural nuances that come with that too, and so I think in our community, that's another thing that we need to practice and talk about more, like how to practice financial forgiveness, because nothing happens when you're just keep telling yourself and there's so many words for that, and so we have to learn that.

Violeta: 25:32

Yeah, especially with the old financial influencers, or gurus. Que te decían? Yeah, like on top of the student loan debt. También te decían those things like oh, you shouldn't have done this, blah, blah, blah. That's how they sell their stuff is like that negative guilt. Yeah, shouldn't have done theirs. Blah, blah, blah. That's how they sell their stuff is like that negative guilt. Yeah, we're moving away from that as they, and doing it more with compassion, like teaching, yeah.

Luzy: 25:56

Personal finance, yeah, can I can I touch on that real quick too like I think, as as financial educators and as financial coaches, we have a responsibility to be ethical in how we serve our community, because when you are using unethical marketing practices to instill fear and make people feel that if they don't buy your program, they're going to lose this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you're doing such a disservice to our community. And our community is so smart, like they see. They read in between the lines. So, yeah, they do, god stop. And the other thing that I want to say is, as financial coaches and educators, we also have to learn how to help our community expand Like. One of the things that I don't like and I don't agree with is when financial coaches tell our community, like I come in the casa, like, cut expenses. It's like no, become a greater coach so you can teach people how to elevate their income. Because while we're here teaching our community, I got expenses and I commit in casa. There's other coaches that are like no, let me help you how to elevate your income.

Violeta: 27:15

this is why I don't believe in frugality yeah, I don't think it's casual. I've seen like the calculations and I kind of mentioned it in otro episode que there was like some video on YouTube and they actually did the calculations. Like, oh, if you did it, because it was like I, that there was like some video on YouTube and they actually did the calculations. Like oh, if you did it, because it was like I think it was like last year or a year ago. They hyper fixated on like their Starbucks at home or whatever. Right, so, el cup of coffee that you go by every time, like instead put that toward, like save it or whatever. And he did the calculations. He like, I think, in I forget the timeline, but it was like 20 years that he did the timeline and it only came out to like maybe 20k or whatever.

Violeta: 27:59

But like for 20 years, 20, 30 years, is that you really sacrificed your little small joy in life For what? Like it didn't really amount to much, versus if you just increase your income, like how we were talking about, like it's going to have a bigger impact, a bigger result. So, yeah, I don't agree with the frugality mindset either. It's just like guilt-shaming for me and just kind of like trying to make us feel bad about stuff like about enjoying little things in life, but I did want to get into, since we were kind of talking about investing, because I thought it was an interesting thing that you went through that. I didn't even know about that when you went to wanted to start investing. You actually went to you know one of the brokerages, but they denied you. So I wanted you to go into that and share your story.

Luzy: 28:53

Yeah, so I've learned about investing. So five years ago, I'm talking about 2019. I didn't know what generational wealth was. I didn't know what multiple income streams was. I didn't know any of these language that now it sounds like, oh my gosh, she's an expert, right. I didn't know any of this language that now sounds like, oh my gosh, she's an expert, right. I didn't know any of that.

Luzy: 29:10

And so after I left my corporate career, I put myself back in school because I had this identity of, hey, I need to somehow have an excuse for the gap with my resume. So when I'm ready to join the workforce once again, I need to have that on my resume under my belt and say oh yeah, I went back to school, right? And so through a finance class, that's when I learned the term generational wealth and I was just blown away. I was like what happened? How come I don't know this, right? I went through the same process of like feeling guilty, I should have known better. I have a bachelor's degree, I'm an executive, blah, blah, blah all these negative talk. But then I learned we don't know right. And so in that class, one of the advice that was given is go talk to a financial planner, about your financial plans, about how you want to build wealth. Yeah, I went ahead and got ready, got dressed. I was like, okay, I'm ready to go follow my dreams, right? So excited and motivated, I was in more tacones for probably a year and I was like I'm ready. And so I walk into the office and when I sat down to talk to this female advisor, she's like yeah, I would love to help you. Do you have $100,000 to start investing? And I was like, oh wait, excuse me. Like did you say ten thousand? She goes oh, no, a hundred thousand. I was like, oh, oh no, I don't. And she's like, yeah, that's what we require to work with our clients. And I was like, okay, thank you. And I would just blew my mind and I don't give up easily. I I said I'm going to go home, because now me aprietan los tacones and I'm going to come back some other time. And so I came home and I did research and I found another female advisor and said, okay, this one is probably going to say yes to me. So I got ready and same thing happened when I sat with her. She said yeah, I would love to help you if you're ready to start with a hundred thousand.

Luzy: 31:13

And I remember just feeling like my dreams have been crushed and I said, out of curiosity, like how many clients do you have that are Latina or women of color? And she goes like this, flip her hair back. She's like, oh no, I just don't seek those demographics. And I was like thank you for your time. And I was just like, wow, this speechless.

Luzy: 31:38

And for me it wasn't just a rejection of of not giving me the advice. For me I think it was more of like, why not Like? Why why don't you have people that look like me as clients? And so I came back and I did more research through thank you, google. And that's when I came across the wealth gap that exists in our country and I was like, hold on a second, what is this like? We have such a big purchasing power. Why don't we have the investment power too? And then, of course, we don't. We can't have the, the investment powers because of cultural nuances around money, because we don't talk about money, right, it's such a big topic. And so I think one day I said, if no one gives me advice, then I will find the advice.

Luzy: 32:28

And I don't think I shared this with you, but I'm actually in the process of finishing my book. It's called Cash Libre. I'm launching it in 2026. And in that book I talk about like the full story of what happened, how it happened. But I don't want you guys to wait, okay, so I'm going to give you a sneak peek. So I went to the local library to look for personal finance books and I grabbed the very small section that they had. I grabbed it all and I realized that the advice that was written wasn't for me and it wasn't for listeners either. And so I said I have two choices. I can either say it's not for me or I can implement the little things that are for me right At that moment. Budgeting was for me In that moment, paying off debt was for me. In that moment, acquiring the knowledge was for me. So that's when I said I can do that, I will control what I can, and my business wasn't even part of my well-building strategy, if I'm being honest, say all.

Luzy: 33:32

I just was like a need. When the pandemic hit and I saw how many women were left out of the workforce, I was like this is not okay with me.

Violeta: 33:41

Yes, yeah, yeah, that's wow, your story I cannot believe. Todavía estoy como like shocked Mi beruense, la dio, to say it like that. Okay, no, it's not my demographic, and those are like some of the things that contribute to the racial wealth gap. Like I feel like to like have such a big um, like um 100k. That's a lot for our community. That did, they were barely starting to get up there and everything like that, and but that doesn't mean that we can make progress like we could have started with 10k. 10k is a little bit more doable to to get started, or at least you can start with five dollars.

Luzy: 34:23

Yeah, and I think that's right that we talk about that. I'm sorry that I interrupted, but I think that is well, so let the people know, because they're listening right now. They're like 100k. I don't have 100k either, so you need five dollars to start investing. My boss yeah, they're.

Violeta: 34:39

Yeah, that's awesome, okay, okay, they make you think that you need that much. He, you said five dollars. You see. If, though, with some of these apps or whatever, yeah, you just start sending five dollars or whatever. He never pissed me off because I, at some point, iba to a finance planner también, y I think I got distracted or something. I don't know what happened, pero nunca fui, and I would have had to go through that too to realize que they're not there for me, they're for los que están más well off, and everything. So, oh, my god, thank you for sharing this story. Yeah, thank you for asking. Yeah, yeah, and so back to, kind of like, the strategies. I kind of lost track of which one we were at. Where is step five now? Okay, good, good, yeah, and so, yeah, I will let you get back to the strategy, kind of like sidetracked, a little bit better.

Luzy: 35:30

Yeah, okay, get the cheese with that winner, right? That's the name of your podcast by the way so the last step is you need to start investing.

Luzy: 35:39

Okay, whether you have a student loan date or not, or credit card day or anything, you need to start investing. Okay, and I'm not talking about putting money in the market just yet. You have to start investing. Okay, and I'm not talking about putting money in the market just yet. You have to start investing in acquiring the knowledge. Right, so, working with a financial coach, a financial counselor you need to do that Like that's non-negotiable. Now you can go to the library, like I did, and grab the book, but that book doesn't know that you are Latina. That book doesn't know that you are the eldest daughter who's responsible for your parents' retirement. That book doesn't know that your parents immigrated to this country and, because of that, your relationship with money is not where it needs to be. Right. So invest in working with someone and invest in acquiring the knowledge. Just because you have debt right now doesn't mean that you have to wait until you're like zero balance, done, checkbox. And then you're like, okay, now I'm going to start investing in the knowledge and investing in the market. You have to have the knowledge right now, because time is non-refundable.

Luzy: 36:50

Okay, so the version of myself in 2019, yes. Was she paying half day? Absolutely. Was she like pissed off because she was denied access to financial advice? Absolutely, but you know what else she was doing. She already had a plan or where she wanted to be in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

Luzy: 37:12

So the biggest questions that I asked myself was who do I need to become right? Because a veces pensamos ¿cuánto necesito, ¿cuánto necesito? And it's like no. You have to ask yourself the right questions. Who do I need to become to achieve that goal in five years? Who do I need to become to set up boundaries with my parents, with my friends and with myself? And then, if you already have a nine to five, the easiest way for you to invest is start investing in your 401k or employer-sponsored programs and not just do what most of us do, right, put the money. You have no idea what it means.

Luzy: 37:55

Actually grab the phone and say call your HR department and say, hey, I need to meet with you because I need an explanation of my benefits, right, and then, when you have the meeting and you show up to the meeting and they're talking to you with these gibberish things that you're like, what the heck is that? I want you to look at them in the eye and say, excuse me, thank you for explaining that, but can you explain it to me again with simple terms? Right, because financial planners, or even like human resources personnel, they work for a corporation. Right, so they're not going to come and let me show you. They're going to be like very professional. Right, because they have to follow that, the culture of their company. But if you look at them right in the eye and say, can you please be a human being and explain to me how this works, they will do it right, and so that is the easiest way to start investing.

Luzy: 38:49

Now there's people that will also tell you no, you need to have multiple investment accounts, and yes, that's true, but you don't need to know how everything works. You just need to know how your 401k works, and once you max it out every single year, you should already be two steps ahead and say, okay, what's next? Right, what is the next investment account that I need to max? And that will be the health savings account. That's the next one. Right, because it has triple tax benefits. And the way I think about investing in multiple investment accounts is we don't just have one cassazuela to cook, right? How many do you have Violeta. You probably have at least six, right? Yeah, you have one for the huevo.

Luzy: 39:35

Yeah, exactly.

Violeta: 39:36

Huevo estrellado, then if you want like.

Luzy: 39:39

Exactly so. That's how my investing works. You have multiple buckets, and so understand what buckets work for me, because there's buckets right, and I like to think of of casuelas, because my mom loves casuelas, her princess house and all that. So just because Violeta has six casuelas doesn't mean that you need six casuelas right, because everybody's goals are different, and so when people are listening to a show or looking at advice on TikTok, it doesn't apply to you. Now, the knowledge might be helpful, but you have to get with someone that says, okay, let's create a roadmap based on what I want, because I don't know what you want. Right, I don't know you. You're listening to the podcast. Violeta doesn't know what you want, but make sure to invest in knowledge 100% invest in knowledge.

Violeta: 40:36

100. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, that investing in knowledge is number one thing that has helped me really accelerate my financial journey and everything's because we mentioned a little bit earlier, we're already in that. We have that habit of we just do things like, okay, go get a job next, okay, we're gonna go get a degree. Okay, next I gotta get a license or whatever career, and then keep going, I gotta do this for my promotion, but we don't really focus on changing, like ourselves, like the type of person that you not need to be. So I love that, I love that you. That's an added layer of the kind of transformation we've got to go through. And it's true, I've been there Me even last year is completely different than me now.

Luzy: 41:20

So, yeah, we have to invest in the identity, and one of the things that I love about my personal journey is that when you become the cycle breaker, the next generation is going to be more abundant than you, because, I mean, you have a daughter. I have two daughters, right Like. Those girls have such a different relationship with money because they don't know what it's like to live in a house that doesn't have floor. They don't know what it's like to live in a house that doesn't have floor. They don't know what it's like to live in a house where we say, hey, no, tenemos dinero para la leche, right, yeah, but what they do know is that what we buy we use, right, they know about, like my nenas know about the late gratification and they know how to be resourceful Nice, those goals are resourceful, and so when you make that time to heal that relationship with money, to learn about financial literacy, the next generation is going to be so much better, and also past generations.

Luzy: 42:24

So I have some clients that are eldest daughters and they were trying to save their parents, right Like, because that's what you do You're the eldest, you're supposed to and they decided you know what? For once in my life, I'm going to put the oxygen mask on first. Was it easy? No, we cry on the calls, right, but because they did, now they were able to help their parents. And I will never forget when one of my clients, the eldest daughter, say like hey, lucy, I helped my dad open an investment account. And we're crying on the call, right. But I always say it takes one person to change the trajectory of an entire generation, whether that is your kids or also your parents.

Violeta: 43:09

Yeah, yeah, oh, my, or also your parents, yeah, yeah, oh, my God, that's so true. So now to kind of basically end it a little bit where can they? I know you do some like one-on-one and you have a lot of resources. Where how can people reach you and work with you?

Luzy: 43:27

Yeah, so people can find me on Instagram or on my website say Hola, wealth. And I also want to share something. I don't know if you share this with your clients too, but the money that you invest in financial coaching doesn't have to come from you. If you already work with an organization, you can ask your employer to say, hey, I need assistance for financial wellness, like some of my clients. I give them a letter. I'm like here's the letter. If you can't afford it, let's have your employer pay for it, and so it's not always about you coming up with the money.

Luzy: 44:03

That is part of the resiliency that we have as Latinos, right? How can I ask somebody else? So, people, I would love also for you, I would love for you guys to support my work by being on my email list, because when the book launches, you know, writing a book is is like having a baby, and I have to, and let me tell you, being pregnant and delivering a baby and raising the baby was so hard. And the book process is also like it takes time, right, like I'm almost finished, but it's launching until 2026 because there's so much behind the scenes. So, cieris Chismosa, because I know you guys are going to be listening to this podcast.

Luzy: 44:47

Subscribe to my email list. I will be sharing behind the scenes of what I do and also support Violeta Like you are listening to this show and little things like sharing or reviewing her podcast. That goes a long way, right? Like she spends hours getting ready, hours looking for guests. So make that time today to also support her work, because I have this saying that I always say like we build wealth juntas, right. So when she's pricing, she's not going to be up there, solita, she's going to bring you with her. So support the podcast and, yeah, let's connect.

Violeta: 45:23

Awesome, thank you. Thank you for that. Si es cierto, I love that Lo que acabas de decir, we build wealth together. That I love that we build wealth together. That's awesome.

Luzy: 45:31

That's my signature on my email.

Violeta: 45:39

We build wealth. Juntas Love it. I love it. But yeah, I will have all your information down, linked below in the show notes or be watching on YouTube or wherever it's going to be down in the description. But again, thank you so much much. I love this conversation and like sharing your story and I always love doing this podcast because I always learn a lot and I always feel like it heals también a little bit oh yeah, connecting.

Luzy: 46:01

Thank you for being such an amazing host and you're doing such a great job. So I also want to say thank you for the work that you're doing, because yo también soy chismosa, and I also want you're doing because I'm proud of the work that you're doing because, especially as a mother, you're teaching Latina moms that they go after their dreams. So thank you for doing the work.

Violeta: 46:23

Yeah, Thank you. Thank you. That's it for this episode. Again, check out. Check her out. The information is down below, but I will see you in la proxima. Bye.