This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Prudential and DiMe Media. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
Hispanicize Texas is the best place to connect with top Latino talent in the worlds of bloggers and influencers. Most of these talented people are my friends and I’m so proud of each of their successes as entrepreneurs. Now, it’s over but I’m still reveling in all the lessons I learned, the people that I met, and the experience I had as blogger. One of the most memorable parts of Hispanicize Texas was my experience and learned lessons from Prudential about saving for my future. My clearest observation was that I know that, as Latinos, we make our familia a priority but are we really making the best financial choices to ensure a successful future for all of us?
Familia, Education, and Finances
One of the benefits of attending Hispanicize is that I get to spend so much time with mi gente: bloggers, influencers, brand representatives of the Latino community. We are fun, we love music, we love our food, we love each other. It’s always a great time. One thing that mi gente doesn’t love as much is talking about retirement. DYK that 70% of Hispanics in the U.S. have no retirement accounts? Yikes, Queridos!
The Latino community is big on familia and education. In fact, when I went LIVE on Facebook with mi amiga Anjelica of Juan of Words and Crafty Thrifter, she mentioned that her son’s education is what motivates her financially. My kids’ education is also what motivates me financially, Queridos. Pursuing higher education is one of the main topics on QueMeansWhat.com. An important education issue we haven’t addressed here is how to avoid college education debt and how can parents contribute and still contribute to their own retirement. I don’t think it’s fair of me to encourage Latino families to send their kids to college without offering a few resources about how that expense may factor in to their retirement plans.
FACEBOOK LIVE
[RESOURCE] Students, review this info graphic from Prudential “How to Stop
Student Debt from Taking Over Your Life” to help you make smarter choices about how to pay for college.
[RESOURCE] Parents, please read Paying for College and Saving for Retirement from Prudential. you have options and solutions to pay for both. Use your smarts to figure out the best ways to end up with the least amount of debt.
For those of you who aren’t don’t have potential student debt to be concerned about, you still need to visit retirement fund options. There are many reasons why Latinos don’t have a retirement fund especially since retirement seems so far away in the future. In many cases, it’s not a lack of discipline, but unfamiliarity or unawareness of various options available for retirement savings. [RESOURCE] Here is a list of the funds available:
401(k) http://bit.ly/2mz0bqg
IRA https://nerd.me/2nkacX4
Roth IRA https://nerd.me/2odhFol
myRA (my Retirement Account) http://bit.ly/2nPHU8r
Budget. Budget. Budget.
The Prudential team used text technology to engage the audience during their panel: Prudential Financial: Business for Creators and Entrepreneurs with Mario Yearwood, Cristy Clavijo-Kish, Elayna Fernandez, Eddie Garcia, and Lili Gil. One of the first questions was “Do you follow a budget for both personal and business?” 53% of the audience said NO. And, this is exactly why Prudential is a great partner for Hispanicize. They bring the knowledge of how, as Latinos, we can improve our financial situations to better improve our future.
Budget. Budget. Budget. @liligil Make a promise to yourself to budget for your biz and personal. #prupárate #hispzTX AD @Prudential pic.twitter.com/5V1XottTNi
— Melanie-QuéMeansWhat (@quemeanswhat) July 29, 2017
It was refreshing to see a group of successful Latinos get on stage and share honestly about their financial choices. The audience was also very gracious to answer the questions honestly so that a real discussion could be had. It wasn’t all serious talk though! Prudential’s PRU LIVE game made for a fun way to learn more about our financial options. It’s modeled after a popular game show where participants can win great prizes by answering questions about financial solutions and our own Latino culture. I played! I didn’t fare so well but it was fun and I hope others laughed and learned as much as I did.
Hispanicize Texas was great place to create these discussions about planning financially for our futures but I hope that everyone took those discussions back home to their families. I know I did! However, my husband was the one who was happy to hear me want to discuss our finances. He’s the one in our family who has been taking care of these things. I’m lucky to have him. And I promise to start listening more. And more importantly, I promise to start asking more questions.
Planning for Your Future
Ever wonder how much is enough for YOU to retire? What kinds of insurance YOU might actually need? The value of all YOU do 24/7? Or simple questions like how do YOU develop a financial plan? Prudential has all the tools YOU need to get real answers to your personal questions and more in one place! Visit Prudential.com
