Latines face a myriad of barriers on the path to financial freedom, but one of the biggest obstacles holding folks back is a lack of financial literacy. A 2017 report by the TIAA Institute found that finance knowledge among the demographic is generally lower than that of the overall adult population in the U.S. As a result, the community is vulnerable to predatory lenders and susceptible to small money mistakes with devastating long-term impacts. For instance, Latines have a higher than average student loan debt but generally have less money in retirement or savings accounts and struggle with poor credit history. These systemic hurdles have made it nearly impossible for some in the community to build wealth. In fact, while Latines make up an estimated 17% of the country’s population, the group holds only 2% of its wealth.
Understanding the plight of financial unwellness in the community, many Latine financial planners, coaches and experts are beginning to share their insight. From free personal finance podcasts and video Q&As to inexpensive workshops and literature, the money masters are making these often-exclusive conversations accessible, digestible and, in many cases, bilingual. Whether you’re in need of basic financial literacy, trying to repair your credit score, struggling to pay off debt or are interested in investing, there are culturally-proficient coaches and platforms available to you. Here’s a short list of some of the best resources helping Latines achieve financial liberty in:
Finances 101:
If you’re hoping to expand your financial literacy and get accessible overviews on a range of topics, tune into the Moneda Moves podcast and follow the platform on Instagram. Host Lyanne Alfaro is a Mexican-American producer at Nasdaq with a ton of money insight. Through MonedaMoves, she shares her smarts to build financial literacy among Latines and transform the community’s relationship with capital. On her podcast, she features other finance experts to have conversations around tackling debt, investing, building wealth, entrepreneurship and much more.
Budgeting:
In 48 months, Ecuadorian-Honduran commercial litigation attorney Cindy Zuniga-Sanchez paid off $215,000 in student loan debt, and now the money coach is teaching others how to take control of their finances, too. Through Zero-Based Budget, Zuniga-Sanchez offers one-on-one coaching sessions that help clients outline goals, review their finances, craft plans, build budgets and learn new strategies for success. Even more, she often leads inexpensive workshops and offers free budget and pay-off tips on Instagram.
Building & Repairing Your Credit Score:
About 41% of Latines report having no credit or a poor to fair credit score. To help the demographic, Los Angeles-based finance expert Carlos “Charlie” Hernández founded Crediverso in 2019. The family-owned company helps Latines take control of their financial future through free, bilingual instruction on credit cards, credit scores and loan offers. Whether through its comparison blog that breaks down different tools and helps you make the best decisions for you or step-by-step guides, Crediverso’s mission is to help Latines make more confident money decisions that can improve the financial future of our communities.
Investing:
Founded by Dominican-American money expert Jully-Alma Taveras, Investing Latina is an online community aimed at empowering women to find financial freedom. On YouTube and through her website, Taveras provides free, digestible breakdowns on various money topics, like saving, building credit and starting side hustles. However, most of her work centers on educating women about investing. The award-winning bilingual coach teaches multiple low-cost investment workshops in English and Spanish and also answers her followers’ questions on the topic for free on YouTube.
Starting a Small Business:
Louis Barajas is a financial expert and adviser who has centered his career on helping Latines build wealth without sacrificing time and relationships with their family. In his book Small Business, Big Life: Five Steps to Creating a Great Life with Your Own Small Business, the East Los Angeles-based wealth and business manager provides an integrated approach to balancing the professional and the personal, including steps to building a successful small business that will work for you, rather than the other way around. Barajas is also the author of The Latino Journey to Financial Greatness, My Street Money, Overworked, Overwhelmed, and Underpaid and many other bilingual financial literacy and development books.