Episode Transcript

Louis Barajas

McKenna: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone, and welcome to Health: It's personal. Today, we are thrilled to share our conversation with financial life healer Louis Barajas in our financial series. He shares his story of growing up with challenging financial circumstances and becoming an advocate for his family financial situation, leading to his path through higher education, becoming a financial planner and then returning to the place he grew up to help underrepresented groups gain financial literacy. He speaks all about his journey and perspective on finances as well as health and finding that strong balance. [00:00:37][36.9]

Sean: [00:00:38] Yeah, and really exploring the why behind so many different aspects holistically when it comes to financial health or our entire well-being as well as, you know, the driving force behind what got him started down this path and what drives him today to keep doing work like this with people. [00:00:55][16.5]

Karen: [00:00:56] I think he helped me realize that that's the foundation for everything. Right. We've been kind of working on our why, you know, as far as the podcast goes and personally all of those things. But before making decisions about finances is really important. And because we don't want to talk about finances sometimes digging deep before we head down a savings path or an investment path or a spending pattern, we don't always think about our why first. [00:01:24][28.8]

Sean: [00:01:24] Yeah, and I think, like you mentioned, our why behind the podcast, you kind of started us down this path as well, because, like, Louis was writing these books and doing this work for his father and people like him, we are doing it for you, Karen. Like little Karen, you wanted to get down this path. Yeah. [00:01:42][18.0]

Karen: [00:01:43] I, oh my! [00:01:43][0.1]

Sean: [00:01:44] Because you're kind of creating it for people who were in situations like you were in to kind of help them and provide resources that you wished that you had had. And I think that's a really beautiful, you know, and then we've kind of continued and taken that and ran with it. But, you know, we're kind of doing this for ourselves as well as, you know, helping people who might be thinking these same things like us and asking the same questions, but with no answers or people to talk to about it. [00:02:07][23.3]

Karen: [00:02:08] That's great that you said that, Sean, because I felt so connected to Louis, like really wanted just to hang out with him and be his friend. And I think maybe we have that in common. That makes sense. I thought maybe I was just like a super fan. Yeah, yeah. [00:02:23][15.5]

McKenna: [00:02:24] And like you mentioned, a lot of people who are the children of immigrant parents find their drive from something that shaped them when they were young and that came from their culture, their history, their background, their family circumstances. Growing up, you know, if their family moved to a new country when they were young and one of their parents got sick, they might be more willing to become a doctor, you know, and those kinds of things. And a lot of his motivations stem from those same ideas. It's the reason he writes a lot of his books. I think that's such a powerful why. And Michael Tyler, one of our favorite authors from the parenting series, wrote his children's book for his son because his son needed answers and he couldn't find them elsewhere and he needed to write them in words that his son would understand. And I think that's a really interesting way to think about why you're doing something and why you're taking the steps you are. [00:03:19][55.1]

Sean: [00:03:19] I was just thinking about he's all about the person on the other end of that communication and creating these resources to really help them, because, as he says, it's about the people, the individuals and their stories and circumstances and how do we fit what we're trying to do for them and how we're trying to help them to their need. Which is really beautiful. [00:03:43][23.6]

McKenna: [00:03:44] And of course, this is a health podcast and we're talking about financial health and how finances often set the tone for the day or the year of how we're going to be feeling physically and emotionally. These are big stressors and big decisions we're making that impact us and the people around us and the people who rely on us. I think this connection we all feel to Louis is that he likes to look at this holistic approach, which is what we're all about. And money stress is the worst feeling. It's like my kryptonite. [00:04:18][33.9]

Karen: [00:04:19] It's true. Yeah. When I was a single mom, when little,. [00:04:25][5.9]

McKenna: [00:04:25] Little 'Kenna-. [00:04:25][0.0]

Karen: [00:04:25] Little 'Kenna- No! Yeah. When I was in my 20s, I was a single mom and I was putting myself through college and working and. [00:04:34][9.6]

Sean: [00:04:35] Wow. [00:04:35][0.0]

Karen: [00:04:35] You know, just doing all of the things to provide balance and our lives. I had those same stressors, you know, being able to pay the bills or having a car that wasn't reliable, making sure that I was able to pay for my schooling and rent and food and daycare. And it's very, very stressful. And I don't always see myself as that person, because I've made a lot of changes in my life and I've been lucky and had some amazing opportunities, that I don't feel that same stress anymore. But when he mentioned it, it kind of brought back those feelings of how- [00:05:12][36.9]

McKenna: [00:05:13] Humble beginnings. [00:05:13][0.4]

Karen: [00:05:14] Yeah, humiliating it can be. And scary and devastating sometimes. And you don't always see that light. [00:05:23][9.1]

McKenna: [00:05:24] I had a wonderful childhood, of course, and didn't feel any of the stresses that, you know, of course, you were probably feeling. But I remember the Jetta. And I remember, like, getting stuck in the car breaking down and somebody having to pick us up. And- [00:05:38][14.2]

Karen: [00:05:38] You do remember that? [00:05:39][1.2]

McKenna: [00:05:39] Yeah. Like things like that. You know, I remember things like that. And I never thought like, oh, how horrible my life as a four year old. [00:05:47][7.5]

Karen: [00:05:47] But yeah, no, the jeda used it was a stick shift but sometimes and it would break, but in order to get it to start again, you'd have to like you shift it. So we'd have to like go down a hill and like. [00:05:59][11.6]

Sean: [00:05:59] Oh yeah. [00:06:00][0.3]

Karen: [00:06:01] Yeah. Get it done. Yeah. That was so humiliating. I think that was the feeling I was having when I use the word humiliating. [00:06:07][6.3]

Sean: [00:06:08] Yeah. And I think a lot of people kind of feel that. And that's why nobody talks about this stuff because they know other people go through this. But I think what we see, like on social media or on TV or in the movies is usually things are much, you know, much more glorious and glamorous. And so it's embarrassing and horrible to think about those things and kind of talk to people about that experience. But when you do share that, I think a lot of people out there are probably thinking, I know exactly what you mean. I know what that's like. [00:06:34][25.8]

Karen: [00:06:35] It's funny because now having a nice, comfortable, stable car does feel really nice to me. And some people want to buy a brand new car if they were able to, because it doesn't make financial sense. One of the other financial experts that we spoke to said, you know, living minimalistically is important if you're wanting to save and some people spend money on cars. And maybe that's why I like to because I don't want to ever think that my car might break down. [00:07:04][29.1]

McKenna: [00:07:04] Yeah, yeah. Right. Put you back in that space. Louis used the analogy of talking about how Steve Jobs, when he was really sick, you realize that all the money in the world can't save you from things like that. And so you hope that he had a very strong family unit and didn't let money negatively impact the relationships in his life because that's what really matters. And so when we didn't have money, when I was young and when I was staying with my dad and we were eating bean sandwiches for dinner every night and, you know, different things. [00:07:41][37.1]

Karen: [00:07:43] He made it fun, though, right? [00:07:44][1.0]

McKenna: [00:07:44] It was fun because we loved each other and we were happy. We were happy and it didn't matter. We didn't need things. And if the car broke down, we all just pushed the car like it wasn't a big deal. [00:07:53][9.1]

Karen: [00:07:54] And it's four year old McKenna. [00:07:55][0.7]

McKenna: [00:07:56] Well. [00:07:56][0.0]

Sean: [00:07:57] Wonder Woman. [00:07:57][0.3]

McKenna: [00:07:57] Yeah, but, you know, I think you can let the money stress get the best of you and your relationships. And I was really lucky that it didn't get the best of ours. [00:08:06][8.3]

Karen: [00:08:07] Yeah. And sometimes people have much more dire circumstances than we had, of course. [00:08:11][4.7]

McKenna: [00:08:12] Absolutely. [00:08:12][0.0]

Sean: [00:08:13] That's a really great point. And I think that relationship aspect is really crucial, too, because no matter how, you know, it is so much more difficult, I think, to kind of focus on those positive relationships when you're so stressed out about other things. But as we learned today, it doesn't matter how much money you have, you can still have those who are, you know, not build on those relationships even if you have millions. So it's important to focus on that whenever you can. And I have a few friends who have shared their experiences recently, growing up in poverty and not having that supportive home environment on top of it. And it was so horrible for them. And they share things like the phrase life's not fair being so commonly used in the household every day, you know? Well, life's not fair. And that's just, you know, so it's really great to see that you you know, despite all the difficulties, you were still trying to build those positive relationships in your life. [00:09:03][50.2]

Karen: [00:09:04] Louis mentioned that generally people that come into his office are 45 or 50 years old thinking about their retirement. And I feel really proud about the fact that we've come as far as we have to the point that McKenna has already seen a financial advisor and she's thinking about her financial future. She may measure wealth in different ways, but she's thinking about her values. [00:09:28][24.3]

Sean: [00:09:29] And then comparing to kind of how even Max is starting to think about these things as a teenager. That's really exciting. And also that amazing conversation we have, which I'll let people listen to in the episode. But I just really got me thinking about, is your kid really going to go to college? Are you planning on something that's not going to happen? I mean, does your kid even want to have those conversations and look at them and sit them down and have an open conversation like we've always talked about on the podcast and talk about all the health things and look at what their future looks like. From your perspective, in 10 years, 20 years, and then think about their perspective, what do they think it's going to look like in 10 to 20 years? [00:10:05][35.7]

Karen: [00:10:05] Are you planning for a false reality? [00:10:07][1.2]

McKenna: [00:10:07] Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And Lewis has a lot more to say on these points. So please, everyone, grab a cup of tea and enjoy this episode. [00:10:15][7.9]

Episode Intro: [00:10:18] Health is harmony, when you're aligned to everything you believe in is when you feel that harmony, and you feel peace. Trying to get to the root cause of things. That is just so much to learn. Can you be present in those moments in your life that mean them most. Because health, it's personal. [00:10:33][15.4]

Sean: [00:10:35] So welcome. We're so grateful to have you here to share your wisdom and insight with us and our listeners. You're a financial adviser, business manager, author and an advocate for helping others learn more about their own successful financial paths. You found inspiration for your journey through learning about financial literacy, poverty, and also the cultural dynamics that make up our various communities. Would you mind sharing some of your background and experience with us? [00:11:00][25.3]

Louis: [00:11:01] Sure. Well, you know, my parents are Mexican immigrants, and I was born in East Los Angeles, a little suburb called Boyle Heights. Right. Being the eldest of three children with immigrant parents, you're also their translator at a very early age. And you don't realize that maybe at some point you become their financial advisor as well at a very early age. And I'll share with you what happened. So at 11 years of age, around nineteen seventy two, we were going through kind of a recession in the United States. My dad, who was a blue collar worker, who worked as a mechanic and worked at a lighting company, was also a welder, lost both jobs. And so we were not that far off from having to go either. Probably move into a car to another family because we can pay rent. So my dad. Whatever little money he had left, bought a welding machine and started doing his own little business from the place that we rented. And my dad asked me at the age of 11 if I can help them do some paperwork because somebody came to him and said he needed a business license. So I was 11 years old. I took a bus to downtown L.A. with my dad. We asked questions. We got to city hall and we got a business license. Then my dad started doing ornamental iron, like window guards, fences, wrought iron doors. And so at the age of 13, this is back then like nineteen seventy four. Seventy three. The IRS actually showed up to my dad's shop and they asked him if he had filed his business tax returns because they didn't have any records of that. And so my dad looked at me and asked me in Spanish and he said, you know, he looked at me. He goes, Do you know what that is? What they're talking about? And I asked a gentleman, what's a tax return? I'm 13 years old. What the heck am I...? [00:12:37][96.1]

Louis: [00:12:39] So where I grew up, I was also immersed in books because I had an uncle who was a meat cutter, a butcher who loved books, and he and that he would buy me books. And so I asked the lady, is there a book on how to do a tax return? And so there was, so in Boyle Heights, as of today, we're talking about this is like forty something years ago. There was no bookstore back then and there is no bookstore today. And so my dad drove me like 15 miles, bought me a book on how to do tax returns. I went to the local post office, so I filed my dad's tax returns at the age of 13, not because I wanted to, not because it was my "occupassion." It was because I had no choice. And at age 15, we got audited for that tax return. And so in El Monte, California, my dad and I are there. My dad's already been in business for a few years. We, we're still broke as heck. And I went to go represent my dad. But I didn't sign his returns. And the lady asked my dad, who did your tax return, and he said, my son. And she asked me, Well, these are two years old. You were. How old are you, son? And I said, I'm 15. Yeah, you would have been 13. There's no way you did this. And I go, well ask me. I did do them. Ask me. Well, how would you have known how to depreciate this machine, that welding machine. Well I read the book and it said that if you bought it, like in September, you would have to take midmonth that and then whatever and it goes. Well, how did you figure that out? Well, I just read the book and I figured it out. [00:14:03][84.1]

Louis: [00:14:05] So, long story short, my dad and I left the El Monte office with the IRS with no change. And they said, fine, everything's good, go ahead. She probably felt bad for us and felt sorry for us because we were really broke. But my dad and I left there trembling, literally trembling. And then I made a commitment to my father, said, Dad, I promise you I'm going to go to college and learn everything there is about business and finance. So we don't suffer like we're suffering because we need more information. And I did end up going to UCLA, got my MBA at Claremont Graduate School. While I was getting my MBA, a friend of mine had gotten a job at IDS. American Express, which is now Ameriprise, and he was a financial planner, been working there for a few years. He was like a manager and I asked him about financial planning and stocks. I wanted to learn all about that while I was getting my my master's and he recruited me and I became a financial planner and for... And that's how I started. Right. So I had this MBA. Now that's where I started. I'll stop there because my story can continue. And McKenna, we could be at this for for like an hour, and Karen and Sean, but I'll stop there. And that's where my background is. And that's how I started in financial planning. Not because I wanted to, it's because I had to. And then I also felt a sense of responsibility for my family. For my parents. [00:15:14][69.4]

Karen: [00:15:14] Yeah. Love. [00:15:15][0.4]

Louis: [00:15:16] Yeah. [00:15:16][0.0]

Sean: [00:15:16] That's an epic journey, honestly. And I think that drive behind everything is really powerful to you. So thank you for sharing that. [00:15:23][6.8]

Louis: [00:15:24] It's the why. Right. The the why the why you're doing things is why you do them. And also, you know, this is a show about health. I will share with you that the stress level I was under by not having that knowledge was tremendous, and that's why when I told you that I left that IRS office shaking, I felt it in all my body, right. It wasn't that my head was oh, I don't know that information. I felt it. And where I was sweating, I was I was nervous. And so not feeling confident about something that is so important in your life affects your body as well. [00:15:55][31.0]

Sean: [00:15:56] Yeah. That's so intense and stressful and your livelihood, your survival, your family's survival. And those people can be intimidating too, especially if you're not sure what's going on. [00:16:06][10.8]

Louis: [00:16:06] You don't know who they are. Right. Once you grow up and you get to know so many IRS agents, my neighbor was an IRS agent, then you realize that they are regular people. Right? But when you don't know, you don't know. [00:16:16][9.5]

Sean: [00:16:16] So, yeah, exactly. You kind of see them as that authority figure. [00:16:20][3.4]

Louis: [00:16:22] Absolutely. [00:16:22][0.0]

Sean: [00:16:22] One of the biggest things that you're passionate about is helping underrepresented and underserved communities who might be feeling those feelings like you just expressed their health, their full body reactions to these types of topics. And you've also given back to the community you grew up in. What is your purpose behind this and how has that journey been for you? [00:16:40][18.0]

Louis: [00:16:41] Well, it ties into what we just spoke about, right. So here's what's going on. So I will share with you. Then I go into Ameriprise and at the end, I'm taught, actually one of the best experiences I've had because I had great training on financial planning. But when I got to the practical side, I went on the field. It was more about not financial planning, but more about selling product, because I wanted to help people like my parents. And so one of the things they always teach you with financial planning is you should start with your financial foundation, meaning you should have some cash reserves. You should buy some like term insurance, you should have an estate plan. Those aren't really products that are sold by broker dealers or Ameriprise or whatever. [00:17:17][35.7]

Louis: [00:17:17] So when I get there, I want to work with the community that I grew up in so I can help them and be accessible. Because what I thought, guys, was that no kid in East L.A. who is 10, 11, 12 years old, should be representing their parents in front of an IRS audit. That is just not fair. Yeah, and there was no one to access and there was no professionals in that community. So it was to me I wanted to help them out. The problem was I had a conversation after being about maybe a couple of years in the industry where about maybe about a year into it, where the manager came to me and said, hey, you know, you're you're like the best financial planning person we have here, but you're not really selling a lot of product and you're not going to last because, you know, you have a cubicle. And we actually say that for every cubicle, you have to bring in so much revenue. And because what I'm doing, I'm setting them up. Right. I'm all my clients have now. Emergency reserves, they're getting term insurance. They're doing this. Well, yeah, but maybe if you sold cash value insurance, you know, it's good for both of you if instead of doing a money market account or whatever it may be, if you do a variable annuity in the money market account, it's good for both of you. Right with a five percent commission. [00:18:22][64.9]

Louis: [00:18:23] To be quite honest with you, I quit financial planning after a couple of years because the people that I was working with didn't have those resources. And I said I would never do financial planning in my life ever again, that it was a facade just to sell product. It was just this. The industry was there to manipulate the conversation about planning what they really wanted you to buy a product. And I did. I quit and I ended up going to a firm to go get my CPA where they knew that I was a certified financial planner. They wanted me to do financial planning. Back then, CPA firms could not sell products. They were really the trusted advisor and they had me doing financial planning. And I was doing it without the pressure of having to sell anything to really multimillionaires and billionaires. And I said, if I can only do this for my community, that would be incredible. One day I'm going to do it. [00:19:08][45.4]

Louis: [00:19:09] And there's another story that's really important in my life that had me go back to the community. But the impetus to all this thing with Sean is that, you know, I wanted to provide advice that was transparent, ethical, honest, non manipulative with the intention to sell a product. Now, I know that a lot of people were going to listen to this, are going to hate me because they're going to say financial planners don't do that. Well, I beg to differ. It depends on how they're getting paid. But at the end of the day, they have to feed their families as well and they have to sell a product, but they haven't figured out how to charge for those fees. Right. And in the community I went to where they were not used to paying, I had to figure that out. The most important thing was for me to say, I know I can't, but if I could get access to my parents name, I got Beto and Sara Barajas, imagine if I would have been available for them in their community back then. Where would my parents be now. Telling you I don't care how great a financial planner I was at 11 years old or 13 or 15, I didn't know anything. And so I was just doing the best that I could, but I didn't have any practical experience. And so the advice they got was from a kid. What if they could get the advice from somebody who was already had an MBA, had a CFP, knew the ins and outs and all the stuff that can get you in trouble. So that's the reason why. So I have a why, and that's why I said I don't have an occupation. Right. It's my "occupassion." It's my why. It's my calling. [00:20:28][79.4]

Karen: [00:20:30] Absolutely. Wow, I love that story so much and I love thinking about you as a young man trying to do all that and learn so much, just reading all those books. That's an incredible story. [00:20:41][10.9]

Sean: [00:20:42] And there's many adults out there who still can't do that stuff, as we know. And so that was really impressive. And, you know, it's still intimidating for many. [00:20:49][7.7]

Louis: [00:20:50] Well, thank you. But, you know, you'll find a lot of firstborns from immigrant families, whether they're Asian, African-American, Latino, that have felt very responsible. They're the A type personalities that have been there. And I can't tell you how many friends I've heard the similar stories, different things happen to them. But that's some of the reasons why, for example, a lot of my clients who are doctors, who are first working in the communities because their parents had a health challenge and they were there at the at the hospital being their interpreter. And they said, you know, my parents, they were treated poorly at the hospital. So that's why they became nurses or they became doctors. And it was through those experiences that we kind of found our profession. [00:21:30][39.5]

Karen: [00:21:31] Yeah, such a beautiful motivation. We've talked to several experts and individuals who all say that sometimes we just have to reframe our thinking when it comes to finances and find ways that work best for us. And a huge part of your work and helping others is helping reframe positive financial decisions for families and individuals who may be initially a little bit hesitant about the choices that they're making. What's your favorite example of this? [00:21:57][26.4]

Louis: [00:21:58] Well, reframing is actually reframing from the financial planning industry of what they think is financial planning. Right. So I'll give you just an example of when somebody came to me in the community or comes to me from that community and maybe they have like immigrant parents and had young children or have young children and they watch on television the commercials of like, you want to send your kids to college, you want to think about putting them in a 529 plan. And you want to you want to make sure when your kid turns 18 that there's money there so they don't go into debt and whatever. So that's the financial planning side, because at the end of the day, they're selling a 529 plan. [00:22:38][39.4]

Louis: [00:22:38] My whole thing was reframing is where I actually sit down with a client and I will ask them to close their eyes and say, I know that you're here for the kid's education. And you tell me that you want to have enough money for your kid to go to college if he or she chooses when they get to that age and you want to be able to help out. But what are you really trying to do? Right, I'm trying to reframe the whole thing. And they said, well, I want to have enough money for my kid to go to college. I said, no, no, no, no. What are you really trying to do? I want to have enough money for my kids to go to college. And I said, OK, I'll try one more time. And I will say, let's let's take a deep breath. Let's close our eyes. And I want you to visualize what you see. Your child now is twenty two years old. What do you visualize with your kid? And they'll close their eyes. And I've had more than one or two times. Tell me. Well, and again, these are parents who've never been to college. My parents my my dad went sixth grade in Mexico. I don't think my mom even graduated from junior high, to be quite honest with you. And they say, well, I visualize that my son or my daughter is wearing this long dress and hat. And I said cap and gown. And that they're walking up a flight of stairs and it's their graduation and they're getting a degree. And there's this tall white man who's going to give them this piece of rolled up paper. And they graduate from college. Because if I know that if I die and my kids are alive, if they have a college education, they can take care of themselves in this in this world, they can be protected. OK, so you don't want enough money to go to college. You want your kids to graduate from college right? [00:24:08][90.0]

Louis: [00:24:09] Now. Just so you know, in the community that I grew up and there was Roosevelt High School, Garfield High School, the two high schools used to play football. They can fill up a stadium from all the attendees. But they had over I think it was over a fifty seven percent dropout rate and it really hasn't changed in years. And of the kids that went to the junior college, which is East L.A. College there in Monterey Park, only, I think three or four percent whatever graduate. Once they went to junior college, some would be there four or five years in junior college or community college, they call it now. And so very few in this case, like, for example, very few underrepresented, whether black or Latino, were graduating from college. [00:24:44][35.6]

Louis: [00:24:45] And so I said, OK, so let's think about now how we're going to use your money for its highest and best use. So I would then say, can you bring me your child's report card? Can we do a self esteem assessment? Can I get a letter written from the teachers, from their math and English teacher, how they're doing? And, you know, are they progressing? I ask the parents, how engaged are you with your child and going to parent teacher night or being involved in the school? And most of these parents didn't have an idea. And most of these kids were not getting a straight A's. They were getting C's and D's. But the parents wanted their kids to go to college. So if the kid was getting C's and D's and the family was going to give me one hundred dollars a month to put in a 529 plan or whatever college savings plan we were going to use, I would rather use that to use to hire a tutor to get their grades up, to give them the potential to get in college and graduate, if there was a lot of family dysfunction, let's use it for family therapy. [00:25:38][52.2]

Louis: [00:25:39] So I'm reframing not just an idea, but I'm reframing the whole financial planning industry of how to use money for its highest and best use. That's just a it's a it's a long example. But I want people when they hear this, it just doesn't make common sense. It's just common sense. Right. But the problem is the industry has so brainwashed us into believing that finance is about a product. Other people will tell you it's about no more of a process. And at the end of the day, it's about people. What are you really trying to accomplish? But when the commercials that you see on television, whatever you read at the end of the day, it's manipulated to sell some form of product that now that doesn't mean that products should not be used. A 529 plan should be used. I've got clients that came to me that their kids were like straight A's, confident from a level one at 10, they were like an 11 off the charts. We would start putting money away in mutual funds. Yeah, right. But I wouldn't use it for something else. But you have to take a step back and see what are we using the money for and what's the best use for that individual. [00:26:35][55.8]

Karen: [00:26:36] I'm obsessed with that idea and I think it's so important to understand, like the small goals that get you to the big goal. Right. What are some other factors that people can consider when they're thinking about investing? So you mentioned tutoring for grades or education. [00:26:51][15.7]

Louis: [00:26:53] Retirement. Retirement is another one, right? I mean, you're going to you're going to laugh at me, right? Everybody laughs at me. But when I have a couple that comes to me, I don't get 20 year olds who come to me thinking about retirement because 20 year olds don't think that they're going to retire or die or anything. Right. And I get most people that are in their early forties, mid forties, maybe early fifties and say, hey, I don't have a lot of time to be financially independent. And if if it's a married couple, one of the very first questions I ask when I'm talking to them is on a scale of one to ten, where is your marriage? And I throw them and I mean, they just get thrown back and they go, what do you mean by that? I go, retirement is like 15, 20 years from now. I need you to visualize and tell me what that looks like to you. You know, are you still holding hands with your spouse? Are you going to be in a beach somewhere? Are you going to be with grandchildren? Are you together? [00:27:46][52.6]

Louis: [00:27:47] Because I want to make sure that your marriage is strong to last another 15, 20 years, because, again, as you all know, the the divorce rate, the number of changes all the time, it can be anywhere from fifty one percent to fifty three percent, you know, and whether you're religious, whether you're Christian or Catholic, you know, I think the number is one percent higher than the average rate and the divorce rate is really high. And so if I'm going to be putting money in there for one case or maxing them out, I want to know that their marriage is trying to get them to where they want to be in twenty years from now. [00:28:17][30.8]

Louis: [00:28:18] Because let me just share with you what I've been seeing. A lot of people wait till their kids are grown up to leave and all of a sudden when people divorce. I don't know if you've heard Karen or McKenna or Sean when they divorce, it's usually the woman that goes into poverty, right? It's usually the woman that goes into poverty. And so what happens is I want to know how strong that marriage is to make sure that we're saving the money, because if right now the marriage is rocky, I'd rather use that money to go through marriage counseling or marriage therapy to decide if they really want to work on it and it's going to make their marriage stronger or they need to divorce, because at the end of the day, if their marriage is not strong and they're under the illusion that it's going to be stronger for some reason in the future, and if their marriage is really weak, we're just saving the money for the divorce attorneys, really, because they get one third. Right. And then the spouse gets one third, the other spouse gets one third. [00:29:06][48.6]

Louis: [00:29:06] And most of the time I work in communities of color where it's been that most of the women would stay home because of the kids and it would be the man that would earn. And they get divorced. Right. But the woman has to go back and start her career again and ends up in poverty. I've seen it too many times. We have to take a look at how strong our personal finance, not only financial foundation. Also, what if you have bad health? What if somebody says, you know, I need to get a life insurance policy, I'm not really healthy? Well, let's spend the money on hiring a nutritionist or trainer for you and get your weight down and whatever, because, again, you know, you're going to go in early death and the goal for for saving money and being financially dependent so you can enjoy it at some point. [00:29:43][36.8]

Karen: [00:29:44] Right, with the people that you love and be healthy and be happy. And that's how we all imagine ourselves when we start saving. Right. Or we imagine that graduation. But we don't realize that in order for that to happen, we need to know how to read and write. [00:29:58][13.4]

Louis: [00:29:59] That's exactly right. We need to gain perspective. And one of the things I always say is that I've never seen a U-Haul behind a hearse. You know, I have poor clients, have wealthy clients. It doesn't really matter. I've been to many of my clients funerals. At the end of the day. I know, wow, they only had one hundred thousand in investments. This client has fifty million with me and they passed away. Nobody talked about their accolades, nobody talked about their money. What was in their account they talked about was their dad there for them? Was their mother there for them? What kind of people were they? Right, and at the end of the day, it's like we have to keep perspective, that money is to be used to live a better quality of life because you're not going to take anything with you. And what good does it do you to be super wealthy but not have a relationship with your children or your spouse or your significant other to have terrible health that you can't enjoy? We've all seen people like Steve Jobs from Apple who had was very sick and no billions of dollars was going to save him. So what was his relationship with his wife and with his children? So putting money in perspective and make it very holistic to their health, the relationships, their emotions, is what what I try to work with the clients over the long term. [00:31:08][68.8]

McKenna: [00:31:08] That's a great point. And I think that there are some perspectives on money that are very deeply rooted and in our communities that are hard to get people to change their mind about. Have you seen that very much? [00:31:20][12.0]

Louis: [00:31:21] Yes. The financial planning industry spends billions of dollars in marketing to help you think a certain way. Right. To change the mindset is very complicated. I'll give you a quick story. So, you know, I left my community. I ended up working with really wealthy people. And then I because of personal tragedy in my life, I go back to my community. I thought, well, hey, I'm going back to my community. Graduate of UCLA, MBA from Claremont, I studied with Peter Drucker. I think I may be the first Latino certified financial planner. I have all this education, information, experience and going back, I couldn't do anything. [00:31:56][34.8]

Louis: [00:31:57] And I realized back then, in 1990, there was really no Internet, there was no financial literacy. I thought with the Latino community there were 60 percent unbanked, meaning they don't even have a checking or savings account. And so I go back and teach them how to use banks and savings and money markets and CDs and whatever. And I wasn't making a dent. And the what I realized was when I went back was that financial literacy was not the answer. It was changing the mindset of what already had been from generations culturally was sabotaging their beliefs, were sabotaging financial success. And so I ended up my dad was the genius and my dad said, Dad, I can get anybody to listen, son. He says start preparing tax returns for people because they have to do it, not because they want to do it and then have them come in and then talk to them about financial planning and their lives and what you believe in. And that's how you do it. And that's how I actually started. [00:32:52][55.6]

Louis: [00:32:53] And so to me, it was, how can I get them in so I can have a conversation? And then about three or four years into it, I changed the way I started doing it. I started doing tax returns for free, but people, it was the same price people were paying me for financial planning with a free tax return. So if I charge you one hundred and fifty dollars to do your tax return, it was I was charging one hundred fifty dollars to do financial planning and it included your tax return because I wanted to change how they were thinking, the mindset. Nice, right. And that and that was it. And so the mindset is more difficult. So because of that, I ended up writing a book called "The Latino Journey to Financial Greatness," which is about the limiting cultural beliefs that Latinos have, that we're sabotaging their financial goals. [00:33:36][42.4]

Louis: [00:33:36] So I started approaching them and talked to them about these cultural limiting beliefs. And so my job on my time on Earth was how can I get them to change their beliefs and that they can be financially successful. So then I can prepare them to all the people that were writing down financial literacy, whether it was Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman or whoever the financial planner du jour is of today. Yes, it's all about the beliefs. [00:34:01][24.6]

McKenna: [00:34:02] So interesting. And I think that's a great point to make. And something that you're doing differently is, like you said, a lot of people are going trying to explain to people these ways about money and not understanding that you need to get them on board first. [00:34:16][14.5]

Louis: [00:34:17] Well, you know, what people should do is actually take a look at their life holistically. And so they say, how is my relationships with my significant other, or partner? How is my relationship with my children? How is my health? How is my emotional health? What can I do? How can I use money to live a better quality of life? Well, how's my spiritual health? How am I giving back to my community? How am I sharing some of my my wealth? Right. All of that is an abundant mindset. It's a way to use your money. And how do I organize that? Right? In my, I'm not in my office right now, but in my office, I have a puzzle box that I've actually completely covered in white paper. I basically it's a paper and I covered it in white and I open up the puzzle box and there's like a thousand pieces and I'll dump it on the table on my desk with a client. I say, listen, this is you. You're more complicated than just coming to me for one thing, education, advice, retirement. And my job is to take all your financial all your resources and put this puzzle together to actually create the vision of what's on this puzzle box. The problem is I can't see the picture. So all these pieces, I don't even know where to start. [00:35:25][67.9]

Louis: [00:35:26] Yeah, you know, if I know if I know that it's a picture of a. Mountain range, and it's got snow on top. Anything that looks white, I'll try to move it to the top. Anything that was brown, I'll move it to the bottom. But if I don't even have a picture and I will share with you that 98 percent of most people can't express or articulate what they really want in life. And so it makes it so complicated. And that's why for 99 percent, I think, of most advisers, they go right into the product because they don't want to spend the time having the conversation to get the client to articulate, because it is such a it's so complicated. It's so difficult. We're not taught as to be psychologist or psychiatrist. And sometimes we walk into or step into things that maybe we shouldn't have and then they need help. Right. [00:36:12][45.8]

Louis: [00:36:12] But it is not until the client can spend that time articulating. And that takes time. And again, in this day and age, it doesn't seem like people have a lot of time to have those conversations or we got away from it. You know, there was a time back in the nineteen nineteen ninety eight ninety nine where we were hitting the 2000s where everybody there's a lot of spirituality books know Scott Peck and all these books. If you go back to the biggest books written on spirituality, it was around nineteen ninety nine ninety two thousand because we were entering that new millennium right then you two thousand we kind of lost that, we kind of lost about how do we go back and help others as well. So it's really important that we see everything from a very holistic point of view to actually, at the end of the day, realize that our life mattered at some point. [00:36:57][44.0]

McKenna: [00:36:57] Yeah. [00:36:57][0.0]

Sean: [00:36:59] That's useful for even people who might be asking themselves those questions, too. So I might have to sit down and think about what what are my goals? What do I want? [00:37:07][8.8]

Karen: [00:37:08] Yeah. What am I saving for. Yeah. [00:37:09][1.5]

Louis: [00:37:10] What are you saving for. Yeah. And why it's I guess it's you know, it's like the why I've been doing the why for the longest time. Right. You know, they talk about like financial life planning. There's a gentleman said that he was the first guy who pioneered financial life planning. It was like in nineteen ninety seven or something. You know, I've been doing financial planning since back when I went into the barrio because I had to because there were no resources. Right. Financial planning is just having a conversation about what's important to you and really dig in deep because I think that most people also kind of create facades for themselves because we're into that social media world where everybody has to look a certain way. And you always are taking pictures in the best light and you're taking pictures. But we're human beings who have all these faults and needs, but we're almost afraid to express it because we have to seem perfect or look perfect in a social media world. [00:37:59][49.3]

McKenna: [00:38:00] I love your point, too, about looking at things holistically. And something else that we love to discuss is how finances impact our mental and physical health, like you mentioned before, as well as the relationships that we have with others. And how you mentioned the Steve Jobs analogy. Do you have any advice for those who may be struggling with this balance? [00:38:19][19.3]

Louis: [00:38:20] Yeah, if you are around people who don't have any money or who are desperate because they don't know when they'll be able to pay their next rent or don't have enough money to go to put gas in their car or are driving cars that they pray every time they go in the car that it doesn't break down on them. Or a single mother who's got kids is got a really crappy car that she's afraid that when she's on the freeway, she's going to be stranded on the freeway by herself with her kids. You realize how much stress that causes in a person, right? The problem is that there are so many people who are out there selling products that says, follow me and I'm going to make you rich. There really are no secrets. The secret to building what I call financial dignity. Right. There are people right now who don't even want to have a million dollars in the bank. They just want to be able to drive a new used car. Karen, I don't know what that is. Right. It's like you're buying a used car, but it's not one that's broken down. Right. It's a new one that's going to get you into it without having to worry about it. Right. [00:39:22][62.1]

Sean: [00:39:23] It's new to me. [00:39:24][0.7]

Louis: [00:39:24] Yeah. And that and they know that if they get sick right, before Obamacare, that they had didn't have to go to emergency to get medical treatment. It's not that complicated. It's really sitting down. I can share with you that I've worked with so many people who are just broke, but where we get them in the habit of saving even a dollar a week, and even if it pushes them, that is a dollar a week is hard. [00:39:46][22.0]

[00:39:46] But it's the mental habit of saying I have to save and I will share with you that every single person I've ever worked with says I don't have any money to save. I have people who come in with a family of four who make thirty thousand a year in Southern California. That is nothing. And that's all they make as a household. And I have people who come in and make three hundred thousand, half a million and they're borrowing from their immigrant parents and they go, I don't know where the money goes. When I made one hundred thousand, I was broke. When I made two hundred thousand, I was broke. Now that I make half a million, I'm broke. [00:40:19][32.4]

Louis: [00:40:20] And so at the end of the day, I basically forced everyone to autosave to save money and put something away. It doesn't matter how my. And I will share with you that at the end of the year, whether they have 12 dollars in there or three thousand dollars in there or thirty thousand dollars saved, I said you couldn't save before you saved now, what happened? What's the difference? You made me save. Did you feel it? They go no, not really! You know, I don't know if any of you ever had a car that was breaking down an old car and then you had to get another car. But I can't afford a car, so I got to make this car. I got to work this car until it breaks down, and then it breaks down. You didn't have money yesterday, but now you're walking in turn and going to a dealer and buying a car. And then now the next day you have a car payment. So how is it that you're now able to afford that car payment the next day when you couldn't afford it yesterday? Because you had to? [00:41:08][48.0]

Louis: [00:41:09] It's exact same thing, every client. So I've got the experience now of being 30 years in the industry. Thirty one years in the industry. And I can tell you what worked and didn't work for poor people or rich people. And that is automatic saving, putting the money away, working with somebody who's going to be honest with you and investing your money and investing your money and making it work for you and not being afraid. The problem is we've got too many people on TikTok, too many people on Instagram, too many people on Facebook showing you behind them that they're driving these Lamborghinis, Ferraris, whatever cars living in this mansion that they've rented out for the day, telling that they've learned how to become rich. Or a lot of these people who've written books over the years to teach you how to be rich have become rich by selling you how to become rich books! There it is. [00:41:58][49.4]

McKenna: [00:41:59] Books can be so powerful, too. And you've released several books over the years, including "The Latino Journey to Financial Greatness" and "My Street Money." And you're an avid reader and lifelong learner, like you've mentioned. What are some of your favorite books at the moment? [00:42:13][13.6]

Louis: [00:42:14] Well, oh my God, that's a tough question. But I can share with I can look back. I'm reading Barack Obama's book right now. [00:42:19][5.6]

McKenna: [00:42:20] Oh, yeah. Me too! [00:42:20][0.4]

Karen: [00:42:20] So are we! [00:42:20][0.0]

Louis: [00:42:21] Yeah! And it's great, right? It's almost like you're reading it. It's like if you're there with him, right? [00:42:26][4.2]

McKenna: [00:42:26] Yeah. [00:42:26][0.0]

Louis: [00:42:27] I'm actually reading the "Think and Grow Rich" for the fourth time. [00:42:32][4.7]

Karen: [00:42:33] Napolean Hill? [00:42:33][0.0]

Louis: [00:42:33] Yeah. Because, you know, I've forgotten know I've forgotten that almost every book on finances has come from that book and I'm rereading it again. There's some wonderful books out there. For example, I will share with you that the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" book is a very good book. I don't really agree with Robert Kiyosaki's approach to what he's done, because I think also it's not been as honest. The content that he had in that book is amazing. And it's something that we also need to look at because also the mindset, you know. A book that I just finished rereading, I like to reread books. And if I really reading the book, it's a good book. [00:43:09][35.5]

Louis: [00:43:09] You know, I'm a lot into entrepreneurship. I think that a lot of people today, because of where the economy is going, they're losing. Not only industries are going out, a lot of people have become very entrepreneurial or very consultants for themselves to create money. So there's a wonderful book called "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber. I've known him for years, but it's a book that I think is on everybody's top list. If you're going to be a consultant or you want to build a business, that's probably one of the best books I think I've ever read. And I continue going back to that and their ideas come back. So, yeah, and it's like when you read a book the second or third time, you pick up things that you can pick up the first time because you're now more developed as a person that you wouldn't have even thought about it. [00:43:47][37.6]

McKenna: [00:43:47] Yeah, that's awesome. We're always looking for new titles. [00:43:49][1.8]

Louis: [00:43:50] Your whole podcast is based on health and holistic living. I just wanted to share and express my ideas of how you can look at money from a different perspective. And hopefully somebody listening to this podcast will say, I never thought about the education planning that way, or I never thought about retirement that way, or I've never thought about it, or because they've been so consumed by all the social media and what you're supposed to look like and whatever. I know that people are hurting. I've been doing this. I see the financials for really wealthy people, very famous people, very poor people. And I can tell you that people are people and they all hurt at some level, whether it's relationships, whether it's or health, whether it's or money. [00:44:32][42.2]

Louis: [00:44:33] You know, I think on my website, my son does my website. And, you know, I now I think he's called me financial life healer. But I think at the end of the day, when I'm also, you know, we're all going to die when somebody is doing the eulogy at my funeral. I just want someone to say, you know, he really tried to help someone live a better quality life. I would really enjoy their life. And it's never about the money being the ends, but it's the means. Money is a tool to help you live a better quality of life. We shouldn't make money the end goal. [00:45:01][27.8]

Louis: [00:45:01] When somebody comes to me and they talk to me that all they want to do is they want to make money with their money. I realize that they're completely lost and I need to take a step back and work with them. And if they're not willing to share and express their ideas, I let them go to somebody else. So another financial planner that's going to talk to them about whatever it is, whether it's private equity or some kind of stock or whatever. That's not the client that I'm looking for. I'm looking for somebody who really wants to do something and change the world with their money or at least change their family. [00:45:26][25.1]

Karen: [00:45:27] That's perfect. I love it so much. [00:45:29][1.9]

McKenna: [00:45:30] Yeah, this has been so great. Thank you so much for sitting down and speaking with us today. We really appreciate it. [00:45:35][5.1]

Louis: [00:45:35] Well, it's my honor to be with you guys. I always am honored that someone is willing to allow me to share my ideas and express how I do what I do and why I do what I do. And like I said, this is an "occupassion," right? And it's not my occupation and it's been a calling. And so I also am very grateful to you guys for the work that you're doing on the podcast, because I know that you're bringing on people who really care about changing lives. [00:46:03][27.3]

McKenna: [00:46:03] Yeah. Thank you so much. [00:46:04][0.9]

Louis: [00:46:05] Thank you. [00:46:05][0.3]

Karen: [00:46:05] Have the best day. Best to you. Thank you so much. [00:46:08][2.3]

Louis: [00:46:08] Take care. [00:46:08][0.2]

Sean: [00:46:09] Thank you. Take care. [00:46:09][0.6]

Louis: [00:46:10] Bye bye. [00:46:10][0.2]

McKenna: [00:46:12] Thank you, everyone, for listening to this episode of Health: It's Personal. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts for bonus episodes and new releases every Wednesday. The Health: It's Personal podcast is produced by me, McKenna Uhde, and hosted with the Phronesis Health Initiative team, Karen Shively and Sean Tingle. Special thanks to portrait artist Alexander, musical contributor Berney Ramke, and to our guests and experts for their kindness and bravery in sharing their stories each week. [00:46:39][27.3]

Karen: [00:46:40] Please listen, subscribe, engage and send us topics we can explore that would help you on your journey. [00:46:45][4.4]

Sean: [00:46:48] Because health, it's personal. [00:46:48][0.0]