Financial Freedom with First Gen Living

thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you so much as usual because I'm very grateful, always humble of the fact that you guys are always there to show me love, support and you're always willing to hear my ship. So we're that being said, don't forget to subscribe, rate us and share this podcast with your friends, with your family. Gone gain, Sam, don't we send you with the stars? Give us five stars to in the end because you

know that the show is getting better every time. Anyways, to done, we're talking about one of my favorite topics because UM, I'm always trying to figure out ways to grow, to learn, to evolve, to become a better me. And when I see a better me, I also mean a better me financially. Let's figure out how can we invest

our money? How do we create generational wealth? Um, and I'm going to have a friend to break it down for me, for those who still don't get it, for those that don't understand, for those that are still confused, for those that don't feel that because I'm still young, I still got time. Not necessarily, Actually, while you're young is the time to do it. Igono. My guest today is the founder of First General Living, Maria melchor Um. Maria, thank you so much for coming in today. Thank you

so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here and be talking with you about my favorite topic, which is money and generational wealth building. I love that we are both, you know, we talked about growing up in immigrant families and growing up with that kind of mentality and trying to you know, break away from some of that to start you know, building our own uh our our own wealth. So I really appreciate you having me.

Of course, we're the ones I really feel like for those that come from immigrant parents, And I always talk about that because a lot of people I feel that don't understand it or don't um get where we're coming from when we say that our parents fought really hard for us to have a better future, and we're so grateful for that, but we also I also feel that

we need to break certain generational curses. And when I mean certain generational curses, I mean the fact that they have a different mentality of what money means to them and how money should be invested to them. So before we get into it, can you please explain and break down what exactly as generational wealth to you? Yeah? All right, So I see generational wealth as you know, this opportunity for us, for us individuals to share our money not

only with like our parents, but our future generation. So it's not just about you know, living paycheck to paycheck. Money is not just about living paycheck to paycheck, but it's about thinking about how can I share it with my family, be and my parents, my grandparents, or also my kids their kids. I think about it as like stability and as flexibility for me and my loved ones.

That's how I see generational wealth most definitely. And I know that First Gen Living was something that you created obviously, um it educates people, especially first generation immigrants, students and professionals and all that stuff on finance. What motivated you? What inspired you to want to be the one to actually give that helping hand yeah. I you know, I grew up in a very hard working family, very hard working, but still low income. You know, we still we're living

at the federal poverty line. We still, you know, we're struggling. Uh. And that always made me have money on my mind. So as soon as I graduated college, I wanted to learn more about how to maximize my money, how to start building some of this generational wealth. What did this even look like? What did this even mean? Uh? And I had to do all of that on my own, like you said, like I didn't have anybody to turn

to for guidance. Uh. So I, you know, I started reading books, I started listening to podcasts, I started taking courses, and over time and I felt really confident. I felt like I knew what I was doing. And I wanted to be that mentor, that money mentor for other people that also wanted to break these curses and start building their wealth, but maybe didn't have the interests or the time. I just didn't want to have to go through this process alone. Uh. That's where first gen Living came in.

I said, I, you know, I want to build my own financial education consulting business where I can just help people one on one uh help them reach reach their financial goals. I love that. I love the fact that you're willing to, somewhat to a certain extent um, sacrifice right your own time so that you can be able to provide this information for those that may not have the time, that may be afraid, that may not understand,

they might feel that it's too difficult. UM. So definitely super grateful for that, And we're definitely gonna be chatting after this is all done to see how you can help me and you can boost up my finances because I'm always I'm always looking for ways to invest, and not only to invest, but to better what I already have. Sometimes I really feel that here in the United States, one thing that we don't take advantage of the fact is that there's a lot of programs that a lot

of us don't even know about. Right, there's a lot of programs that can help us finance actually, um, and things might not be as difficult as we think sometimes we make. It seems. Even to buy a house, it's like Giorn think, just like Mommy, there's so many plans. You may not buy that one, but you could buy another one. Right, Guess there's a lot of other things you can do. What is your favorite way of investing money. When I think about investing, I think about what's possible

for me right now. I've thought about investing in the stock market, investing in real estate. Now there's crypto, investing in crypto. There are many different avenues, and I've thought, well, what can I start off with if I don't have that much cash, if I don't have that much income or cash to get started with with a house or get started with real estate property. I've also thought, I'm somebody who you know, I'm moving around a lot, I'm young,

I don't really know where I want to stay. I don't really know if real estate is the thing for me right now. So I started with investing in the stock market. That's been my approach. That's what I've prioritized. But I see real estate as something that may come for me down the line. You were not you were never you were never afraid of the stock market because, for example, I've heard great things about it. You know

that I have. Indeed, i've seen it in the movies either, Like you know, people are running around, but I really still don't get it. I know you can. I've heard of people that make a lot of money. Is it a little bit scary, Yes, because as the point of me, the fields that it's almost like gambling. It's like you put and you if you really don't understand that, you can lose everything that you had in there. So, um,

you were never afraid of taking that first step. I was afraid at first, but right, I put in all of this time and effort in learning about finances, and the more I learned, the more I realize, Okay, actually this is okay. And I like what you said earlier about leaving your money in cash because, uh, leaving your money in cash. Something people don't think about is that there is risk in leaving your money in cash. There's not just risk in investing in the stock market or

real estate. There's also a risk of inflation if you just leave your your cash and your bank account, right, Like, yeah, if you leave it under your bed, right, there's that risk of what if you know, somebody takes it of your house catches on fire. But even if you leave it in a bank that you trust, your money is losing value if the you know, if the value of

the US dollar is going down over time. Um, so with investing the stock market as as long as you understand that that there is some risk, but that you can manage that risk. It's safe. It's a safe way to build wealth. It's a way that a lot of people, a lot of people who have a lot of money now have been able to build their wealth is by investing the stock mark it. Do you have a team that helps you with this or do you do everything yourself? Yeah?

I've been doing everything myself. I've been thinking about growing. I I get the fear about investing in the stock market. I think, uh, there are many ways to get started, and I think the first thing to think about is

you know what it is that your goal is. Um. Something I work with my clients on is just trying to get a vision, to get their vision and turn it into a goal, to figure out if investing in the stock market makes sense for them or if something like investing in real estate is what works for Do you do feel the same way now about bitcoins and crypto and all these are the things that have teeth. Is this something that you're also interested in in? Uh?

You know, getting yourself involved in that world? Are you already involved in that world? I'm not already involved in that world. So I do see investing in the stock market as way less risky than investing in bitcoin or crypto because the stock market has actually been around for decades, it's heavily regulated by the US government, and there's a lot of data that helps us understand what we can expect for the future, and a lot of laws that

help us. Yeah, keep our money safe. This is something that is And when it comes to stock market, is this something like because I've seen it people that wake up early in the morning and they go they don't have to watch the news and see what the stock is up and down and this and that. Do you spend like all day in act? And like, is this like a whole psychig or is this something you wants to watch just look and the just invest a little bit of money there and then come on, how do

you do it? Yeah? Definitely more every now and then. I look at my investments. I'm not monitoring them day and night, morning and night. I and what I call my self a passive long term investor. So, like you're saying, right, life gets busy. I do not want to spend all of my time just like looking at these numbers I believe in buying into groups of investments. So instead of buying into one investment at a time, getting exposure to large parts of the economy through these groupings of investments

called mutual funds, I buy into mutual funds. I let those investments sit there, I put my cash in, let those investments sit there, and have those investments grow as the economy expands, as these companies grow in value over time. There's still risk involved with that, but it's so low maintenance Soloman And Okay, so for those that still want to continue obviously understanding more besides stock right because the stock market, Um, what are other ways that you advise

people to invest their money? Like let's say a lot of people do in the pandemic they got the little um, the little stimulus check and didn't know what to do with the money. Um. But I said multi book, all right, because well, I've known a lot of people that have studied a company. They started off with a thousand dollars and next thing you know, they flipped that money. That money flipped into something else and the next thing you know, yeah,

there are multi millionaires. But whether it is you have a thousand dollars or you have ten thousand dollars or maybe twenty thousand dollars saved in the bank um and you want to invest it. What are several different ways that you can advise people to invest their money? Yeah, I, you know, can't tell people what to invest in. That only in the US, only certified financial advisors can do that. What I do with my clients is I teach them how to go out and educate themselves on making these

choices for themselves. So I teach more of like the process. I don't tell people exactly what to invest in. So a process I advise people on is yeah, get started with a goal. So like, what are these ten k what is this ten tho dollars twenty dollars? What do they represent for you? Like? Is this something where you want to leave money for your kids? Is this something where you know you want to be able to save for bait down payment for five ten years from now? Like?

What is your goal once you have that? If you don't want to invest any more time, Like you don't want to work with me, you don't want to work with anybody. You just want to put that money in an investment in the stock market. I recommend going to a robo advisor. So you know how with social media there's like these algorithms that figure out what you want to see and well there's also algorithms for banks that

help you. You know, once you give them a goal, they help you actually build your investment portfolio for you and do the rest of the work for you. So you just give them the cash, give them the goal, and this robo advice or this algorithm will create the portfolio for you, uh, do kind of all of the technical scary stuff for you. So that would be my advice for next steps for people who feel a little overwhelmed or a little a little afraid, um to get started. Okay,

So I'll ask you this too as a as a Latina. Right, where are you? Where is your family from? I I grew up in Mexico. Actually my family is from Mexico. Um, we moved here when I was a kid. Uh, but in Mexicana. Okay, charity Latin. I was explaining earlier how my mom doesn't really understand how finance works these days, Like she'll still tell me about like thirty years ago, lacks,

I thought that things were so much cheaper. The food is expensive, this and that, like, you know, there's a part of me that I feel like they're still stuck on how it used to be. And it's like the world is changing. Everything has changed, everything's online, it's all. It's the world is changing right overall. So, um, when you talk to your parents, are when when you told them what you were doing? How have you been able to help them grow mentally? When it comes to money

have how have you been able to teach them? Um, this is how you should use your money. This is a proper way of doing things. When it comes to talking to my parents, I always like to start by telling them about what I'm doing and how it's been

working for me. Uh So I don't like to just tell them, you know, you're wrong, I'm right, because I always you know, our parents have some with them, right like they do have with them, and I think it's just about you know, well, yeah that is the way it was then, and I want to listen to you and hear about it, and then I want to tell you about what I've been doing, you know, listen, like I just opened this investment account with this bank, and

here's how much my money has grown. And no, here they're like very few seeds I had to pay, and I want this for you too, are you interested? Uh? And really like up you know, having many conversations where we just listen to each other and build that trust with them and show them my numbers first. Um, because I know that a lot of the distrust around for example, like a stock market and banks in the US like that is not unfounded. You know, I know that it

comes from somewhere. So it's about you know, like things have changed. And look, I'm an example, like I can show you that this this is working out for me, it's working out for my clients. So um, yeah, I mean they have valid they have valid stories. I think my parents have always believed in real estate, Like you know, way to build wealth is real estate. Uh. So that's something that I'm I'm also trying to be open to, Like, Okay, you really believe that I'm a fan of real estate.

You already know anybody has heard exactly that. I always talk about real estate because I'm like, you may not need money for this to buy clothes, for your nails, for your hair, but everybody needs a place to live. So you can't go wrong with cement and break. Um. And you know I've been a fan of it, I but at the same time, I'm always still looking for other ways to grow and learn. I don't think that

you should be closed minded. You know, the stock market is not something that I've necessarily been a fan of because I don't understand it. But I'm always willing to learn and understand. So I think that's the most important part,

is to be open minded Maria. But I also want to ask you this because I know that you've talked about how some first generation Latinos can feel guilty when they start making money because they compare you know, um, they compare to what their parents basically you know, used to make or what they make with their work. So can you explain that a little bit? Why do you

feel that they feel guilty or we feel guilty? Yeah, I mean I can talk more about right, like growing up in a family where my dad was working all day, my mom was working all day, but they still we're getting underpaid and we're not making enough to be able to be where I'm at now. Right. Um, Seeing that, right, it makes me think, well, I have to work hard all the time every day in order to make like the bare minimum. And now when I you know, graduated college.

Now that I have my own business, and I'm seeing money kind of come a little more easily than how I came for my parents, and you know, get paid more than what they were probably getting paid at my age. Uh, you know that that kind of I just have to acknowledge that, right that, like, they were in a different circumstance, they were probably getting paid less than what their labor was worth. And now I, you know, I am in a different position. I'm in a different position where I'm

asking for more money. I have the privilege to ask for more money. And I you know, it's not really about um good or bad, right, Like, I can't feel guilty about that. I can just feel grateful that thing have changed and I'm in this new position. Um. So yeah, when clients come to me feeling guilty about earning more than their parents, you know, all I can say is, listen, it's not about you know that you don't deserve this. It's that your parents deserve just as much, but they

didn't get it, and you know that sucks. But now you know, you you you do deserve this. You know. As much as we want things to still remain the same, things have changed and um unfortunately to a certain extent. It is true our parents have to work, you know, so much more harder to gain the same amount of money that a lot of us are able to get in like a day or two or a week. But I also think that there's access suits to so much more in comparison to back then. But talking about access

something that I'm being I've thought about Battle. I haven't officially started movie on its battle a retirement. Retirement is something that you hear and I feel like when I don't If I have money now and I invested properly, I don't really have to be worried about like the retirement that the government is going to give me based off my taxes and based off this and like I guess, if I make money now and I invested properly, I

don't have to worry about it. That's not the reality for all of us, right, all of us are not in the same situation. So do you think that this generation, especially the minorities and obviously LA the Latin X and do you think that this generation thinks as much or worries as much about retirement? Are they really thinking and

looking ahead into the future. I think my generation millennials are definitely thinking about retirement one for you know, our own retirement, because we hear in the news right that social security may not be there down the line. That's not true, but you know, we hear these you never know, we hear these headlines. And we're also thinking about our parents right as we're aging, as our parents age, we're thinking about you know, oh my god, I have to

figure out my retirement. But here's my parents, and I want to help them retire. You know, they worked so hard, so I I in my experience, it's it's a huge uh concern for for us uh And yeah, I mean there there will be social security maybe you know, maybe it won't be as much as we thought it would because I don't know what people think, you know, social security will be like, but it is not a lot of money. It's yea poverty standard, not a lot of money.

So even if you get that right, do you want to retire comfortably um and not necessarily be struggling you know as as you as you uh as you age. So definitely top of mind for for my generation now, UM, I have to take advantage of you and ask you all the questions I can think of and other things that I know that the exactly amount listeners want to know. Um, So for those that don't know, Okay, home girl over here, she's pretty ambrains. I did go to college, However I

didn't finish. I want, want want. Eventually, I would love to go back into school, but we said, there's a part of oka still it has that anxiety of like I need to accomplish what I started, whether it's finishing that same career or finding something else, but I want to do it. And also my mom wanted My mom wanted that damn diploma so bad, like do a sacrificate, blah blah blah and la la. So I'm like, I know, Mom,

which today we've spoken about it. I'm like me, if I would have stayed in school doing what you wanted me to do for my future, we probably wouldn't live the way that we live now. You know. I was able to follow my passion and what I really loved and what I really cared about, and that's why today

we have a different lifestyle. I know a lot of people that go to college, they're stuck there trying to please their parents, are just trying to do what they consider, what if I study and do this, I'm gonna get this job, and this job is going to automatically give me this And it doesn't necessarily happen the same way for everyone. I know a lot of college educated people who are working in, you know, department stores, and that wasn't the vision for the future. So going to college

doesn't always guarantee the future that you visualize better. What I do know is that I was stuck with student loans for a real long time and I had to pay them student loans. Oh my god, you know, it was messing up my credit. Um, it was just a hot mess. But anyways, I got it paid off. Glori AliOS. I was able to do it better. I know that there's a lot of people kid don't have the same possibilities of paying off their student loans, and at the same time they have the bills of the student loans

and messes up their credit. They're trying to save money to invest, whether it is to buy their home or to buy something or to invest in something else. But in the back of their mind they're like, I have to get rid of the student loans. So what advice do you suggest for students or just not even students, just for people overall that still have those student loans,

you know, waiting on their shoulders. Yeah, there is a way to manage your student loans so that you don't have to be so worried about it messing with your credit and so you can start thinking about investing and about these other things we've been talking about. So with student loans, if you believe it or not, if you

actually like, talk to your lender. So if you talk to the federal government if that's your lender, if you talk to your private lender, if that's your lender, and you tell them what your goal is with these loans. You think about your goal and what the goal is for these loans, like do you want to pay them off as soon as possible? I know that's not everybody's goal. If you want to make the minimum payment for however

long it takes, that's your goal, okay. Or if you want to have a more balanced approach where you want to make this amount of in payment for this amount of time. Whatever your goal is, there's a whole Any goal is valid, and once you go to your lender and you communicate that, you can get you know, the smallest payment, you can get a medium payment or a huge payment. You have that taken care of. You've talked

to your lender. I think a lot of people get really afraid to even talk to their lender and contact the agency because they're afraid of like the balance or what's going to be going on in there. But you really want to find out so that it doesn't mess you with your credit and it doesn't make it impossible for you to go and pursue these other things like real estate down the line. So so confront the issue.

Confront the issue, don't ignore it. Like if you have bills, if you have bills, whatever it is, if you have things in collection, whatever it may be, don't ignore it. Gonna get the longer. Ignore is going to go away. It's not gonna go away. It's gonna stay there. It's gonna build up, it's gonna get worse. So um confronted, do do let whoever it is. No, this is my goal, like you just said, this is how much I want to pay, or my goal is within the next three

years pay it off. How much should I be paying? And then if that means having to get a side gate, but my moon you know what I'm saying. You gotta figure it out. Look these days, don't do what I say. Don't listen to me. But I'm just saying I've heard of some people that pay some student loans during the only fans. I don't know. You're do whatever makes you feel comfortable. Battle. Um, definitely, don't just ignore your problems.

Don't ignore you know the fact that you have builds, you know, accumulated ice and out money and my love. I want to thank you so much for all the good advice that you've given us today. Where can the people follow you? Where can they find? Um? You know, your organization, everything you have going on. I don't know who. Yeah, I love to you know, I'd love to connect with some of you. I'm over at Instagram First Jen Living.

You can also look at my name Maria Mato on Instagram or you can go to my website which is www dot First jen Living dot com. But I'm on Instagram most of the time. So yeah, I'd love to hear your story. What you're struggling with? Uh, and yeah, what some of your goals are. One of guys, you already know this was the first part of many of many because you already know I'm not done talking about investments in generational wealth. This is just gonna look at

the beginning of many more conversations to come. I feel that a lot of people, especially the young generation, needs to continue to listen about this, needs to continue to learn about it. I too, am always willing to learn and now with Maria, when this is over, Maria, Mia, you can't leave me here hanging out. I want to know about the stock market. How much do we have

to invest? How do I do this? So I'm definitely gonna be talking to you, um and maybe you know next time I'm on my podcast, I can let you is no window. I finally started because the thing, the hardest thing is always to start. We're always scared to start. Just to get your feet wet is the scariest thing, Mama. Nobody's born knowing you have to learn during the process of life. So with that being said, guys, thank you so much as usual for joining and listening to exactly

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podcast network. For more podcasts from My Heart, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite show, like exactly a Mada. With that being said, I love you guys so much. I shall see you guys next Thursday. H m hm