Episode 358: Speak Your Voice with Your Money with Jannese Torres

Summary

Forever35 Podcast Episode 358: "Speak Your Voice with Your Money" Featuring Janice Torres

Release Date: June 23, 2025

In Episode 358 of Forever35, co-hosts Doree Shafrir and Elise Hu delve deep into the intricate relationship between money and personal well-being. This episode features Janice Torres, an award-winning Latina money expert and the author of Financially the Modern Latina's Guide to Level Up Your Dinero and Become Financially Poderosa. Together, they explore a plethora of financial topics, offering listeners insightful advice and practical strategies to enhance their financial health and align their finances with their personal values.

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1. Guest Introduction: Janice Torres [12:39]

Janice Torres brings a wealth of experience as a financial expert dedicated to empowering marginalized communities. Her journey from accidental entrepreneur to a recognized personal finance educator highlights her commitment to filling the gaps in financial conversations, especially for Latinas and women of color. Janice's platform, Yokiero Dinero, alongside her podcast Yo Quiero Dinero, serves as a beacon for those seeking financial independence and empowerment.

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2. Self-Care and Finances [14:24 - 15:55]

Janice Torres emphasizes the often-overlooked connection between self-care and financial health. She challenges the traditional notion of self-care being purely superficial activities like spa days or manicures. Instead, Janice advocates for financial self-care, which involves nurturing one's financial well-being to secure a stress-free future.

Janice Torres [14:48]: "Real self care has to do with your finances. For me, I've discovered that I'm very good at taking care of future me... So part of my self care is working on my mindset to make it okay for me to spend money today and not just on future self."

This perspective underscores the importance of balancing present enjoyment with future financial security, highlighting the psychological aspect of financial management.

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3. Exploring Side Hustles [18:11 - 20:25]

Discussing the concept of side hustles, Janice delineates them from part-time jobs by emphasizing their foundation in personal passion and unique skills. She advises listeners to identify what they are good at and passionate about, then find ways to monetize these talents. Content creation emerges as a prominent side hustle avenue, with Janice sharing her decade-long experience as a blogger, podcaster, and social media influencer.

Janice Torres [18:41]: "Start with what you are good at... whether it's cooking, sewing, painting, singing, dancing. These skills can potentially turn into a side hustle, selling services, digital courses, ebooks, workshops, speaking engagements."

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4. Listener Questions and Expert Insights

The heart of the episode lies in its interactive Q&A segment, where Janice addresses various financial concerns submitted by listeners.

a. Finding a Good Accountant [20:25 - 23:05]

Janice advises that selecting the right accountant, especially for those in non-traditional income streams like the creator economy, requires thorough research. She recommends ensuring the accountant has relevant experience and understanding of unique business models.

Janice Torres [21:00]: "Make sure the person you're considering has experience working in the arena that you are making money... Talk to your network for sure."

b. Emergency Funds and Retirement Planning [27:36 - 48:32]

Janice discusses the importance of maintaining an emergency fund, advocating for a "freedom fund" that not only covers emergencies but also provides the financial runway for personal pursuits like career shifts or sabbaticals. She emphasizes tailoring the size of this fund to individual circumstances, suggesting a minimum of three to six months of living expenses.

Janice Torres [44:33]: "The more the better... I've called it a freedom fund because it's more empowering than just an emergency fund."

For midlife individuals looking to catch up on retirement planning, Janice suggests utilizing online calculators to assess retirement goals and considering creative living arrangements to reduce expenses.

Janice Torres [46:14]: "Use a calculator on investor.gov to see when you can retire based on your financial goals... Consider moving to areas with a lower cost of living."

c. Investing Strategies [31:11 - 36:07]

Janice differentiates between investment accounts and bank accounts, stressing the importance of active investment choices to ensure growth. She recommends beginners start with target date funds for a "set it and forget it" approach, automatically adjusting asset allocations as one approaches retirement.

Janice Torres [31:23]: "With an investment account, there's that additional step of choosing investments... Target date funds are perfect for beginners who don’t want to worry about buying the right stock."

She also highlights Fidelity’s zero-fee mutual funds as an excellent option for fee-free investing.

Janice Torres [36:02]: "Fidelity offers zero fee mutual funds... it's a great way to invest in the stock market with no fees."

d. Debt Management [41:32 - 44:20]

Addressing debt elimination, Janice introduces the "debt lasso method," which involves consolidating high-interest debts onto a new credit card with a promotional 0% APR, provided one has good credit. She underscores the necessity of a strict repayment plan to avoid accruing interest post-promotion.

Janice Torres [41:57]: "The debt lasso method is for those with decent credit... Open a new credit card with 0% APR, consolidate your debt, and have a repayment plan to pay it off within the promotional period."

e. Aligning Investments with Personal Values [49:41 - 51:35]

Janice encourages investors to align their portfolios with their values to foster systemic change. By diversifying the pool of investors, especially including more women and people of color, there is potential to influence corporate practices positively.

Janice Torres [49:42]: "We didn't get to choose the system we're born into... Use the system to create financial security and hold companies to higher standards."

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5. Personal Updates and Closing Thoughts [52:07 - 55:37]

The episode concludes with the hosts sharing personal anecdotes and experiences, fostering a sense of community and relatability. Janice reiterates her commitment to empowering listeners through her platforms and encourages continued financial education.

Janice Torres [51:39]: "You can find me wherever you're listening to this podcast... Thank you guys for the invite."

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Key Takeaways

• Financial Self-Care: Prioritizing financial health is integral to overall well-being, balancing present needs with future security.

• Side Hustles: Leveraging personal talents and passions can lead to meaningful and profitable side ventures.

• Specialized Financial Guidance: Choosing financial professionals with relevant experience is crucial, especially for non-traditional income streams.

• Emergency and Freedom Funds: Establishing a robust financial safety net provides flexibility and peace of mind for various life scenarios.

• Smart Investing: Educated and deliberate investment choices, such as target date funds and fee-free mutual funds, can significantly impact long-term financial growth.

• Debt Management: Innovative strategies like the debt lasso method can efficiently eliminate high-interest debts when executed with discipline.

• Values-Aligned Investing: Aligning investment portfolios with personal values can drive systemic change and ensure financial actions reflect ethical standards.

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Where to Find Janice Torres:

• Podcast: Yo Quiero Dinero – Available on all major podcast platforms.
• Website: jokierodineropodcast.com
• YouTube: Search for Yo Quiero Dinero.

Connect with Forever35:

• Website: forever35podcast.com
• Instagram: @Forever35podcast
• Patreon: patreon.com/Forever35
• Shop: ShopmyUSForever35.com
• Newsletter & Contact: Available on the podcast website.

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This episode of Forever35 serves as a comprehensive guide for listeners seeking to enhance their financial literacy, offering actionable advice and inspiring stories to navigate the complexities of personal finance with confidence and integrity.

Transcript

[Elise Hu]

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[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah, every working, every like waking minute is spent on a screen.

[Elise Hu]

I. Yeah, it seems like it's a full time job. Just scrolling. There's no right answer for managing screens and your kids, but the numbers don't lie. 45% of girls and 32% of boys say they feel overwhelming stress from being on social media. And together, a quarter of them both feel worse about their own lives. I think it's a real attention stealer. It's a thief of attention. And so I'm often, I'm often like with my screen teen, I'm like, hello, Ava, you still there? You still there?

[Janice Torres]

Yeah.

[Elise Hu]

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[Dory Shafrier]

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[Elise Hu]

And I'm Elise Hu. And we're just two friends who like to talk a lot about serums.

[Dory Shafrier]

And we are still in Money Month.

[Elise Hu]

But this is the end of it. This is our big capstone to Money Month today. Yes, we've had great guests across a range of expertise areas when it comes to finances and money and how to talk about money and our relationships with it and how it affects our relationships. We had Amanda Clayman, the therapist, the financial therapist on last week. And today we're going to get into a lot of the questions that y' all have sent in and asked for about your own situations with somebody who can really get practical about money matters, Janice Torres. That's coming up, though, later in the show. That's our big conversation. But first, we haven't seen each other in a few days. Dory, tell me about what's up. How was your first one of the first weekends out of the school year? You're, like, officially in summer now.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah, I mean, I got to admit, it was. I mean, it was okay. It was Father's Day. We're recording this, like, right after Father's Day. And Father's Day was good, but, like, we didn't really do much. And Henry is a kid who, like, needs to do stuff. And I just, like, I don't know. I find it challenging to plan. I find it challenging to plan stuff all the time for him. Like. Yeah, especially as it gets hot. Maybe it's me. I just. I find it hard to plan play dates. Like, people have siblings, and it just. It's like, it always just feels like a lot. And I don't love having people at Our house because of Beau. So this is where I'm like, I should just live near family, because then I would have somewhere to just, like, go. Like, I would just be able to drop in at someone's house. Like, I just feel like I don't have that and that. And. And in the summer, when there's not as much, like, scheduled activities, like, baseball's over, soccer's over, I'm like, okay, what do we do now? And it feels like it's all on me. Sorry, that was more than you asked for.

[Elise Hu]

No, I get it. I get it. I. One of the greatest regrets of my adult life is that I have raised my children away from my brother and my mother and my father. Like, they have not only been far away, they've been on other continents from me or separated by bodies of water, like, major water, like the Pacific Ocean. And I remember how close I was with my brother, like, in our early 20s, and there was a period where we roomed together when we were in a summer break, you know, in college. And he. He just can solve all my problems. And then he's also known me since he was born, since the day he came home from the hospital. And so. And he also has kids, and I'd love for the cousins to be closer. And so I do really long for that. And every time I hear about my friends going out on weekend trips or concerts because their mom came over, I'm just like, I wish my mom was here more often. So I get it. And, yeah, the cousin thing is hard because you do want your. Your own brothers and sisters, kids to be friends with your kids, like, and kind of grow up side by side.

[Dory Shafrier]

I think it's easier to not really think about it when we're, like, busier, but when there's just this unstructured time, I think I'm like, oh, we don't have. I don't know, like, we don't have, like, the village in the same way as you do with family. And I know other, like, people. People create that, but I guess I'm not. I'm just not, like, good at creating it. I don't know.

[Elise Hu]

It could be proximity, too. Like, I'd be happy to help drop off and pick up Henry and things if he were close to that.

[Dory Shafrier]

Right, but you live so far. Yeah, exactly.

[Elise Hu]

My friend Rachel, who is my podcast production partner and business partner as well, we became friends through her husband because her husband Tim, was my college dorm mate, and they specifically chose this neighborhood, and they moved to the neighborhood where I live because we wanted to replicate what we had in college, which was like, hey, just stopping over in his dorm room to hang out, or like, hey, I need to just drop off my kids because I have parent night. Can you take them? You know, and there have been so many times where I, like, forgot that I have something to be at and I don't have anybody to pick up Issa from dance. And I'll just text him and say, hey, go grab Issa from dance. And so totally, really living close to each other and trying to live close with like your chosen family I think is a solve. It's just so hard in Los Angeles because once you find your place, what are you gonna do? Like, move. Move across town, you know? Like, that sounds like an impossibility.

[Dory Shafrier]

It's really. Yeah, it's really challenging. So I don't know, I feel like these, this, this. I start to think about that kind of stuff. So, anyway, how are you?

[Elise Hu]

I am pretty tired. I got up at 5 in the morning to fly back to Los Angeles from San Francisco.

[Dory Shafrier]

Wow.

[Elise Hu]

I had a taping for another podcast that I had to be in studio for and there really wasn't enough time to get there, so thank goodness the guest was also late.

[Dory Shafrier]

Oh, my gosh.

[Elise Hu]

I landed. Yeah, I landed at LAX at 8:50 and needed to be there for the 10am interview in Hollywood.

[Dory Shafrier]

Whoa. That.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, it was tight.

[Dory Shafrier]

As someone. As someone who, like, knows that commute, like landing at LAX and then having to get over to that part of town intimately, that is. Yeah.

[Elise Hu]

I also wasn't dressed, nor did I have a wardrobe to do an in studio interview. So I had to stop at my house first, which only added more time. I just went ahead and threw money at it and had the uber black come get me. Because if you get Uber black, they'll come straight to get you.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah.

[Elise Hu]

I also dismissed my dog. I did not go pick up Oscar from Waterland, his doggy day care, his overnight stay, because we wouldn't have had time. So I left Oscar at his overnight place, rushed home, changed, got there. I was eight minutes late. The guest was half an hour late. And it all.

[Dory Shafrier]

Oh, my gosh.

[Elise Hu]

Yes.

[Dory Shafrier]

Wow. Okay, good.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, we made it. But I was in San Francisco for just a beautiful wedding in the Redwoods. And I'm so happy for my friends Sarah and Kevin, who got married and they have a baby on the way in October. So congratulations to them. And they just had like an awesome wedding. It was all good vibes and.

[Dory Shafrier]

Aw. I love great people.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah. Yeah. I go to so so many fewer weddings than I did 10 years ago and, or even five years ago. So when I get to go, I really celebrate it. And they had the dog as the ring bearer. And he was such a good boy. He was such a good boy. And the there was a Raphael Nadal look alike who showed up.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah, you posted that. And I was like, wait, is that Nadal?

[Janice Torres]

Right?

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah, I was like, what would Nadal be doing at this wedding? But maybe there's some random connection.

[Elise Hu]

That is how much he looked like Rafa Nadal. Like the same tan, the same like, eyes. At first I had only seen him outside at the cocktail hour with sunglasses on and I was like, dang, with sunglasses on, that guy really looks like Rafa Nadal. But then inside, he took his sunglasses off, still looked like his doppelganger. That almost never happened.

[Dory Shafrier]

That's so funny. That's so funny.

[Elise Hu]

No, but it's just a dude named Steve from Vermont.

[Dory Shafrier]

No. Does he get that a lot? Like, has anyone else ever. Oh, he does. Okay.

[Janice Torres]

Yeah.

[Dory Shafrier]

I was gonna say he really looks like.

[Elise Hu]

Oh, I, I, I kept talking about it at my table and I was seated next to this guy Neil, who then decided to talk to Steve and say like, hey, we were just observing that you look a lot like Rafael Nadal. And then I don't know what their conversation was. And then Neil turned back to me and he goes, it is Rafael Nadal. Like, just to mess with me.

[Dory Shafrier]

Oh my God.

[Elise Hu]

It was fun, fun, fun, fun.

[Dory Shafrier]

It's really funny. Well, should we intro our guest?

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, delighted to. Janice Torres is an award winning Latina money expert and the author of Financially the Modern Latina's Guide to Level up your Dinero and become financially Poderosa. She became an accidental entrepreneur after a job loss inspired her to turn her food blog into a six figure business. With over a decade of experience as a serial entrepreneur, Janiece now teaches her clients how to identify and harness their talents to turn them into online service based businesses. She's an avid money nerd and a self taught personal finance educator. And in 2019, she began to notice a gap in the conversation around money. So inspired by the JLO and Cardi B Song Dinero, she decided to start teaching marginalized communities on topics like investing and financial independence through her personal finance podcast and platform, Yokiero Dinero.

[Dory Shafrier]

And before we get to Janiece, just a reminder, everything we discuss is on our website. We have links there. Forever35podcast.com we are on Instagram at Forever35podcast. Our Patreon is at patreon.com Forever35. Our favorite products are at Shopmy US Forever35. Our newsletter is at Forever35podcast.com Newsletter and you can call or text us at 781-591-0390 and email us at Forever35podcastmail.com and here is Janiece. Janiece, welcome to Forever35. We are so excited to have you on the show.

[Janice Torres]

Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to talk all things money with y' all today.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yay. Yes. Well, as we were kind of chatting before we got started, we have a ton of questions from our listeners. But we do just want to get a little bit from you about yourself and your show. And we always start off by asking our guests about a self care practice that they have. So we're wondering if there is something that you do right now that you would consider self care.

[Janice Torres]

You know, self care. First of all, I think think needs a rebrand because oftentimes it looks like very superficial. You know, like going to get your nails done, go to the spa. And like, while all that stuff is all good and well, I think real self care has to do with your finances. And so for me, I've discovered that I'm very good at, like taking care of future me. Like, I have no problem dropping like a thousand dollars in the stock market, but if you were to ask me, like, spend a thousand dollars on myself, I have a very hard time with that. So part of my self care actually, like working on my mindset to like make it okay for me to spend money today and not just on like future self. Because I think I, you know, some of us, especially the folks who are like pursuing early retirement and are really aggressive about our financial goals, we tend to just kind of be really intense with like delayed gratification. And you can internalize like this feeling of guilt of spending money in the now. And so that's pretty much what I'm working on, is just being okay with like today spending and not just like focusing on tomorrow spending.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, that reminds me of my mom because she's constant. She's like a very good saver. But I'm sort of like, well, now you're 68. I mean, what are you saving for?

[Dory Shafrier]

Right?

[Elise Hu]

Yes, you're you, you're 68 and you're retired. You know, like, spend the money, give it to me.

[Dory Shafrier]

That's true. Yeah.

[Elise Hu]

All right, Janiece, so your whole origin story for listeners who might not know your whole Origin story as a financial expert actually traces to a Cardi B and JLO song. Can you, can you fill us all in?

[Janice Torres]

Absolutely. So I like to call these my shower moments. I feel like the most brilliant ideas come when you're, like, listening music in the shower. And so I was listening to the Cardi B and J. Lo song Dinero, and the chorus goes, yo quiero, yo quiero dinero, which translates to I want money. And at that point, I had been listening to personal finance podcasts for, like, three years, but I had identified that there was a gap in the market where there was just not a show specifically catered to Latinas and women of color that were talking about things like investing, entrepreneurship, debt freedom. And I had been thinking about a show, but, you know, it's like, sure, okay, yeah, like, everybody starts podcasts, whatever. And it wasn't until I heard that song that I realized, oh, crap, that's the name of the show.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah.

[Janice Torres]

And I literally, like, ran out of the shower, hopped on my computer, did a quick, quick Google search, realized that nobody had taken it, snatched up the social media handles, Googled, like, how to start a podcast. And, like, within a week, I had launched the show from the closet of my bedroom.

[Elise Hu]

Love it.

[Janice Torres]

Love it. And here we are six years later, over a million downloads, an incredible community of people that listen over a hundred different countries, a book deal, over 200, 000 followers across social media platforms, all from the chorus of a song.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah. And creator economy, baby. You're. Yeah, yeah. You're really maximizing.

[Janice Torres]

Absolutely. Who knew? You know, when I was growing up, I did not realize you could have your own career that you, like, manifested out of thin air.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, very cool. Well, I'm. I'm sure it's more than just manifesting because you do a lot of work for it too, so.

[Janice Torres]

Absolutely.

[Dory Shafrier]

All right, well, let's get into some questions from our listeners. We've gotten a bunch of questions from listeners these days, but also, I feel like over the years about side hustles and just like, we'd love to hear from you. Just ways that people have brought in extra money, whether it's like, creative or super boring, like, what sticks out to you?

[Janice Torres]

You know, I think first and foremost, there's not a lot of clarity for people on, like, what a side hustle is and kind of what differentiates that from just like a part time job or an extra second job. For me, I feel like a side hustle is this unique thing that you're, like, merging the things that you're good at, but also the things that you're curious about or you're passionate about and then figuring out a way to monetize it. I don't think side hustles are, you know, one of those things that you just do to make extra money. I think it really is an avenue to explore things that you might be curious about that maybe you just don't get to do in your daytime career or, you know, you didn't formally go to school for it, but it's something that piques your curiosity. And so for me, side hustling has been primarily in the space of content creation. I've been doing it for over a decade and you know, as a blogger, now as a podcaster, social media influencer. And so I like to tell people, kind of start with what are you good at? Both from a professional standpoint and a personal standpoint. Because, you know, you can make a side hustle out of cooking, sewing, painting, singing, dancing. It doesn't just have to be the thing that you do at work. Kind of make a list of all those things that either you're really good at, the things that people ask you about all the time, who are you the go to person for? You know, maybe you like, know all the best restaurants in New York City. All those skill sets can potentially turn into a side hustle. Whether it's something that you sell as like a service. You could teach folks through like digital courses or downloads, ebooks, workshops, speaking engagements. I really like to tell people the side hustle is easiest to start when you're not physically selling a product. Like you're not having to buy inventory and build this thing. You can start with like selling what's in your brain and selling your talents. I think that's a great way to start.

[Elise Hu]

Okay, great advice. All right, we have so many questions. Here's another. As someone who is not yet forever 35 but trying to be more mindful of my finances, I wondered if you have any tips for finding a good accountant. I have an especially strange income and tax status and none of the free online tax calculators really know what I'm supposed to do. Plus, I would love to be more proactive about investing and saving money for the future, but it's difficult to figure out what is actually realistic to save in this day and age.

[Janice Torres]

That's a great question, and I think it's going to require some research and some nuance because it's not a one size fits all thing when it comes to hiring a financial professional. And that includes Accountants, especially if you're in the creator economy, right. You make money in ways that are just not traditional or newer in the sense not every account is going to understand your business model. And so I like to recommend folks like make sure that the person that you're considering has experience working in the arena that you are making money, you know. So for me it was important to find an accountant that understood the creator economy because we tend to have like really weird income streams and we tend to have like more than one. Right. So it's not just like a traditional mom and pop business revenue model that's like very simple and not everybody gets it. Like my first accountant was like, you make money doing what? What the hell is a blog? You know, so just having to explain to someone how you make money part of like, you know, kind of the battle that you have to kind of wrestle with when it comes to figuring out who's going to be your best advocate. And so I like to do kind of my own research, you know, go on Google, Instagram, LinkedIn, there's a lot of different places you can go to kind of find folks who are niche accountants in specific areas. And if all else fails, like talking to your friends, talking to colleagues, maybe you go to like conferences, trade groups, network with people and see who they're working with too. Because nowadays there's a lot of folks who are running side hustles, even part time and might have, you know, professional support that you don't even know about. So talk to your network for sure.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah. I actually to this particular question, I believe the context around it was that she worked abroad, she's an American citizen and pays US taxes, but worked abroad. And I had a similar situation. And what I recall is that when I was kind of working internationally or being taxed in a foreign country and then in the US I had a different kind of accountant back then than I do now, now that I live in the US and work as primarily a freelancer. And so yeah, you should find the right accountant for the type of problem that you need to solve.

[Janice Torres]

Absolutely.

[Elise Hu]

Or world that you need to understand.

[Dory Shafrier]

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[Janice Torres]

Yeah.

[Dory Shafrier]

One Skin is the world's first skin longevity company. By focusing on the cellular aspects of aging, One Skin keeps your SK looking and acting younger for longer. And for a limited time, you can try one skin with 15% off using code F35 at OneSkin co. That's 15% off OneSkin co with code F35. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them and please support your show and tell them we sent you. Give Your skin. The scientifically proven gentle carrot deserves with one skin. Janice, when you were talking about your self care practice, you were talking about like spending money now versus like waiting to spend money. But we get a lot of questions about retirement and retirement planning, and so I wanted to read a couple of them and see kind of like what your thoughts are. Especially in this time. I think of like great economic uncertainty. So this specific question is from a listener who writes, I'm considering pulling from my 401k to give myself a temporary financial cushion. Just enough to get through the next few months while I stabilize things. I know there are tax penalties and I'm not sitting on a massive 401k, but it's enough to help a bit. I also don't have much in savings. We just bought a house last year, which had been our big savings goal. So we're still rebuilding. My question is pulling from a 401k in this situation a terrible idea or could it make sense as a short term relief option? Are there any ways to reduce the penalties or taxes on an early withdrawal during times of economic hardship?

[Janice Torres]

You know, that's unfortunately, I think, a scenario that a lot of people are finding themselves in. I do want to preface this by saying, you know, we especially millennials, have pretty much grown up in financial crisis. Like, I grew up, I graduated into the Great Recession, and like, I feel like we haven't gotten a break, we haven't gotten any bre room. So this idea that like, you know, we're in this unique turmoil, this chaotic time, I would argue that that's maybe not necessarily the case. When you think back to, you know, the Great Depression and like World War I and 2. Like, you know, there's always just been crazy shit going on in the world and we kind of just got to figure out how to navigate it based on, you know, where we are in life and kind of what your goals are. So I want to just kind of, let's, let's relax because crazier things have happened and you know, maybe crazier things have yet to come, but we don't. That being said, there are opportunities and circumstances that could qualify you to take money out of a 401k without a penalty for financial hardship. And typically you're going to have to demonstrate like what that hardship is. You know, it could be like a job loss. It could be like you're become permanently disabled because you can't work. There are different circumstances. And so it's important to talk to an accountant, to a tax professional who can help you understand like, what those implications are and if you can make those withdrawals without a substantial financial penalty. But I do think that if it's. It sounds like it's a short term thing, there might be like a, you know, solution that doesn't involve withdrawing money. I would see, like, are there opportunities for you to supplement your income through some gig economy, work through a side, hustle through, you know, maybe getting a part time job that maybe doesn't help you pay all the bills, but can help you at least like bridge some of the gap. Just because there is something to be said about kind of letting your money sit there and continue to compound. Take advantage of the growth that comes from the stock market. You know, every time that we withdraw a dollar out of these accounts, you're basically like withdrawing a dollar away from your future self. And it's hard to get back that growth when we think about, you know, time being on our side now. So I would say kind of leave that as the last resort. There could be other opportunities for you to shore up your finances, especially if it seems like it's going to be like a short term thing.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah. I believe the situation was that she was recently furloughed without a return date. So it's functionally a layoff. I'm wondering if that can help with the reduction in penalties for withdrawal from.

[Janice Torres]

A. I. I'd have to see kind of what the IRS rules would be for this year because I know during COVID they made a lot of exceptions for folks to withdraw money. That might not be the case anymore. But I'd also say if you're furloughed without a return date, you should definitely be eligible for like some unemployment assistance through your state. So definitely make sure that you're taking advantage of that. Because like, a great example that we dealt with here in Florida recently was a lot of folks were un, inadvertently laid off because of the hurricanes. You know, if your restaurant gets destroyed and all of a sudden your job disappears, you actually do become eligible for unemployment assistance because you're basically like involuntarily unemployed because your place of employment doesn't exist anymore. So you could have opportunities for like state help. So I would investigate that as well.

[Elise Hu]

Okay, very good. All right, next retirement question. If you are contributing to an IRA or retirement account, how do you make sure that when you put money in, it's being used to buy stocks and not just sitting as cash in your account? I have wondered this for so long and should probably call my brokerage firm. But Thought that maybe other people have this question too.

[Janice Torres]

This happens all the time, you know. And the telltale sign for me as a financial coach is when somebody's like, you know, I put like $5,000 in my IRA like 5 years ago and it doesn't do anything. It just sits there.

[Elise Hu]

It's still $5,000.

[Janice Torres]

Oh God, that makes my heart hurt because, you know, all that time you could have been growing. But see, people think that an investment account is like a bank account where, you know, with a bank account you literally put your money in there and it sits there. With an investment account, there is that additional step. Not only are you putting the money in there, but you have to actually choose investments that you're going to purchase with that money because that's where the actual growth comes from. So oftentimes people forget about that third step and that's why you're not seeing anything as far as growth in your account account. So I think the, the great place especially for beginners to start where they thinking like, I don't know what the heck to buy, like what are all these symbols mean? I have no idea what to purchase. I like what's called a target date fund. Target date funds are set it and forget it investments that are associated with the date that you want to retire. And when I say date, like the year. So let's say you want to retire in 2055, you would go to your brokerage site, do a search Target Date Fund 2055 and select that as your investment. You can set up automatic deposits and automatic purchases of that, you know, every time you get paid or whatever frequency you feel comfortable with. And it is the ultimate set it and forget it investment vehicle. Because what it does is as you age, it changes the makeup of stocks and bonds, kind of the allocation that you have in your account to make sure that you are invested properly and appropriately for the risk that you should be associated with your age and with your retirement goals. So I love a target date fund for, for beginners who just don't want to be worried about like, am I buying the right thing? Am I buying the right stock? It's a, it's a very easy way to start.

[Elise Hu]

Great advice.

[Dory Shafrier]

Okay, another investing related question. Is there a way to invest my money that is one free while also being hands off? I don't want to manage the money FDIC insured and doesn't require thousands of dollars. Two available well before retirement. I feel like there's a catch to any investing option I consider I'm already investing in retirement and just want a secure place where I can make my money beat inflation. I don't think my bank offers a way to do this.

[Janice Torres]

Okay, well, the first thing I would recommend is if you want FDIC insurance, you have to be using a bank account. Because FDIC only covers banks, it does not cover brokerage firms. There's a separate entity, the sipc, which is what oversees investment firms and kind of gives that same level of production. Okay, okay, so that's that. One thing that I do love is a High Yield Savings account. So for anybody who doesn't know what a high yield savings account is, it is basically typically an online only account that you can put money in. There are no restrictions around like how much you can put in or when you can withdraw it, or for what purpose. And typically you get, you know, about 25 times the national average from a, an interest rate. And so right now high yield Savings accounts are paying around like 4% interest. So it's a nice way to kind of just have your money, you know, growing, not really, you know, exponentially, but at least it's safe and it's earning some interest. If you want some higher returns, you're definitely going to want to have to be invested in the stock market. I like a regular brokerage account for investing for all purposes.

[Elise Hu]

What's a regular brokerage account?

[Janice Torres]

So a regular brokerage account is the like most fundamental type of investment account that doesn't have any restrictions around when you can withdraw it. It's not a retirement account, it is just an investment account. So the money that you're putting in there can be used for any purpose. You can save for a down payment on a house just to grow extra money. And so there are no restrictions because there are no restrictions about what you can use the money for. There are no tax benefits the way that there are for retirement accounts. Right. Like there's no tax sheltering per se. So I love a brokerage account. And as far as like free investments, a lot of people don't know that Fidelity offers what are called zero fee mutual funds. And so this is like a pioneering move in the investment industry because typically most investments will have a fee associated with them. Yeah, but fidelity has created 0% expense ratio funds and they start with the letter or they end with the letter Z. So you can go on Fidelity's account, type in 0%, 0% expense ratio funds and there's ones that invest in the US market, in international markets, in bonds, in small startups, mid cap companies, and that's a Way to literally invest in the stock market with no fees. It's like the best hidden secret in investing.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah. Thank you for sharing and not gatekeeping. I had no idea.

[Janice Torres]

Yeah, yeah.

[Elise Hu]

I.

[Janice Torres]

When I found out about them a couple years ago, I was like, why would they do this? But it makes a lot of sense because it's almost like this is how they entice you to join their firm. And then, you know, hopefully you go and sign up for other products that have some fees associated with them. But, I mean, you can really, like, invest for free. And the cool thing about mutual funds is you can set it and forget it. You can set these up to automatically invest. Invest and just kind of let your money grow.

[Elise Hu]

Love that. Okay, this is a listener question that has nothing to do with investing, but more to do with just life. She wants to know the best or realistic ways to cut grocery spending without sacrificing food quality and health. For context, she's part of a family of six who eats almost all their meals at home and does all the quote right things, meal plan and make a list that we rarely deter from shop, drop sales where possible and buy stuff we use a lot of in bulk at Costco and use up their leftovers. But she says she still can't seem to get her grocery bill below 500 a week.

[Janice Torres]

Well, you know, feeding six people is not a small endeavor. And so I would first say, like, let's just give ourselves some grace because everything is more expensive, especially after Covid. So I think you're doing amazing, sweetie.

[Elise Hu]

That's number one.

[Janice Torres]

Okay. Number number two, I have found that the biggest game changer for me has been grocery pickup. Why? Because when you walk into a grocery store without a plan, you usually don't know what you're going to spend until you're at the cash register and you're getting rung up. Right. But with the grocery pickup, you can actually see the bill before you check out, and you can remove things from your cart if you want to stay within budget. And typically, this pickup service is going to be free. You know, you can do it at Walmart, you can do it at Target. There's a bunch of different places that you can go grocery shopping for free with the pickup option. And so I think the most important thing is, like, see what you're spending before you get to the cash register. So you're not surprised. For me, that has been the biggest game changer in how I stay on budget. Because I can literally see, like, oh, wow, we don't need that like 25 pack of steak. Let's save that for next week. Whereas you really don't know what you're going to be spending when you go and do it the traditional way.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, good point, Good point. Janice, I'm just curious, what is your approach to budgeting for your household or your family?

[Janice Torres]

You know, so I have evolved in my budget methods as my goals have changed. When I was pursuing debt freedom, I was very, like, meticulous about tracking where every dollar goes. Now I'm a little more flexible in my budgeting. I like to take the pay yourself first approach. Approach. And so essentially what that looks like is I like to fund future me before I fund current me. And so what that means is I am allocating money towards my savings and investing goals before I'm spending money on anything else. So it's almost like you're giving yourself a boost for the future and then you're putting the reins on your spending in current time. And what that has helped me do is really get on a path where I'm going to be able to retire like, like at least a decade before traditional retirement age. Because my investments have been my priority for such a long time, and it forces me to just work with the bucket of kind of what's left versus, like, spending everything and then hoping that you have some money left to save and invest at the end. So I think when you prioritize the saving and investing first, it makes you kind of more mindful about, like, holistic budgeting versus, oh, it'd be nice if we could save at the end of the month.

[Elise Hu]

Month, yeah. The only way I save is because it's automatically withdrawn.

[Janice Torres]

Yeah, you gotta force it sometimes.

[Elise Hu]

So I never, I never see it. You know, I'm like, oh, I guess. I guess this is all the money I have.

[Janice Torres]

This is. I mean, you are playing into, like, how human nature works, right? Most of us are just not gonna have the discipline to, like, be deliberate and make those manual contributions and set aside that money. So the more we can just take the decision away from ourselves and just, like, set it and forget it, the more likely you are to hit those financial goals.

[Elise Hu]

Okay, let's take a break and we will be right back. Heather is a nurse practitioner from UnitedHealthcare.

[Dory Shafrier]

We meet patients wherever they live.

[Janice Torres]

During a house call, she found Jack had an issue.

[Dory Shafrier]

Jack's blood pressure was dangerously high.

[Elise Hu]

It was 217 over 110. So they got Jack to the hospital and got him the help he needed. He had had a stent placed in.

[Dory Shafrier]

His heart preventing a massive heart attack.

[Elise Hu]

If it wasn't for my guardian angel.

[Dory Shafrier]

I wouldn't be here.

[Elise Hu]

Hear more stories like Jack's at unitedhealthcare.com.

[Janice Torres]

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[D]

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[Janice Torres]

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[Elise Hu]

Over.

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[Dory Shafrier]

I'm wondering what sort of general advice you have for people who are trying to get out of debt. I know, you know, some people follow like the Dave Ramsey snowball method. There's, there's all these, you know, kind of catchy ways that I think type things. Yeah. That like you see on TikTok or whatever. And I'm wondering if you have, you know, just sort of like general advice on this.

[Janice Torres]

You know, I think the biggest hindrance for a lot of folks to even start a debt free journey is like not actually knowing how much money they owe and to who. I think there tends to be like a head in the sand, ostrich behavior sometimes when we know because it's just easier to just deal with each bill as it comes in versus seeing the real picture. And so I really recommend to folks to get an entire bird's eye view of what's going on with your finances by calculating your net worth. Okay. I love a tool called Empower. It's a free dashboard that you can link all of your accounts to and you can see what you have in investments, what you have in debt, what you have in savings. And it gives you just like a map of your finances. And once you know that, you know, like, oh, okay, I owe this much for student loans, I owe this much for credit cards. Here's my car note. And just being able to kind of see everything in one place, I think is how you start to be able to understand what's going on and then formulate a plan. And so for me that was key in understanding like what my financial picture was and how much I was going to need to, you know, pay off to certain accounts to get to become debt free. One method that I don't think enough people know about and I actually write about it in my book is called the debt lasso method. So the debt lasso method has a caveat. It is for folks who have decent credit because it involves opening a new credit card that has a promotional 0% APR. Right. And using that new credit card to consolidate other credit cards that are, you're paying, you know, 25% plus on interest. And so that's actually how I got out of debt. I lassoed my credit card debt onto a new card that had 21 months of zero interest. I made a plan to pay off that debt in 21 months, which is the key. Right. You need to be able to take advantage of that promotional period by having an actual plan of like what am I going to pay each month so that I don't end up paying any interest on this. And I think it's a really underutilized way that if you have decent credit, but you're just trying to make headway, especially on expensive credit card debt, this can be a very, very, you know, big opportunity for you to get out of debt in a way that is realistic and that won't cost you any money besides maybe a small balance transfer fee of like 2 to 4, 2 to 5% that the credit card will charge you to move your balance to that new card.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah. Where are you on the general advice that we should have about two to three months or what? Or is it three to six months of living expenses for a rainy day?

[Janice Torres]

Yeah.

[Elise Hu]

Do you do that or.

[Janice Torres]

Well, you know, I think the, the blanket advice is not necessarily applicable to everybody because you have to understand like your own career field. How quickly would you be able to find a new job if you're self employed like me? I don't think three to six months is enough. I think you need to be closer to like 9 to 12. You know, there can be terrible years in business. You just never know what's going on. So I think it's important for folks to know kind of their personal situation, know how quickly you could potentially be able to get back to work if you were laid off or things like that. But three to six months I think is the bare minimum for most people to just be able to weather like a short term financial emergency.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah.

[Janice Torres]

But the more the better, honestly, you know, and it's not even like just a good reason to save for an emergency. There's a lot of folks who want to potentially make like a career pivot or take a sabbatical or maybe you want to take a couple years off to like raise your baby. There's a lot of reasons why we would want to take a break. And when you have that financial Runway of a freedom fund, which I Like to call it because, you know, it's a little more, more empowering than like the emergency fund.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah.

[Janice Torres]

When you have a freedom fund, you can kind of like do whatever the hell you want and know that, you know, you have the money to do so. So I think we need to rebrand the emergency fund because there's a lot of other reasons to and to save money other than just emergencies.

[Elise Hu]

Okay. Okay, sorry. I'm gonna tack this on because I realized I left something off from a listener. Where do you start in midlife? If you've been lazy with retirement planning previously, she's a teacher with a future pension, but it's probably not going to be enough.

[Janice Torres]

Yeah, well, you know, the fact that you have a pension is already giving you a head start. So I think, you know, it's important to do just acknowledge that you do have something. You're not starting at zero. But unfortunately, the reality of it is is that the older you are when you start planning for retirement, the more money you're going to have to earmark and throw at the market in order to make up for all of the lost time. And so I like using a calculator on investor.gov to do some calculations where you can basically put in, how much do you currently have saved? When do you want to retire? How much can you contribute on a monthly basis? What's your estimated growth? And it'll tell you basically like, when can you retire, you know, based on your financial goals? So I think that's a good place to start, just to kind of see what that number is. And then, you know, it might require some creative planning. One of the things that a lot of people consider in retirement is maybe moving somewhere where the cost of living is less. You know, I think it's a lot more common for folks to be considering becoming expats and living out of the US for retirement. You know, Mexico has become a popular place for that. Other parts of the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia. So it is a real thing that like your biggest expenses in retirement are going to be healthcare costs, which are not, you know, that's not what America's known for. It's not affordable health care. And it's just we're not known for an affordable cost of living in, you know, period. Right.

[Elise Hu]

Healthcare is especially egregious.

[Janice Torres]

Right. Okay. So just knowing that, I think it is a good idea to just consider like, what are all those options beyond money? Like, can your location be something that you get creative with? Maybe you're planning on living in a multi generational household where you live with another family member. I'm loving the ideas of like family compounds, you know, where like the family just buys like a property or two on a big piece of land. I think it's going to require creative planning is my, my message. And just don't be afraid to confront the numbers because yes, they can be scary, but there's always a way to make them work.

[Elise Hu]

All right.

[Dory Shafrier]

All right, Janiece, is there, is there anything else sort of finance related? Like, are there questions that you get a lot that we have not addressed that you feel like our listeners should kind of be looped in on?

[Janice Torres]

Yeah, you know, one of the things that I think there's been a lot of folks wrestling with this idea of like, am I contributing to exploitation? Or like, am I part of the problem as an investor in a capitalist system? Okay. And like, that's a real question. Okay. That's a real existential dilemma that a lot of people think about. And it does encourage some folks to like, not invest. But what I say is this. We didn't get to choose the system in which we're born into. Right. The only thing that you can do is kind of understand how you can use the system to create financial security for yourself and for your loved ones. And so I don't think that it makes sense to kind of opt out because that's just not, that's just not going to be beneficial to anybody. And I do honestly think that the more diverse pool of investors that we have, the more women we have investing people of color, like, we can change the system from within when we are like majority shareholders of these companies, you know, you can hold them to a higher standard when you are the ones in power. And so I really like to help folks kind of reframe that in order to change the system, you have to be part of it.

[Elise Hu]

It.

[Janice Torres]

And as long as you're being mindful about, you know, the companies that you support and, you know, kind of where you're deploying those dollars, I think that we can be a force for good. So that's, that's just some encouragement I want, you know, to give folks because there, there's a lot of questions about like, you know, am I part of the problem? And I think the only problem is having women and people of color continue to struggle financially and continue to perpetuate these, like, you know, know, the wealth gap and the pay gap and not being able to break these generational cycles. That for me is really important. And you know, until we figure out a better way to do it economically. We kind of have to work with the. The cards that we're dealt with.

[Elise Hu]

I love that answer. And I love the advice to invest your values too. Like, I am a Costco shareholder, and especially so after the way that the shareholders stood up against anti DEI policies, you know, from activist shareholders. And so, so, like, this is why you can kind of speak your voice with your money too. Like, I won't. I invest in. What is the type of fund? It's like a sociology.

[Janice Torres]

Esg.

[Elise Hu]

ESG funds. And so I explicitly don't invest in extractive industries like oil and gas, you know, or some, you know, there's some industries that you can kind of carve out and say, this is a no go for me. And then. And I think that's a great thing to remember too.

[Janice Torres]

Absolutely. And I think that's one of the reasons why it's important to be an educated and an empowered investor. Because oftentimes when you do hand off that money to a financial advisor, they're just not going to have the same thought process for you. And you could be inadvertently investing in, like, companies that build bombs, you know, or like guns or tobacco or whatever. And if those things don't align with what your money's doing, then you are kind of part of the problem. So it's important for you to educate yourself to what exists, what your options are, so that you can come from a place where your money is aligned with your values.

[Elise Hu]

Very good. All right, Janiece, where can listeners find you?

[Janice Torres]

So you can find me wherever you're listening to this podcast. My podcast is Yo Quiero Dinero and we're everywhere. And also on YouTube, you can find out more about [e-mail] and yeah, this has been so much fun. So thank you guys for the invite.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, we have loved having you on. Thank you so much, Janiece, for taking so many of our listener questions questions and giving us good sound advice and just.

[Dory Shafrier]

That was amazing.

[Elise Hu]

Schooling me. There are so many things where I'm.

[Dory Shafrier]

Like, oh, yeah, okay, seriously, Elise, have you been sleeping one hour later?

[Elise Hu]

I have tried to go to bed one hour earlier.

[Dory Shafrier]

Oh, okay.

[Elise Hu]

Made up for the sleeping issue on the other side of the clock because as it turns out, after getting up at, you know, 6 o' clock in the morning, like, way too early for me in the morning. For the past school year, your body kind of gets used to it and now it's hard for me to wake up later.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah.

[Elise Hu]

And so to make up the sleep. I'm just trying to go to bed after Ava does, like when my older one goes to bed, which is about 10. And that's been better for me. I feel pretty good. I feel pretty good.

[Dory Shafrier]

Going to bed early is such a. Is such a life hack.

[Elise Hu]

What about you?

[Dory Shafrier]

Last week we were. My husband and I were going to start to dig out. We have made like a little bit of progress. I think it's just gonna. It's gonna take a little bit more time. And then also relatedly, my intention this week, we had a death in the family. So I am leaving tomorrow to go to the east Coast. So things have been sort of like, like thrown into flux there. And my intention is to just, you know, make it through. Who did.

[Janice Torres]

We had a guest.

[Dory Shafrier]

Thank you. We had a guest once who, remember we asked like, what's your self care practice? And they were like getting through the day.

[Elise Hu]

Just getting through the day. Yeah. Because she had had an awful year and she was lost. Her mom.

[Dory Shafrier]

I think that was. I think that was Nicole Hill from our ancestors were messy, right?

[Elise Hu]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think so.

[Dory Shafrier]

So anyway, I'm feeling that. I'm feeling that right now. Things were. Things already felt sort of precarious and then this just kind of like threw a. Threw another wrench into the whole situation.

[Janice Torres]

So.

[Elise Hu]

Yeah. I'm sorry. Thank you. I'm glad you're gonna go and be there with your family members.

[Dory Shafrier]

Me too.

[Elise Hu]

And all. All be able to, you know, be in community with each other.

[Dory Shafrier]

Yeah. What about you? What are you. What do you have going on this week?

[Janice Torres]

Week.

[Elise Hu]

I have the kids finally in a camp all week, so I am going to. I have to unpack. My parents got a storage cabinet or like a storage unit worth of stuff sent to me because they don't think they're gonna like revisit it and they don't want to keep the storage unit and keep paying for it. So I'm gonna dig out of stuff. So I'm not digging out of like paperwork and like financial spreadsheets, but I'm digging out of just actual stuff that has been unloaded into the back house. So my friend Justin is flying in from Austin on Thursday and he's always helpful with a lot of these kinds of manual tasks. So I'm gonna welcome him to LA and set him on some tasks with me.

[Dory Shafrier]

What a dream.

[Elise Hu]

We're gonna have to. Yeah, we're gonna go through things and figure out what to save and what to take out to bulk trash.

[Dory Shafrier]

So that sounds.

[Elise Hu]

Wish me luck this week. I'm digging out.

[Dory Shafrier]

Honestly, that sounds like that will be very satisfying.

[Elise Hu]

Hope so.

[Dory Shafrier]

So Godspeed. All right everybody, thank you for listening. Forever 35 is hosted and produced by me, Dori Shafrier and Elise Hu and produced and edited by Sam Hunio. Sammy Reed is our Project Manager and our network partners, acast. Thanks everyone.

[Elise Hu]

Talk to you later.

[Dory Shafrier]

Bye.

[E]

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