Forever35 Podcast: “Yo Quiero Dinero Drops In On Forever35”

Hosts: Doree Shafrir & Elise Hu
Guest/Featured Host: Janice Torres (Yo Quiero Dinero)
Episode Air Date: November 24, 2025

Episode Overview

This special Forever35 episode spotlights an episode from the Yo Quiero Dinero podcast hosted by Janice Torres, focusing on how to financially plan for motherhood. The discussion is rich with personal insight, practical strategies, and empowering advice, especially for women navigating business ownership and parenthood. Janice shares candidly about her journey from financial uncertainty to building robust, passive income streams—and how she approached maternity planning as both a new mother and entrepreneur.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Challenging the Narrative: Money & Motherhood (04:04–06:55)

• Janice introduces herself as a Latina financial coach, entrepreneur, and new mom, aiming to break the myth that motherhood and financial independence are incompatible.
• She describes witnessing her own mother sacrifice career benefits for flexibility and how that formed limiting beliefs about mothers’ prosperity.
  • Quote: “I did not think that motherhood and my financial independence journey was compatible...I was under the impression for a very long time that motherhood was not conducive to being well off financially.” (04:27)
• Janice underscores the importance of shedding inherited “money trauma” from previous generations.

2. The Realities—and Costs—of Motherhood (07:30–09:18)

• Shares the sticker shock of hospital bills related to childbirth (her own bill, before insurance, totaled over $97,000) to highlight systemic issues in healthcare.
  • Quote: “Having a baby is fucking expensive...my hospital bill came up to over $97,000.” (08:48)
• Stresses that the U.S. may be “pro-pregnancy and pro-birth, but not pro-mother.”

3. Step-by-Step: How Janice Financially Planned for Motherhood (09:19–19:23)

A. Pre-Motherhood Financial Prep

• Identified many anticipated and “hidden” costs: medical, childcare, baby essentials, and lost productivity as a business owner.
• Extreme fatigue during early pregnancy required taking time off, making financial preparation essential.

B. The Maternity Fund Formula

• Janice details her income system, emphasizing the importance of passive income for self-employed people planning for maternity leave:
  • Food blog passive income (over $100k/year; $35k in Nov–Dec alone)
  • Investment portfolio (six figures, yielding dividends)
  • Airbnb ($10k/year)
  • Ancillary streams: coaching, speaking, workshops, brand partnerships
• Recommends knowing the financial “seasons” of your business so you can plan for major life events.
  • Quote: “Know what your business does; know the seasons; know what’s coming in...timing that out so things can work out for you.” (12:38)

C. Insurance & Medical Coverage

• Advocates for reviewing health insurance well ahead of pregnancy; switched to a better plan and maximized deductible in anticipation of major costs.
  • Quote: “Review your medical coverage...plan ahead and really make sure that all of my prenatal care, my delivery care, and postpartum care was going to be optimally covered.” (16:51)
• Strongly recommends supplemental disability insurance for self-employed people—but warns you must purchase it before becoming pregnant.

D. Emergency Funds & Pivoting Plans

• Started with a “baby fund,” but pivoted to use that as a house down payment when the right opportunity arose.
• Recommends having as much savings as possible and adapting as life changes:
  • Quote: “There’s no such thing as saving too much money—TL;DR when you’re having a baby, okay?” (20:37)

4. Structuring a Business for Flexibility

(19:56–24:32)

• Automated business processes (sales funnels, evergreen programs) to maintain income with less hands-on work—starting years before pregnancy.
• Emphasizes the value of passive income streams (digital products, courses, templates, Airbnb) for financial stability and work-life flexibility.
  • Quote: “When you have passive income streams, this is going to reduce the financial pressure that you feel, especially...as you are navigating maternity leave.” (22:34)
• Advocates for openly communicating availability and setting boundaries with clients and team—don’t try to be constantly “on.”

5. Long-Term Wealth and Family Planning

(24:32–27:29)

• Continue retirement contributions and adapt long-term savings goals for reduced income periods.
• Outlines starting savings for children before birth (529 plans, custodial accounts), and compares options for education and general savings.
• Shares decision for her partner to become a stay-at-home dad based on logical financial analysis of child care costs vs. salary.
  • Quote: “I am paying him out of the business a salary that would be equivalent to what he’d be making... This gives me a write-off tax-wise, and it also gives him a salary to invest, save, and do all the things.” (28:05)
• Both parents secured term life insurance for mutual protection.

6. Community, Outsourcing, and Emotional Support

(27:29–32:00)

• The value of a “circle” of entrepreneurial moms for financial and emotional support.
• Recommends outsourcing non-business tasks (meal prep, cleaning).
  • Key investment: Night nurse via Hush Hush Little Baby agency—a “game changer” for postpartum care and rest.
  • Quote: “A night nurse, if you can afford it, is one of the best investments you will make in your postpartum care—by far.” (31:45)
• Encourages appointing visitors for actionable help—not just baby-holding.

7. Tools, Resources, and Ongoing Learning

• Suggests using budgeting apps, accounting software, and client management tools to keep personal and business finances organized.
• Advocates for finding ongoing inspiration (coaches, blogs, podcasts), especially those tailored to entrepreneur-moms.

8. Final Action Steps (35:28)

Janice’s Four Steps for Financial Planning & Motherhood:

1. Start saving early – Get creative with funding maternity leave.
2. Plan your leave – Proactively structure time and finances.
3. Delegate – Outsource both business and personal tasks.
4. Automate – Use systems and tools so the business runs without you.

• Quote: “Start saving, plan your leave, delegate, automate—those four things will allow you to enjoy this process.” (36:10)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Motherhood does not have to mean pausing your dreams. It is about building a legacy while creating a life that you love. So don’t let anybody out here tell you that you will not be able to pursue your goals and dreams as a mom. It’s a fucking lie.” (38:05)
• “Outsource, outsource, outsource... Don’t have people coming over to your house just to visit you and your baby... I need you to come here with a purpose—bring me food, clean the house, do some shit, contribute to my mental health. Don’t deteriorate it.” (31:10)
• On financial literacy for new moms: “If you don’t have retirement accounts as a self-employed person, please get it together, okay?” (25:47)
• On early savings: “You can literally start saving for your child before they’re even born.” (27:37)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 04:04 – Janice introduces motherhood, her background, and debunking harmful narratives
• 07:30 – Costs of giving birth and systemic issues
• 09:19–13:55 – Building a multi-stream maternity fund and income planning
• 16:51 – Health insurance strategies for expectant moms
• 19:56 – Automating business processes to prepare for maternity
• 24:32 – Long-term savings, retirement, and child savings accounts
• 27:29 – Partner financial planning and life insurance
• 29:34 – Emotional support, community, outsourcing, night nurses
• 35:28 – Four steps to financial planning for motherhood
• 38:05 – Empowering closing advice on motherhood and dreams

Tone & Takeaways

Janice delivers advice with blunt honesty, humor, and lots of actionable steps—something that will resonate with listeners contemplating parenthood, entrepreneurship, or both. She breaks down complex financial ideas in a relatable, no-nonsense way, blending her Latina identity and cultural experience for a uniquely warm, empowering, and “real talk” episode.

For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

You'll walk away with a toolkit for practical financial planning before, during, and after pregnancy—whether you’re a business owner or not. Janice’s approach is empowering, emphasizes flexibility, passive income strategies, community, and the belief that motherhood and financial independence absolutely can coexist.

For further resources, check out Janice Torres’ book Financially Lit, her various online courses, and the Yo Quiero Dinero podcast for more deep dives into entrepreneurship and personal finance, especially for women and the Latinx community.

Stay Poderosa!