Bestie Bestie Bom Bom Podcast

We are back with another incredible mujer, to talk all things Dinero and how to navigate personal finances. In this episode you will hear us share our stories and hopefully learn from our own mistakes and lessons learned during and after college. We are joined by the incredible and badass mujer, Rita-Soledad Fernandez Paulino aka Soledad, from the LA Barrio of Echo Park, she not only shares the guest chair but is also our co-host as we talk all things Monay Honay. With a background in teaching, she like us, believes in the power of educating & empowering young Latinas to make better financial choices and ensure they are set up for a successful future.

Soledad describes herself as a sleep deprived Mexican-American incredible millennial mother of two committed to creating generational wealth while smashing the patriarchy. She is currently the Chief Financial Officer for a small start-up aka her family of 4 (don't you just love that?) and is committed to making sure everyone has the confianza to talk all things dinero by openly discussing all of her financial mistakes and goals on IG. When she learns something finance related, she wants you to learn too. Join her on Instagram so you can build wealth juntos. You can follow her on IG @wealthparatodos or Twitter @wealthparatodos!

Soledad’s Graduation Money Moves Checklist:

1. Dream big visualize your life and then plan how to get there

2. Know your numbers, as soon as you graduate, know your debt, student loan debt, the providers, interest, and when its due

3. Know your income and know your employers benefits

4. Health Insurance, FSA, HAS

5. Retirement Accounts

a. Money you can save to spend on the things you want

6. Create a budget, track your budget and important to build your values, and understand where your money

7. Pay yourself first, set you budget put a line, whether that is contributing to your retirement and the contribute to a Roth IRA – allow compound interst to work for you

8. Start to tackle your debt, and don’t accumulate more debt

9. Care for your credit (Credit Karma, Annual Credit Report)

We know this an especially difficult time for college students as they enter an unknown economy and job market. As graduates of the class of 2009 and a recession underway, we can totally understand and relate to the anxiety and stress students are feeling today. In this episode we invited our incredible amiga, Deisy Escobedo, a fellow Academic Advisor at University of California, Riverside (similar to our host Elvia), to talk about all things college life and graduation especially for Latinx & 1st gen students. She earned her B.A. in Psychology/Law & Society from UC Riverside and her M.S. in Educational Counseling from CSU San Bernardino all while working in various student affairs settings. She firmly believes in finding innovative ways to best support students as they work towards their educational goals.

In this episode we offer not one but two incredible Academic Advisor perspectives from Deisy & Elvia. We unpack our own college journey's and lessons learned and provide insights on how to navigate your college journey, learn how to leverage resources and academic advisors, how to deal with imposter syndrome, peer pressure, student loans and finances, anxiety around decision making, and especially how to navigate the current COVID19 climate as remote students and specifically those that are graduating this year. Amigas, we cover it all and provide some really great tips and advice to help reassure students that you got this. Remember to stay proactive and as Deisy says, “Todo tiene solucion, menos la muerte, no pasa nada, everything is figureoutable".

If you have any questions regarding navigating the higher education system, mentorship, networking, or just need some guidance you can follow Deisy on IG @la_deisy or reach her via email Deisyesco1@gmail.com. You can also reach out to us! Elvia is also an Academic Advisor and can help provide some great guidance, tips, and advice as you navigate college/post college life. If you would like to contact her, you can reach her on IG @l_v_ahhh or by email at elvia.sornoza@gmail.com. Don't be afraid to ask for help we are all in this together.

Don't be afraid to ask for help we are all in this together.

Tips for students graduating this year during #COVID19:

• Tap into your resources. Do your research!
• Do not give up, stay focused and stay proactive & engage
• Make a Zoom Appointment with your Advisors
• If you need help with tech, go online and see what ITS or how tech support can help you
• Advocate for yourself (going to make you a better professional
• Network, stay connected with them and reach out
• Don't be prideful and ask for help (we know this is rooted in Latino culture, but let's break that cycle)