Truth and Transparency: Financial Literacy & Investing with Jessica Cunningham

Jessica Cunningham, the mastermind behind Jess 2 Invest, walks through her journey from bank teller to seasoned financial advisor in this must-listen podcast episode. Jessica shares her evolution in the finance world, revealing the often deceptive appearances in the banking industry and why there is a critical need for financial literacy, and the importance of genuine financial advice over profit-driven sales pitches. Learn how technology is democratizing investment with accessible tools and apps that empower you to take control of your financial future. This episode is packed with insights on achieving financial freedom and making money work for you. Perfect for anyone interested in financial independence, investment strategies, and the truth behind the finance industry.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:25

Welcome back to the Money Focus Podcast. I'm your host, moses the Mentor, and in this episode, I'm joined by Jessica Cunningham, who's a financial enthusiast with over a decade of experience in banking and finance. She's also the mastermind behind Just2Invest, which is a platform dedicated to demystifying financial literacy in a fun and accessible way. She's here to share her insights on achieving financial success and how her unique approach is changing the game. So let's dive into the world of smart investing with Jessica. All right, thank you, jessica, for joining the Money Focus podcast. Really appreciate your time. The first thing I want to ask you is to walk us through your career journey, professional journey and, ultimately, how you started University. Hail to the Wildcats.

Speaker 2: 1:14

That's my alma mater. I would not be as successful as I am now without Bethune-Cookman University. I was a part of the business banking program and that program truly helped me to understand corporate America, to be a professional and not only just to understand how to be someone in this life that truly understands professionalism. And so but Don't Come. University was a key factor into my success, but I graduated in 2009. And that was probably one of the toughest years to look for a job because, as you already know, we were in the thick of a recession, right, and so we were in the thick of a recession, so I was competing again with other people looking for a job, these high-level executives who lost their jobs and who, essentially, was looking for any opportunity or any job that they could, you know, maintain their lifestyle because a lot of people were out of a job at that particular point. So I remember just, it's been very, very tough initially, and I remember going to my local branch. I went to speak with the manager there and I asked the manager for a job and he was like you know, we'll see. We'll see exactly where this heads are going. He asked that. He gave me a call back, but I ended up going to that bank twice to ask for a job, and I don't know if it was because my audacity or my boldness, but he hired me. But the catch was was that he was only able to hire me as a teller. So I took that entry-level position as an opportunity just to get my foot in the door and I truly just really learned banking. Then. I would say that it really opened my eyes to the banking industry because as a teller, in training class we were primarily focused on sales, selling products and selling services and I remember just being kind of surprised by that fact because I didn't know that that was a thing to just push products and services out to clients, right. And so I was a teller for about a month and a half and I transitioned on to other different roles and positions, and I've had several different positions and roles within the banking industry. But I'll say that probably being a banker was probably the role that really, really opened my eyes into the banking industry because, again, bankers are more so salesmen. Bankers are more so salesmen, right. So I was under the assumption that they're going to teach me how to help people with their financial struggles and issues. That was not the case. They were pushing us to sell credit cards and loans, and I was kind of, again, shocked by that aspect.

Speaker 2: 4:20

And so, once I got settled in that particular role, I remember a whole lot of clients who would come in, of different backgrounds and different professions, right, so you would have physicians, you would have doctors and lawyers, and teachers, those who work in health care facilities, you name it. There was a common theme. The common theme was that everyone was struggling. I don't care what they look like, I don't care what they drove, I don't care what house they had. I was on the other side looking at their balances and their accounts, and a lot of them were in tears and I remember thinking I don't have the knowledge, I don't have the expertise to help them.

Speaker 2: 4:59

But here they are, coming to a bank saying, hey, you know, I've had, I've been a client of yours for X amount of years. I need, I need a solution. You know, I need something that you can give me because I'm struggling. I mean, I'm in an enormous amount of debt. Right, I am. You know, I'm not able to afford my lifestyle, I don't know how to manage money, I need help, and so every single time I would go to a management team for to say, hey, what can we do for this client? You know they kept pushing. Do you? Did you sell them a credit card? You know, did you sell them a loan? Right?

Speaker 2: 5:32

And knowing that that was only going to dig them into a deeper hole, it became really frustrating for me. And so what I did, moses? I really tried to learn everything I could about finance at that particular point. Any book that I could read on finance. I read Any blog. I later became licensed in investments so that I would be able to just share the knowledge.

Speaker 2: 5:57

But, as you can probably already assume and know, is that I was very restricted on what I could say and what I could do. Zoom and know is that I was very restricted on what I could say and what I could do. So it just became extremely frustrating for me, and so I stayed in that role for quite some time and then eventually I started working in the treasury department in the bank where I would work with different huge corporations and businesses Right, and so I dealt with. My sector was mostly hospitals and healthcare facilities where I would help build those relationships, and then eventually I went on to work with affluent clients at a smaller bank and it was my responsibility to truly bring in deposits for that smaller bank and so to build relationships with those people and to help manage those accounts. And then, eventually, I went back to businesses, working with businesses, and then, towards the tail end of my career, I became a financial advisor, and that was always a dream of mine, to be a financial advisor.

Speaker 2: 6:53

But I would say that the straw that brought the camels back on why I love banking was being a financial advisor, and the reason behind that was that being an advisor and training as an advisor, I would see and sit in on these meetings with people, or these advisors and people who you know. You have these people who were like I need help. You know I don't know how to invest, and they needed help with investing. And I saw advisors day in and day out that, would you know, push investments that were not in the best interest of clients. Right and so and it's so common Right and so I started. I decided to leave the industry because I saw exactly what the financial industry was all about Like.

Speaker 2: 7:37

I want to continue to tell people banks are a business first, right and so oftentimes, if you have a financial struggle, if you have a financial issue, you have something you know that you need help with. Oftentimes we go to a bank or we say you know, maybe I'll go to a financial advisor because you're going to a professional. But I just want to bring more awareness to this fact is that a lot of people and a lot of banks are a business first, meaning they're looking to line their own pockets Right and they're looking to just gain more commission or something they don't know. A lot of people or a lot of banks aren't aren't working with integrity. They're more so looking to push a product or a service to you that may not be in your best interest and oftentimes it's not. And so, over and over again, I kept seeing how, you know, the industry will put together more effort and solutions in helping businesses and in helping the affluent clients. They put a little bit more effort in. But when it came to the majority, again, they're pushing credit cards, they're pushing loans, they are pushing accounts because they are assuming that the majority of people are going to overdraft and banks make billions of dollars, billions of dollars in overdraft fees. It's astronomical, it's insane.

Speaker 2: 8:57

And so I started my company just to invest, to share all the knowledge that I've ever learned within my banking career and working with businesses and affluent clients, and also all the knowledge that I've ever learned within my banking career and working with businesses and affluent clients, and also all the knowledge that I've gained separately, so that I can just share the information to the public in a non-biased way, right and truly be a sounding board for people who had issues and problems with their finances and giving them non-biased strategies, information and planning.

Speaker 2: 9:27

And so that's why we exist and that's why, as I stated, I really love what you're doing. When you reached out, I was so excited about it because any opportunity that I can get to just share with the public, about bringing awareness to the financial industry, but not only that, just showing everybody the rules of the game, because if you don't know the rules of the game, you won't know how to play it to your advantage and it will further, you know, keep the gap becoming larger and larger, and we want people just to understand, you know how to level up in your finances what this financial industry is doing, taking matters into your own hands and learning, learning all that you can because it's your money. So Just to Invest exists for that sole purpose of just providing more and more education and knowledge to people, because it's just important, it's a part of our everyday life, so that's why we exist.

Speaker 1: 10:21

I worked for a bank before too, yeah, so I know exactly what you're talking about. I started at a bank. I was a financial service representative, but we performed some teller trans. You know functions too, at times when you know I was really busy and it blew me away. It was a few things you said. Yes, tellers are salespeople, you know, and not and not that you're even trying to look at someone's balance. It's there like you're going to see it.

Speaker 1: 10:53

You know what I'm saying. Like you have to. If I'm verifying oh this is Jessica's account I have to look and see if it's your account and I just by chance see you know you got a hundred dollars or you got a hundred thousand dollars. You know what I'm saying. It's just there and you'll have little cues that if you see a certain amount of you know money or whatever, then you know it needs to go to your wealth management consultant or something like that so but what I love that you said that where I'm happy that I worked for a bank is that these, when you look like money, that didn't necessarily mean you had money.

Speaker 1: 11:32

That was that was the thing that blew my mind. And I was pretty young when I worked at the bank, so I assumed a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, I assumed these people never had money problems. And I was so wrong because the branch I worked for was within a and again, we're not saying names it was within a grocery store, so I would have people you know come in. It was an affluent community that I was in too so the employees of that grocery store would come and some of them would cash their checks or deposit their checks, and some of them would cash their checks or deposit their checks and they would have more money in their bank accounts than some of these people coming in with suits, briefcases, putting their Mercedes keys on the counter and they were broke.

Speaker 2: 12:29

Yes.

Speaker 1: 12:30

I want people to understand that Broke. They would be waiting for us before the bank opens and waiting hey, can I speak to the manager? Can I speak? Because they knew they had checks that needed to be cleared. And if you're at your local branch, you know what I'm talking about. Your local branch, they can push things through for customers before you know it might get bounced or whatever.

Speaker 1: 12:58

And it just blew me away and it was a great experience to see that firsthand. Like, oh, I don't, I don't have to impress anybody. You know one of the reasons. I have a 2006 Dodge Durango. You know what I'm saying. You know people see me. They probably say this dude is broke. As a joke 300,000 miles. I love it. It's my badge of honor. It still works. It still works. So you know, in the minute that it don't work, I'll get me something new and I'll ride that to the wheels. But great story, I'm happy you were able to see that firsthand too early in your career. So did you immediately transition to just to invest or did you work somewhere else after the bank?

Speaker 2: 13:47

Well, after I left banking, I went to a smaller investment firm. When I became a financial advisor, I was more so looking for a company that could truly put the client's needs first Right, and so oftentimes you will have the terminology of an advisor, but they only sell insurance, right, or they only sell a specific product, or they only sell a specific product. And that's just how the financial industry works is that you can be called an advisor but you can only sell a specific, you know product, like insurance, or you know, annuities. I didn't want to do that, because that's not something I wholeheartedly believe in. I do believe in life insurance, but I just didn't want it to be only, you know, in that particular sector. So I was looking for a place where I could have, you know, the opportunity to push anything to my client, right. But what happened was that when I was in that particular investment firm, I saw, you know, we had these, these companies, or these people who work with these mutual funds, or these people who would work with these mutual funds. They would take us out to dinner and they would try to, you know, smooth us or whatever, and say, hey, if you sell this particular mutual fund, we'll give you X amount of commission. And I just remember you know you can call me green or ignorant or whatever, I'm just I could not believe that this was going on because I just assumed that. You know, I knew that this exists because I worked with financial advisors in the past within banking, but I just assumed that, you know, we just did what's in the best interest of the client. I just, I just thought that everybody was doing that and that couldn't be further from the truth. And so I remember just taking a step back from that because I I couldn't, I could not in good conscience, try to sell these mutual funds knowing that the fees were astronomical, the expenses were just astronomical.

Speaker 2: 15:45

And you have these people who I mean. That's why I would say where do you go? Where do you go if you need any type of assistance, any help? You know, financial struggles and issues causes so many negative emotions like anxiety, depression. It's the number one cause of divorce. And so you have people who say, okay, well, I don't know, because I wasn't taught Financial education, is not taught in our schools, so I'm going to go either to a bank or I'm going to go to a financial advisor. And I would see these advisors who I worked with, who was selling the mutual funds and just to gain a commission, right, and they were horrible, horrible funds that basically were really high expense ratios and very, very expensive to pay for, when a client could have done everything on their own and been way better off.

Speaker 2: 16:31

And I always bring it back to the analogy of you know, you have these pharmaceutical sales reps right A lot of people may be familiar with that that push different medication to these doctors and say, hey, if you push this particular medication onto your patients, you know we'll give you a kickback or we'll give you some cash or commission from it.

Speaker 2: 16:50

And so these doctors will push this to their patients when that may not be in the best interest of the patient, y'all. The same thing is going on in the financial industry, and so you know, for a lot of us, again, we're not taught. We're in a financial crisis, a lot of people do not know. We're in a retirement crisis, and a lot of people just do not know that. And so me, being just a student, I'm always a lot of people just do not know that. And so me being just a student, I'm always a student of the game, right, I'm always looking at statistics, even my clients. Just, you know, a lot of people just think that you know I need to be doing better, because I'm looking at Susie or Sally or the Joneses over here and they look like you know they're dressed to the nines living in this house.

Speaker 1: 17:43

They have this car.

Speaker 2: 17:43

They have to be having it all together and news flash. And just let us make this very clear the joneses are broke, like the joneses are broke, but y'all don't know that and so it is. It is definitely just. I stepped away from that financial advisor role because I truly wanted to do my own thing and provide non-biased information and education, because, unfortunately, these places do not really exist like it should. You know, a lot of people are not acting with integrity. A lot of people are great people there's a lot of great advisors but they are only trained to do what their company or bank tells them to do, and that may be pushing a product or an investment that, more so, is just going to give the bank more of a bottom line, just push more and more revenue to the bank and not to the client. So that's exactly what happened within my journey and my career and starting just to invest.

Speaker 1: 18:31

Yeah, they profit off of consumer ignorance. Yes, so you know you talked about providing non-biased information. How do you maintain that commitment to your clients? What are some things that you do?

Speaker 2: 18:46

Yeah, so non-biased information is all what I stand behind, because, again, it's just not. It's uncommon, unfortunately, it's very uncommon for us to have be in a place or any industry that's providing non-biased information. And so how? I maintain that I'm truly not affiliated with any bank, any investment firm whatsoever, which means that I'm not. I don't have to push a particular product or service to you, right? I'm not. The only thing that I'm pushing to my clients is information, information to help you. I don't get any commission or anything to help to push anything that's going, that's not going to benefit you, and I love that about what I'm doing.

Speaker 2: 19:30

I'm very passionate about what I'm doing. I hope that others can just come on board and just do some of the same things, because if we do not and so I love your podcast we don't just try to use our efforts, our platforms, you know our businesses, our passion about what we're learning, the gap will only continue to become wider, and with inflation being extremely high, wider and with inflation being extremely high, I know, right, it's just a lot of people right now are struggling, they don't know where to turn right, and so I am committed to making sure that, not only that, I can provide non-biased information at my company, but more so that I am able to keep my costs low and just share with everybody just the rules of the game so you can play it to your advantage. That's what I'm all about just showing you the game. A lot of people don't even know that there is a game to be played, you know.

Speaker 1: 20:27

There's definitely a game and there's several games being played, absolutely Several. The biggest example of that is the stock market. That is, people. You got so much money floating around because everybody have their own agenda and here comes you know little Susie wanting to invest. You know money every month and they just can get snowballed. If a big institutional investor comes in and says, oh, I want to take some losses this year or I want to sell, I want to do this or whatever, the game is not on the even playing field. That's why you have to understand your game, have your strategy, how it fits in the overall economy, because it's a lot of things happening before your eyes For real.

Speaker 2: 21:12

It really is, it really is. And so, just like learning, learning more, you know, and that's why I said I'm always a student of the game, because the moment that you stop becoming a student of you know your industry, you could be left behind, right. And so finance is such a broad topic, right. So I know what you're doing and you're basically in real estate, investing and, just, you know, pushing out more information on your podcast. But I mean, it involves insurance, you know.

Speaker 2: 21:39

It involves investing, it involves savings, it involves, you know, all kinds of different things, and it's very important that we continue to learn, because you have these powerhouses of these huge companies not necessarily banks too. So you have, you know, if I go to a store just to go buy some clothes or to go buy something, they're going to push a credit card down my throat right here, say, there's 20% right now and you can get this credit if you apply for this credit card. And so it's just this ongoing system in place to really get the average American in debt, right, because if the average American is in debt, we are giving profits, we are giving revenue, cashflow to these companies and they're preying on our ignorance. So that's why it's so important just to just continuously just give information out as much as we can, especially for those who are passionate about it and those who are just looking just to truly help people. That is so important for us to do that.

Speaker 1: 23:03

Unfortunately, we probably won't reach everybody right, so what I try to do is make it really palatable and engaging for people. I know I'm not the most bubbly personality, but in your experience, when it comes to financial literacy, what are some things we can do and why is it important to have it be fun and engaging so people can actually grasp the information? Why is that important to have it be fun and engaging? So you know people can actually you know grasp the information. Why is that important to you?

Speaker 2: 23:32

Oh, man, that's so important One, because this talk we talked about the financial industry and what they're doing to make to keep us ignorant.

Speaker 2: 23:41

That's, if you guys just could understand exactly what they are trying to continue to keep confusing, right?

Speaker 2: 23:48

So the financial industry does a really great job in paying and lobbying to these politicians to keep some of the jargon confusing, right, to keep the financial terms confusing for people.

Speaker 2: 24:02

And so you have all of these people who have no clue any of the financial terms. They don't know how to nothing. They don't know anything about retirement, right? And you know, again, like I said it before, we're in a retirement crisis where, you know, a lot of people don't have anything saved for retirement and those who do have very little, especially when it comes to those of color. And so if we could just keep the information it's very important for me to keep the information engaging and entertaining, because I want to reach as many people as I can so that we can be on an even playing field, because the more that you know and the more that you learn about you know controlling your own finances, managing your money, that you just understand how to set yourself up for retirement, it's just going to be easier for you, right? And so a lot of people like to think that you know money isn't everything, and my God, I know money isn't everything, but it's a big part of our lives, right.

Speaker 1: 25:02

It is.

Speaker 2: 25:03

We work these jobs eight to 10 hour days, and a lot of us do not like the jobs that we're in, but we feel obligated to work the jobs simply because we have to maintain our lifestyle. We're making bad financial decisions and choices. A lot of us do not have pensions, right, and so because we don't have the pensions now, we are responsible for our own retirement, but without any financial education. So I don't blame anyone when they don't know about this information. However, it's just very important for me to try to capture as many people as I can and keep it engaging so that people will continue to want to learn about it Like their life. Depend on it, moses, because it does, it, does, it does, it does. So, yeah, that's very good.

Speaker 2: 25:50

It does Sure.

Speaker 1: 25:52

You know the retirement age keeps getting pushed out. Yes, you know, life expectancy hopefully keeps growing. You know, and you know you just got to ask yourself. You know, work your whole life and have this little blip of time that you're, you're retired, right, but your retirement is not one that you are, you're traveling or you're just enjoy yourself, you literally just living. You know, check to check, you know you are male to male, like that's not the type of life you want. So you're going to have to make some investments. You know you're going to have to get some core understanding of finances.

Speaker 1: 26:37

You spoke about inflation. Inflation is one of the easiest things to understand and it's just. People can feel it now Like inflation. You've heard it your whole life, where your grandparents would say this was a nickel when I was growing up or this was a dime, and that same thing is now $2, right, that's inflation, people. Yeah, the stuff that you see now, that's a few dollars, is going to be five, six, $7 when your grandkids are older. So you need to understand that money is growing at a rate that is typically two, three, four percent, right, but lately it's been sky high. So if you're not getting those returns back, you're actually losing money, right? It's simple as that you know. So you need to make sure your money is growing at a faster rate than inflation. Oh my God, if I can get everybody to understand that who's listening and watching then you're probably ahead of most people. Unfortunately, that's just what it is.

Speaker 2: 27:41

Absolutely. I mean, even from my perspective, right, and just dealing with these clients and you know, I've worked with different people of different backgrounds and those who you know make very little, to those who make executives who make a lot, right, and a common theme is that it is costing us a lot more money just to maintain our lifestyle than it did just a couple of years ago, right, and so the middle class is just being crushed. Right, and so the middle class is just being crushed. And that's why it's more important than ever, because we typically think that someone's going to come and save us, whether that's the government, maybe we may, you know, hit the lottery one day, you know, or something and we have to be responsible for our own financial success and freedom, and so we have to take matters into our own hands. And so that's all about just delivering the information and education, because I don't even want people to depend on me. I want to be able to give you the information and knowledge so that you can make your own financial decisions and choices, so that you can, true, you don't have to depend on anyone, right, and so it's just so important to just learn this stuff, because you know, regardless, we live in a society to where we have to have money in order to survive, right, and so, if that's the case and a lot of people have a goal of I want to be a millionaire, I want to, you know, do something with my money where I want to be able to, to, just, you know, go to the next level and have financial freedom or just leave this job because I'm not happy and I want to. I have always had a dream to do X, y and Z, whatever that is Like. Understand the rules to finance, you know, understand what the financial industry is doing. Take matters into your own hands so that you can move on and go, do, live the life that you truly desire, because that's what life is all about. You know, I would hate and that's the way how America is set up. The American dream, as you stated, is just working, working for corporate America. 30, 40 years. You have these people putting in this work to save for retirement Right, and then, shortly after you know, they realize that I only have a couple of years to you know, to live essentially. And then you know they sometimes they outlive their money right or sometimes they just so.

Speaker 2: 29:59

I want people to understand that, you know, let's switch it because you don't have to, you know, truly work your entire life and then retire, right, if you can gain some sense of financial freedom prior to retirement age of 60, 65, so that you can go on and do something that you truly love to do. Start now. Do not wait to the last minute to save. Do not wait to the last minute to save up for retirement, because we always think that we have this time. You know, and I have. Sometimes I have to have these tough conversations with clients in their you know, in their 60s and just have to let them know, you know, you just you're not ready to retire because you know you don't have enough saved up and so, having to, it's a lot easier to start earlier than to catch up later. And so it's just, it's just important, man, it's very important for us just to know and learn this financial knowledge, this terminology, the information that's out there, so that you can really get on with living your life. That's what life is all about.

Speaker 1: 31:49

Really agree. Yeah, what, how you know? You broke down a whole lot about financial education and why it's so important, and we're completely in line. How do you plan on evolving to meet the needs of your clients in the future, because things are going left and right in a variety of different areas. So I'm just curious to what you're doing to prepare for the evolving needs of your clients moving forward.

Speaker 2: 32:17

Yeah, great question.

Speaker 2: 32:18

So I mean, you know, with this whole tech and AI way, it's not going anywhere.

Speaker 2: 32:25

You know, as a business and as a person who has a mission, I want to be able to reach the masses.

Speaker 2: 32:31

I want to be able to truly reach as many people as I can, because I know that my service is good and I know that.

Speaker 2: 32:39

I know for sure that I can help a lot of people, and the knowledge is very simple, if I could be honest, it's just getting into the hands of people who are willing to learn it, and so what I'm looking to build right now is an app that's what I'm working on currently to where I can effectively build an algorithm to show you how to manage your money effectively. You know, you put a specific goal or task and that kind of shows you how to get there, and so I'm trying to evolve with the times because I know that that's where we're headed and that's where we're going, and I feel like it will help a lot of people. So, to answer your question, mostly technology is where I'm looking to go, making sure that it's a technology sound business and that people can have access to. You know, again, non-biased education information on an app instead of having to just reach out to me specifically having that tool on their own hands, on their phone, so that they can have that access there.

Speaker 1: 33:35

It's great. I mean, everything we do is on our phone now, so you know to have just to invest right in the palm of our hands. You know, with all these great money management tips and financial advice only makes sense. Is there any other initiatives, upcoming projects that you want to make us aware of?

Speaker 2: 33:55

Yeah, well, I did come up with a wealth planner. The wealth planner is essentially so. Each and every year I'm coming out with a wealth planner edition for that specific year, and so I just started it this year for 2024. And basically, what I'm looking to do is all for those who are not ready to hire a wealth coach like myself just showing you exactly what I do on paper, kind of, where you're able to, you know, write down how much income you have coming in, how much your expenses are.

Speaker 2: 34:25

So what I find with a lot of clients is that a lot of people are just unaware of that fact. They have no idea how much expenses are going out of their household every single month. And my motto really is treat your household finances like a business, because it is a business. So you have these companies right that they meet once a month, sometimes more than once a month. They have to and they have to say OK, how much money do we have coming in, how much money is going out? Right, they're trying to detail what their goals are. Are they making progress? Are they falling behind? If so, they come up with a plan, and so the wealth planner is basically just showing you how businesses manage their money and what I learned in my banking career so that you can truly understand how to do that on your own if you're not ready to use my services. But then again, what I'm doing as a wealth coach, as a subscriber base, I'm trying to keep my costs very low for my clients.

Speaker 2: 35:21

We meet once a month and we go over all of that information, right? So we're going over details about, okay, how much money did you have coming in, how much money actually went out If you have debt. We're looking at ways to how to you know eliminate that high interest debt and looking at ways of how to invest. We're looking at ways of how to you know looking at 401ks and your retirement plans to see what you're invested in, because oftentimes a lot of people don't even know what they're invested in. Right, and it's your money, so it is across the board amongst every single person I've ever worked with.

Speaker 2: 35:54

You know we are making strides when it comes to paying off debt, investing. You know they have a lot of peace of mind when it comes to their retirement, understanding what number they need to retire, and so it's just important just to keep on with these different projects for me with my clients, because I want to again keep people engaged my clients because I want to again keep people engaged but also just be there for people and just for those who really need it and really need help with their issues. Right, because, again, our lives y'all really depend on being able to understand the rules of this game and playing it to our advantage, because if we do not, we will definitely fall behind.

Speaker 1: 36:36

Don't be comfortable with living a life of being in debt. You know that's very they want to make that very normal, but it's not. And when you, when you, have debt, the thing that that happens is it limits your ability to actually grow a business, get funding because of that debt to income ratio. That's something people don't look at. So your debt to income ratio and your credit score, these are not things to be very passive about. These are things that could take you to the next level, to allow you to leave your job if you want to, or at least be work optional. You know like you can show up to work and be like I'm just going to enjoy this experience, but if things get too crazy, I'm out of here. You know what I'm saying. Like that's a great feeling.

Speaker 1: 37:26

You know where people hate their job. You noted that a moment ago. Yet they're the first ones very uncomfortable when there's layoffs happening and that's a reflection of your financial status. Not, oh, I love this job, what I'm going to do, Because if you love the job, you would come to work every day with a better attitude. So it's not the job, it's your finances that you're concerned about. So get in front of it Live below your means. Tackle your debt. You even said and again, having a strategy on how to pay your debt, tackling the high interest debt first. Right, so I really appreciate you. You know jumping on the show giving us great advice. What are your final pieces of advice, or what you want to leave the audience with about you and your business? So close us out with that, and then also let us know how we can reach you, your website, your social media. So the floor is yours, Thank you.

Speaker 2: 38:30

Yeah, thank you so much, moses. So one piece of advice I want to just give to everyone and anyone is that a key misconception that we continuously have in our community is that you need a lot of money to invest Right, and so I want to leave you with this advice, if I can make this very clear you do not need a lot of money to invest Right. So there are, you know, different financial institutions and banks that will allow you to do fractional shares, and that basically means that if there is a stock that costs $100, you, if you only had $20 a month, their stock goes down, your money can go down as well. But we have to get more in tune and financially sound by investing because, as I said it before, banks are business first. So oftentimes we get the advice from our parents and grandparents to save your money. Save your money, and while that's great advice, we're thankful for the advice right. However, banks are not in the business of making you wealthy. Advice right. However, banks are not in the business of making you wealthy. So in order for us, as we stated before, to stay ahead of inflation, in order for us to truly become wealthy and financially independent, we have to invest right, and so get your feet with investing, learn more about it, become knowledgeable at it. It's very important that you do that because the rate of how inflation is going, it's just very important for us to make sure that we can definitely be on top and to truly just live our lives the way that we intended to do.

Speaker 2: 40:09

You can find me, jess to invest, on my Instagram. It's Jess2Invest. I also have a website, wwwjess22investcom, offering wealth coaching services every single month for my clients. We're paying off debt, we're investing, we're preparing for retirement, we are doing the work necessary so that we can become financially independent and financially free, and so I absolutely just. You know, this is such a passion of mine. I'm so thankful for this opportunity just to be on your platform and just providing information and knowledge to people, because it truly matters. So thank you so much, moses, for this.

Speaker 1: 40:47

It does and I really appreciate it, and I'm sure the audience will as well. So thank you so much, jessica.