In the first few minutes of talking to Lis, It was evident that she epitomizes the concept of girl boss! She is currently a criminology student (working on becoming a future lawyer) and is also a financial advisor who primarily focuses on helping students understand their finances and loans.
What demographic do you mostly work with?
I’m usually helping students. Since I’m in school, I have found that a lot of students don’t know what to do when it comes to their finances. Just because for so long we’ve been institutionalized school, our parents take care of our basic needs for most of them or even like international students a lot to them when they come, it’s like, what’s my need? What’s a credit card? And then they just lack knowledge. So I focus more on educating the students around me, the knowledge that I have because I see the difference in my life.
What are some misconceptions people have about money?
What I found is that a lot of people want to save money and grow money, But they have a very “now” mentality instead of in 10 years or in five years. The thing about money is, just give you an example, if you want it to go on a trip today, you have to start planning months in advance. So, I definitely think it’s just a misunderstanding of how money works and the idea that people are scared of money, especially loans.
I think [the fear] is mainly caused by a lack of information, which is not necessarily their fault. In school, they don’t really teach you about finances. At home, Few parents do just because they may not understand it as well. So it’s really up to our generation to really seek out that information for themselves, which is why I like the work I’m doing because it’s more focused on the education aspect of finances.
What’s your advice on investing?
A lot of young people want to go into investing. But the thing about investing is that it’s so broad. You can invest in anything, but to start, you have to know your risk levels and what kind of investor you are. Some people are comfortable with investing in a company and knowing that they can either earn 25% in interest or lose 15% in interest. For others, that’s a very scary prospect and they just want financial security. when it comes to investing in stocks, you have to know that just because you have $500 right now, doesn’t mean you’re ready to go into stocks because the more you invest, the greater your return but also the greater your loss.
So again, once you know your risk level, and what you’re able to manage in terms of loss, then you have to shop around to see what stocks, and what company you are going to invest in.
Other ways to invest
There are other ways to invest. one of which is a life insurance policy that you can invest in. It has a greater interest than saving that a bank and people don’t know that. People usually think, well, life insurance is to cover me when I’m dead so I don’t need it. however, something like universal life insurance that has the coverage side and a savings side is ideal. The savings side grows 6% every month, which is amazing and it’s tax-protected.
you can also invest through segregated funds that also have the same protection as a life insurance policy and it’s with a TFSA. So you’d have a TSA tax free savings account where you’re saving into it. This one just gives you more room in terms of let’s say your savings for a car or home
How can people start their financial journeys?
- Get a great financial advisor: that means getting someone that will care for you, listen to you and give you the best solution for your financial needs
- Choose books over banks: we tend to think that banks have all the ideas and answers but so do book some of my recommendations will be Rich Dad Poor Dad or Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Get yourself a mentor: someone that will guide you on your journey I will give you pointers I hope you achieve your goals
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