Money Memories Goes Multilingual!

Last week, I did something I had never done before.

I recorded my first Money Memories episode in Spanish.

I had this idea ever since launching the podcast in 2020 to make it a multi-lingual show. However fear, proscrastination, and a healthy dose of imposter syndrome always got in my way. When I recorded with Ximena Aleman, co-founder of Prometeo, I saw the perfect opportunity and pitched a Spanish episode—her team agreed. The night before, doubt crept in, but I prepared by translating key questions. From the moment I said “Bienvenida,” the conversation took on a new depth, revealing more of Ximena as a founder, a woman, and an Uruguayan. I’m thrilled to share this episode with my Spanish-speaking audience—stay tuned for the air date!

📝 My Latest Written Pieces: The New Female Consumer

As a reminder, I highlighted how fintechs can use design to attract more female consumers and shone a spotlight on global fintechs that are successfully closing the gender wealth gap for my latest Forbes pieces.

If there are topics that you’d like me to cove, please share!

🎙️ On the Podcast: Lessons on Resilience

• Latest Episode: I spoke with Ehis Akhetuamhen, who shared his incredible story of persevering against all odds to come to college in my home state of Kentucky and build a successful career in finance. Listen the full episode here.

• Upcoming: This week’s episode of Money Memories will air on March 26. I’ll be speaking with the Student Loan Sherpa himself, Michael Lux, and he’s going to share some amazing tips for anyone navigating the complicated student loan landscape. Be sure to download the podcast on your streaming platform of choice to never miss a new episode.

💡 Stat of the Week: Student Loans

This week’s Money Memories topic is student loans. My expert guest, Michael Lux, breaks down some of his tips in this week’s episode, and one of his key pieces of advice is don’t be ashamed. So in this spirit, I thought I’d share my personal story, because I think the hardest part about navigating student loans is how lonely you feel.

It always surprises how, for being such an omnipresent component of most Americans’ finances, how little is discussed in terms of practical tips and strategy. I mean, take a look at this graphic from the WSJ:

The levels of student loan debt in the United States is equal to the GPDs of several nations. I remember when I was taking out my student loans for graduate school, I felt like I was in some weird purgatory. On the one hand, I felt like the hardest part was over. I had gotten accepted into my dream MBA program, my top choice, after taking the GMAT seven (yes 7) times. After what felt like a herculean effort, I thought the hardest part was over.

It was not.

Suddenly I faced the reality of having to pay for my hard-fought education. I was very lucky to have my parents pay for my undergraduate education (thank you so much mom and dad). As a result, graduate school was the first time I was really involved with the process.

When I saw how much my tuition was going to be, I felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I started researching my student loan options, and felt like I was navigating a murky swamp. I felt embarrassed to ask for help. Here I was, a Wharton graduate, not knowing the ins and outs of student loans. Thankfully, I knew enough to be “dangerous.” I was able to qualify for federal loans, and since you don’t have to pay those off until you graduate, I thought this was my best bet.

Here’s three things I wish I knew at the time:

✅ Make a realistic budget – Once you’re approved for a student loan, you quickly go from “how will I pay for this” to “wow I can just pick a number, any number?” It can be so hard to predict how much money you will actually need to draw down, since loans can cover more than just tuition. I hedged and took out a little bit more than I thought I needed for emergencies. It turns out, I probably took out too much. Now that I have refinanced my loans, I look back on my expenses and think “I definitely could’ve taken out maybe 70% of this total.” So when you’re planning for your school expenses, I recommend you make a budget, check it twice, and check it a third time. See where you can carve out more savings - a few thousand today can mean tens of thousands in interest later.

✅ Keep Asking Questions – I refinanced my federal student loan with Earnest about a year after I finished my graduate school program, to lock in a lower interest rate. After a few years of paying off my loans, I noticed that in my monthly Earnest statements, the amount they indicated I had to pay monthly was lower. Confused, I called Earnest. I explained that I had been paying a certain amount via auto-pay, and wanted to understand why my payments suddenly decreased. Their explanation? “Oh, we extended your loan repayment timeline.” I was confounded. I had made a larger lump sum payment with a bonus a few months ago, in order to expedite my payment timeline. How could Earnest just assume that this lump sum didn’t affect my timeline? I informed them that no, I was not trying to extend my timeline, and that I wanted to re-set my auto-pay to the previous amount. They agreed. Moral of the story? No one cares about your money more than you, and don’t assume that even an institution automatically will apply the rules correctly. Always ask.

✅ Repayment Isn’t Cut and Dry – As a personal finance content creator, I see a lot of content around debt. Some people treat this as cut and dry, i.e. all debt is evil and will ruin you financially. The current interest rate on my loan is just south of 5%. I believe that the annualized return on the S&P 500 is around 8% (correct me if I’m wrong). My debt pay down is really easy - if I I have extra money, I don’t apply it to my loan. I invest it into index funds, since I can earn a greater rate of return. This infuriates my dad, who has the view that debt needs to be eradicated pero ayer (yesterday, for my non-Spanish speakers). You have to do what works for you.

🔗 Other Interesting Reads & Listens

📌 Home Depot Contends With Higher-For-Longer Interest Rate Era - What can the Home Depot parking lot tell us about future of the economy? A lot, as it turns out.
📌 Ferrari Admit Genuine Error After Hamilton and Leclerc Disqualified – Lewis Hamilton is one of my dream guests for Money Memories so yes, I am distraught at the state of his start with Ferrari. But not surprised.

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Until next time,

Ilona