By Reynaldo Mena
In a previous interview, Eva MacÃas, an advisor at her company, Eva Macias & Associates Financial & Insurance Services, shared the situation she found herself in at one point in her life when she neglected the management of her money.
When she started working, she entered the real estate field. It was around 2008, and she had the opportunity to acquire two houses. She also experienced the danger of losing them and her car due to the economic downturn caused by the mortgage crisis. After that, she decided that her experience could help many people, and she decided to open her consulting business, where she seeks to help Latina women, primarily, manage their finances, as we discussed in that interview.
Eva MacÃas learned that earning money is a privilege, but also taking care of it and knowing how to invest it.
During that conversation, we talked about the importance of couples not hiding their financial situation but rather discussing it.
“After that bad experience in my youth, I was very careful with the management of my money. I didn’t talk to anyone about it or share what I had in terms of assets,” she commented.
However, the time came to take the next step, getting married. The right person had come along, and she knew that for a relationship to work, there should be no secrets.
“It wasn’t easy, but I was convinced that I had found the partner of my life. So one day, I proposed that we sit down and share information about what we both had and how we would manage it. I am convinced, as the saying goes, ‘cuentas claras, amistadeslargas,'” says this finance professional.
This is one of the pieces of advice she has for her clients. It’s not good to keep information to yourself; instead, talk about it, and if there’s a problem, see if it can be solved.
“We can all have problems. In my profession, I’ve seen everything, educated people, professionals, doctors, lawyers, coming in with the same problems as everyone else. They neglected the management of their income and had no plan,” Eva Macias says.
“It’s better to talk about it. Many times, we fear difficult situations without realizing that we make the problem even bigger,” she adds.
Since having that conversation with her now-husband, Eva mentions that they have a tradition of gathering at the end of the year to discuss what they did, what they achieved, what was left pending, their successes, and mistakes. From there, they make a plan that they work on for the following year.
“We have to have a plan. If we want to take a trip next year, we have to see how we will gather the money to do it. Everything is based on planning and execution. It’s super important for marriages. We have to answer many questions: what do we want to do, until when do we want to work, the children will leave, what kind of life do we want, what are we looking for… We have to have those conversations,” says Eva.
In addition to that annual meeting, they have a monthly one to plan their finances.
“The simpler your expenses are, the easier they are to manage, and above all, be consistent. I would like people to check their expenses once a week. How much came in, how much went out. In my experience, I have seen that many divorces are due to financial problems,” says Eva.
Sometimes her discipline is so strong that she confesses that many days she can’t resist the temptation to check how her accounts are doing in the morning.
“One has to be sure, we question ourselves, and we can’t help it,” says MacÃas, laughing.
