The Financial Roadmap I Didn’t Know I Was Missing

I’m a Strategic Finance professional at a billion-dollar tech company. I spend my days helping the business understand its financial position, plan for the future, evaluate tradeoffs and make informed decisions. I’m proud of the expertise I’ve developed and the seat I have at the table. Over the years, I’ve built a career and financial stability I once couldn’t have imagined.

But I didn’t start here.

I started working at 14, earning $7.50 an hour. That paycheck didn’t go toward beauty products or having fun with friends, as you might expect for a young girl that age. Instead, it went toward my school supplies, uniform and savings. I grew up understanding the value of working hard and saving money for essentials and a rainy day.

That mindset served me well. But as I got older, I realized there were important financial concepts I had simply never been exposed to. I didn't grow up learning about investing in the stock market, retirement accounts or how to make my money work for me. I watched my parents build wealth through real estate, so I understood the value of owning property. But investing through a brokerage account or contributing to a 401(k) was a different world.

And when I started realizing how much I didn’t know, I felt behind.

There was an uncomfortable period of wondering: How did everyone else know this? Was I supposed to have learned this somewhere? What else don’t I know? I wasn’t financially irresponsible. In fact, I had spent years doing what I thought I was supposed to do. I just hadn’t been exposed to the full picture.

It wasn’t until 2017 that someone who became an important mentor in my life introduced me to a different way of thinking about money. A conversation about my savings and student loans opened the door to concepts I had never seriously considered. I opened my first brokerage account, opened a higher-yield savings account and started thinking differently about my debt. Within a few years, I had paid off my student and car loans and grown my savings enough to put toward the down payment on my first home.

I remember feeling proud that I was finally building financial freedom, but also a little surprised. None of those financial strategies were particularly complicated. What was transformative was knowing they were options in the first place.

That realization changed how I think about financial literacy. Sometimes the gap isn't a lack of discipline, ambition or financial responsibility. It’s exposure.

You can understand the importance of earning a paycheck without knowing how to evaluate the full value of compensation, retirement benefits or equity. You can be a diligent saver without knowing how investing works. You can understand the value of homeownership without realizing there are other ways to build wealth, too.

I don't think first-generation professionals should be defined by what we didn't know. Many of us develop the ability to learn quickly, seek out information and navigate unfamiliar systems because we had to. That resourcefulness has made me better at my career, too. I’m comfortable asking questions, learning quickly and navigating ambiguity when there isn't an obvious roadmap.

But I also don't think we should romanticize having to figure everything out alone.

If we had to build the roadmap ourselves, we should be the generation that makes it easier for those who come after us. That means sharing the financial lessons we’ve learned, creating spaces where questions are welcomed and making the unwritten rules a little less unwritten.

That’s one of the things I value about Latinx MBA. As a Board member, I have the opportunity to help bring Latino professionals together from across the country and create a space where we can openly exchange experiences, ask questions and learn from one another. Whether someone is learning the basics of a 401(k), navigating their first management role or building a career in a new industry, there is value in having a community where you can ask without judgment and learn from someone who has been there before.

Because sometimes, the most valuable thing someone can give you isn't money. It’s exposure to a possibility you didn't know existed.

Maybe being behind isn't the right way to describe starting without the same information or access. The real opportunity is to make sure the next generation inherits more than our resilience and work ethic. They should inherit the roadmap, too.