She Got Divorced for $500. Here's How She Protected Her Wealth

Love is beautiful. But love is not a financial plan. What happens when you're the breadwinner in your marriage? When your aging parents haven't saved enough for retirement? Or when protecting your financial future means having some pretty uncomfortable conversations with the people you love most? This week, I'm joined by Jannese Torres, creator and host of Yo Quiero Dinero, author of Financially Lit, entrepreneur, and one of my favorite voices on women's financial independence. Jannese is no stranger to challenging traditional expectations around money and relationships. She's the breadwinner in her marriage, runs a real estate business with her husband, and is a passionate advocate for prenups and financial boundaries. She's also navigating something many of us in midlife can relate to: the growing realization that our parents may be counting on us for financial support. We get into the messy intersection of love, money, marriage, and family obligations, including Jannese's remarkable experience of getting divorced for just $500, thanks in part to financial protections she put in place. And we explore what it really means to build generational wealth. Spoiler: Sometimes the greatest financial gift you can give your children is making sure they'll never have to support you. In this episode, we discuss: Why love isn't enough: The financial conversations every couple should have, especially when one partner earns significantly more. The case for prenups and postnups: How Jannese protected her investments and business during divorce, and why these agreements aren't just for the wealthy. Being the female breadwinner: How to navigate traditional gender expectations and build an equitable partnership. Working with your spouse: What Jannese learned about trust, money, and stepping back while investing in a house-flipping business with her husband. When your parents have no retirement plan: How to set financial boundaries without abandoning the people you love. Raising financially independent kids: Why funding your own retirement may be more important than paying for every dollar of your child's college education. Redefining generational wealth: The lessons, examples, and financial confidence we pass down matter just as much as the money. A powerful takeaway from Jannese: "The most generous form of wealth that you can give your kid is a financially independent parent." More about Jannese Torres Jannese is the founder of Yo Quiero Dinero, a personal finance platform dedicated to helping women build wealth and achieve financial independence. She's the author of Financially Lit and is working to bring a new financial empowerment conference to Puerto Rico in 2027, creating space for women, especially first-generation wealth builders, to have honest conversations about money and opportunity. Follow Janesse: IG @yoquierodineropodcast http://www.instagram.com/yoquierodineropodcast | https://yoquierodineropodcast.com Learn more about her fundraiser for DiversiFI https://yoquierodineropodcast.com/diversifi/, a financial freedom conference created for Latinas and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, to Puerto Rico in fall 2027. ****** This episode of So Money includes a paid partnership with Google Workspace with Gemini. Farnoosh takes us behind the scenes of how an episode goes from an initial idea to a conversation ready for the mic. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini and try it free for 14 days at https://goo.gle/workspacewithgemini. How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey https://www.jotform.com/build/262556781257063 and help shape the podcast in 2027. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• 1:34Speaker 06

  Welcome back to So Money, everybody. We're talking about how love is not a financial plan today with one of my favorites, Janice Torres. She is a friend and one of the voices that I trust most when it comes to women and entrepreneurship and just building wealth on your own terms, you know? Can we get some of that? Janice Torres is the creator and host of Yo Quiero Dinero. She's the author of financially lit and incredible book and a coach who helps women find financial independence by working for themselves. So here's what we're going to dig into today because we can go into a lot of directions with Janice, and we will. We spend so much time on the money moves, right? The business, the investments, the real estate. We don't talk nearly enough about the people sitting next to us while

• 2:18Speaker 06

  we make them, like our partners, our spouses, who may end up becoming business partners, the relatives who see you as the bank account, the ATM, and the kids we're building it all for. Love is beautiful. It is not a financial plan. Janice has strong notes on this and receipts. She and her husband are flipping houses together. She is the breadwinner in her marriage, which hello, yes, I'm in that club. I wrote a whole book about it. And she's one of the best voices telling women to sign the prenup. We're going to get into a lot of things, plus the big thing she's building next for women, which I have contributed to, and I would encourage all of you to as well. Janice, my friend, welcome to So Money.

• 2:58Speaker 07

  It's such an honor to be here again. I always like to remind you that you are such a pinnacle part of the reason why I hopped on the mic. So just want to give you your flowers and just continue to encourage you to show up in this space because it's so important and we're so grateful for what you do.

• 3:15Speaker 06

  Thank you. Thank you, thank you. And mutual admiration society here. I am so impressed with everything you have built. I love your story. I love the stories that you continue to share, one of which is, you know, your story about building your own business, leaving the kind of all the expectations, right? The expectations that you were going to use your college degree for a corporate gig and like retire with a watch. And you kind of just burned it all down in like the most beautiful way. And out of the ashes rose a phoenix called Yo Quiero Dinero. When did you realize the hardest money conversations

• 3:56Speaker 06

  weren't with, you know, your clients, your colleagues, or lenders, as they may be, you know, sometimes financial institutions, but with the people in your own life at your kitchen table? Because I think we tell women to bet on themselves constantly, but it's these conversations at home that kind of hold us back.

• 4:15Speaker 07

  Yeah, you know, it's funny because I consider myself in general, just a very confident person when it comes to money decisions. But there's something about roping people into those decisions, whether, you know, they invite themselves in or you invite them. That definitely reminds me, I still have work to do around my money mindset, around my ability to advocate for myself. And so those conversations as of late have been multifaceted. One of them is conversations I've been having with my parents, who are

• 4:53Speaker 07

  now solidly in their mid 60s and facing retirement very soon. And just like how the roles are reversed in those situations, oftentimes where you start feeling more like the parent when you realize like, maybe my parents don't know as much as I was hoping that they would as adults about what's going on with their money. So that's been an interesting dichotomy, like the parentification of, you know, the eldest daughter is a very common thing in our culture. And it's a glaring, living, you know, reality that I'm currently experiencing. And then going into business with my husband has brought out how different we think about

• 5:33Speaker 07

  money, too, how differently we think about risk and reward. So yeah, money is complicated, but I think when you mix love, relationships, people you care about into it, it just adds a whole other dynamic, which I would argue is like the hardest part of the whole thing, is just navigating it and hoping that everyone gets out relatively unscathed.

• 5:55Speaker 06

  Yeah. My mom just texted me today and she was like, thank you for that podcast you did with Senator Andy Kim. It ran a couple of days ago on taking care of aging parents. And sometimes I find that, you know, a podcast, or a book, or an article, or a family member that's a little maybe, you know, distant, that you can talk about, kind of like, did you hear what happened? Did you hear what happened? And it can prompt important conversations because it is something really difficult to approach with your family, your parents, who may not see you necessarily as like their financial equals, or even people, a daughter who knows more. So, so, you know, I want to talk a lot about these conversations that

• 6:40Speaker 06

  we need to be having. When you were growing up, though, what was sort of the recurring dialogue about money in your household that as an adult, as the breadwinner, as an entrepreneur, it shows up and you know, like, sometimes you listen to it, sometimes you don't? What were some of the recurring conversations growing up in the, in your household as a kid?

• 7:02Speaker 07

  Yeah, it was very traditional from like the patriarchal sense where the woman controls like the day to day financial operations of the household. So like the groceries and, you know, back to school shopping and things like that. But the major money decisions were left to the men, right? So in my father, in that case, anything involving like homeownership, you know, investments, insurance, the grown up people stuff. Even today, I talked to my mom about opening an IRA and like investing in that besides her 401k at work. And she's like, well, talk to your father. Like he'll set it up. And I'm just like, Mom, I will

• 7:45Speaker 07

  literally walk you, oh, sorry. I'm like, Mom, I will literally walk you through this step by step. And she's just like, just talk to your father. So I very much grew up in a household where the men were the trusted decision makers when it came to money. And I've seen that also with like cousins of mine. I think of a particular situation where my aunt, who's older than my parents by like a decade, so she's been retired for some time now. And when her husband passed away unexpectedly during the pandemic, all of the financial stuff that came out of the closet, where there were insurance policies that were canceled and she didn't know.

• 8:23Speaker 06

  Exactly.

• 8:23Speaker 07

  And there was a lack of understanding around his pension and what she was entitled to and how social security changes when you become a widow. And it was just like, oh, this is what it looks like to not know what the heck's going on with your finances. I want no part of this. So I've definitely run things completely oppositely in my own household, because I just saw firsthand what that lack of financial autonomy can do in a real way.

• 8:51Speaker 06

  Yeah, we've all had that aunt, unfortunately.

• 8:57Speaker 06

  So let's fast forward to your marriage because speaking of not doing things the way your parents did, you're the breadwinner in your marriage, you're running a business with your husband.

• 9:04Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 9:05Speaker 06

  You have a prenup, you encourage it. Talk a little bit about first just the dynamics of being the breadwinner and how that initial conversation, I'm sure, because this wasn't like something that just happened when you got married. This was who you were from the get go, out of the gate on date one.

• 9:20Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 9:21Speaker 06

  How did, were you nervous about bringing that up?

• 9:25Speaker 07

  You know, luckily, I find that I have married a unicorn of a man. And when I talk to high achieving women who are successful financially, I notice that the overwhelming sense of like, I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life is common when you ask them about like dating, dating men in particular. And I've found that it takes a radically confident man to be with a woman like myself, who is financially successful and just literally in a relationship for pure desire, not because I need them. You know, there's just like a different energy that you come at a relationship with when

• 10:08Speaker 07

  it's a want, not a need. And so I very much appreciate the fact that my husband also comes from a household where that progressive mindset was just common. So his dad is an entrepreneur, built his business from the ground up, like bootstrapped it. And now he's become very financially successful, but he also was raised by his father, who was a single dad for a lot of his youth. So I think he saw the aspect of just like being a confident man regardless of your financial situation, because they were poor at one time and then, you know, they worked their way up to success.

• 10:48Speaker 07

  And he also saw his stepmom be super involved in the business and building that aspect too. So I think he just saw what partnership looked like. And so he's brought that same level of energy to our relationship, which I'm again, super grateful for. It's not so common as a Latina to be in the position that I am as a breadwinner. You know, I talked to a lot of women who, and even when you came to the conference that I held a couple of years ago in Puerto Rico, we talked about what it is to be a breadwinning woman. And there was so much angst in the room around like how you bring up these conversations, how you talk about money to your partner. And it is a very delicate topic, right?

• 11:27Speaker 07

  Because our society has given us these traditional gender roles and the men are taught they're supposed to be the providers and they're supposed to be the ones to go out and get the bacon, blah, blah, blah. But we see more and more that women in general are achieving higher levels of education, are achieving higher levels of success in their careers, were making up for lost time. And I saw a recent statistical study that's showing that women just in general are becoming more often breadwinners in their relationships, especially women of color. So I think it's, it's a trend that's going to continue to, you know, grow. And I think it's going to force a lot of people to have hard conversations about what

• 12:11Speaker 07

  their expectations are in a cisgendered relationship and what the role is of just like marriage in general, because for so long it was a sense of financial security for women. And now it's like, it's not that anymore. There's, there's way more complex reasons to get married now, not just for somebody to take care of you.

• 12:32Speaker 06

  I don't know if it's just my feed, probably, but I feel like I'm getting a lot of, you know, reels and, you know, article clippings about like how a man is on a plan and, you know, if you're waiting for a guy to make you happy, if you're waiting for a guy to solve all your dreams, I hate to take it, I hate to tell you, like, that's not what's going to happen. You have to find the happiness from within. And you, you said something about your husband, which is that he was a very confident person. I think that's definitely a sign of somebody who can embrace a woman who is financially whole and, and cares about money and all the things.

• 13:17Speaker 06

  I would also add to that, that it's a man who is at peace with who he is, like he is not in competition with you. And I think also maybe grew up with a really clear idea of like, that a man, a father, is not just somebody who goes to work and comes home and writes checks, right? And I think that's what your husband had. He had a very involved father.

• 13:41Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 13:42Speaker 06

  In more ways than one. And I think that is not a small thing, especially when these men marry the breadwinners and they have children.

• 13:48Speaker 07

  Absolutely. I totally agree. And it's one of those scenarios too, where I notice it is a generational shift that we're seeing too. It's, you're way more likely to find those men in the millennial and after generation versus like people from my father's generation where they were very much programmed in the typical like patriarchal structure. So, you know, shout out to the millennial men who are getting therapy, who are making cycles, like we applaud you and we're so grateful for you. And hopefully this is just like a rising tide that will shift the way that men and women interact in our society going forward. Because the whole point for me of marriage is partnership. And there are strengths and weaknesses that you both bring to the table and it really

• 14:33Speaker 07

  shouldn't matter who has those strengths or weaknesses, as long as they're being used for like the collective good of the family.

• 14:39Speaker 06

  Well, this transitions us well to talking about how you both run your business together. And I would love to learn like how you decided on the roles, how you work through conflict, and how it maybe relates back to the prenup that you signed before you got married.

• 14:58Speaker 07

  Yeah. So full disclosure, when we signed our prenup, I was not necessarily planning on going into business with my husband, but he is an entrepreneur genetically, you know, it's just programmed into his family lineage. They're actually, he's like a probably third generation at this point. And so when we were thinking about how to partner up and again, utilizing those strengths, my husband is very handy. He comes from a family that like grew up using power tools and building all the things. So I've always looked at those skills and been like, there's something very valuable here that we should tap into. And so after I made some changes to my own like real estate portfolio holdings, I had

• 15:43Speaker 07

  some money that I'm like, I want to do something with this, but not necessarily just the traditional let's buy a rental property or something like that. And so we started talking about the potential of doing a fix and flip. And it made a lot of sense because I, as the breadwinner, have money to invest, but I don't have the skillsets that would be valuable in that type of business. So that's how we initially started thinking about working together. And one of the things I've realized too, in this journey, because it has been evolving, is that I am a little too involved. And for the good of the business and the relationship, I have learned how to have a

• 16:26Speaker 07

  different level of trust, have sort of a more hands off approach. I'm going to trust you with this investment, you're going to do your thing. And less is more for me as far as like what's going on. I was trying to be too involved in the beginning and it was causing conflict as far as like the vision, the plan, the timeline, the schedule. And we had to have like very frank conversations of just like, Janice, you have a lot of stuff going on. You are running multiple businesses. This is just another thing that's going to take time off of your plate. Maybe you just treat this like you are a venture capitalist and you're putting some money in the company and you're expecting a return.

• 17:07Speaker 07

  Keep me updated with quarterly reports and like, that's the extent of your involvement with this. And I, at first I was a little resistant because I'm just like, dude, I'm putting up a bunch of money to buy this house. But I did realize like, after a while, this is probably the better approach for my mental health and just to foster that level of trust that is required to have a successful business partnership.

• 17:32Speaker 06

  With, with routine check-ins, right?

• 17:34Speaker 07

  For sure. Yeah. I mean, we're doing monthly check-ins with the budget. He keeps me posted on, you know, delays or cost overruns or things that would happen in a project. But like, do I need to know the names of the HVAC companies that you're currently interviewing? No, I just really do not need that level of involvement.

• 17:53Speaker 06

  Agreed.

• 17:54Speaker 07

  And so it's been, it's been good for us to just test this new dynamic that the relationship is operating in.

• 18:01Speaker 06

  Well, it's so fascinating you bring that up because I think that there's, there's been this kind of wave of couples and it maybe goes back 15, 15 years, I'd say. I remember, because I have these friends that are of different generations and my friend who's ahead of me, like by 10 years, she would say to me like, oh my God, my sister who's younger is getting married and they just want to co-pilot everything. And it's so inefficient, you know, it's like that's their, they think that equality in the marriage is doing everything 50 50. And it's not. I mean, there's this great book on, I think it's called the 80 20 marriage or something where it's just kind of like, or I forget, there's this great book on this topic where it's like, no, marriage, being equal partners doesn't mean everyone splits everything down

• 18:45Speaker 06

  the middle in terms of tasks and, you know, baiting the kid together, you know, well, you did a diaper five minutes ago, I'm going to do a diaper now. Like, it's just about radical generosity. If you can come to the relationship, like with your sleeves up, rolled up, like ready to get in there and conscious, right, of what the other partner is, has been doing and, and as, and as an individual in the relationship, you know, explaining maybe all the quiet things that you've been doing.

• 19:12Speaker 07

  Yeah.

• 19:13Speaker 06

  That at the end of the day, like it's about every person feeling supported. My, my, my line is at the end of the day, my husband and I are both equally exhausted. So I know that like, we are both spent, so we've all, we've given all that we had all day.

• 19:29Speaker 07

  Yeah, for sure.

• 19:30Speaker 06

  With the prenup. It's funny, I was just talking to a woman at the gym about postnups. She's like, get a postnup, you gotta get a postnup. But let's start with the prenup. What is, what is the reason you are such a big advocate for this? And what are the must haves in a prenup?

• 19:48Speaker 07

  Yeah. So first off, I think it's not a secret that people are waiting longer to get married, which just increases your chances of building some sort of wealth before you walk into a relationship versus my parents' generation. Like, my parents were married by 21. I was just like, I can't even wrap my head around the idea of being 21 years old and married and having that level of responsibility. So we're just coming into relationships with investments, potentially a rental property, things like that. And so I think it's important to put some, you know, protection in place before you decide to join into a relationship.

• 20:30Speaker 07

  And then I think we have to be cognizant of the fact of what we've been talking about, breadwinning women. It's just an increasingly common occurrence. And, you know, oftentimes I think people think of prenups like the old school stereotype where it's like some rich man marries like a 20 something year old. He's like 65 and he's protecting himself from, you know, this gold diggers situation. And that's not the reality of things. I think folks just have to realize like you're more than likely, especially if you're getting married after the age of 30, to have some assets under your name that are, you know, worthy of being protected. And I think also, when we consider things like inheritance, we're in a cusp of time

• 21:13Speaker 07

  where they're saying there's going to be like a huge wealth transfer from boomers to millennials. And so if there's things that you are potentially inheriting from your family, like a home or assets, you also want control over those things because that is also affected by marriage. So I think it's like a no brainer, especially when we think about the fintech apps that have popped up as of late, things like Hello Prenup, for example. It's easier than ever, it's more accessible than ever to get a legally binding document, regardless of the state that you live in. And I've personally experienced divorce, so I know what it looks like to not have that protection in place because I've seen it through my friends who've experienced it.

• 21:56Speaker 07

  And then my own personal story where I actually did have a postnup that I created about maybe like eight years into the marriage. And it saved me from losing half the value of my investments, my business. I paid $500 to get divorced versus I know friends who've lost multiple six figures in alimony and business valuation. Like, the, the financial consequences can be the difference between, you know, you surviving a divorce or you having to move back in with mom and dad and start over.

• 22:28Speaker 06

  This episode of So Money is sponsored by Google Workspace with Gemini. You know, because I've been telling you constantly that I'm in the middle of a pretty big project at the moment. I am reinventing So Money for 2027. After almost 12 years of doing this podcast, I'm giving it a new focus on midlife with a capital M. That includes all the money, career, and life decisions that get very complicated as we get older. And I am so excited about it and I'm also terrified, you know, realizing just how much goes into reinvention, refreshing something that you've been doing for over a decade. I have ideas in all the places. Episode ideas, guest wish lists, audience feedback, notes from meetings, website updates, a running list of things that I need to do yesterday.

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  And every time I cross something off that list, I swear there are like 13 more things that pop up. So, deep breath. I've been using Google Workspace to keep all of this organized. And Gemini, which is built into tools like Google Docs and Gmail and Sheets, and it can help me make sense of the information I'm collecting and move ideas forward super fast, which is helpful because I don't really need more ideas right now. I need to figure out what to do with all the ideas that I have. Let me give you an example. So recently I sent out a survey to my audience asking what kinds of financial questions and concerns are coming up for them in midlife. Maybe you have filled it out and thank you. And I was pretty direct in this survey. I was like, what is the stuff that makes you cry in the shower?

• 23:55Speaker 06

  What are you afraid of? What financial decisions are you struggling with? And there were a lot of notes and thoughts. And some of the biggest concerns were about running out of money, losing a job in your 40s or 50s, having enough save for retirement, taking care of aging parents, the list went on. And then there were people who basically were like, look, I am making good money. I've worked hard. I've saved. I've done what I was supposed to do. And here's the issue, I'm still so anxious about money. And that really caught my attention because there's so much to unpack there. There is a question there that deserves its own episode. And so because of that analysis, one of the shows I'm developing now is called, You Make Good Money, So Why Do You Still Feel Broke? And normally this is where I would just like lose a few days deep in research.

• 24:39Speaker 06

  I'd go through all of the survey responses. I'd be highlighting, copying, pasting notes into another document, 15 tabs open, going down a research rabbit hole. And then I would look up at some point at four o'clock in the afternoon, realize I haven't eaten lunch. I was supposed to pick up my kids from school and I forgot. And I still don't know what the episode's actually about. So here's where Gemini and Google Sheets, especially for me, can be really useful. I take that audience feedback that I've collected. I ask Gemini, simple question, please help me organize it into themes, find some recurring questions. Hey, why don't we brainstorm possible directions for this episode? Because, you know, maybe there are a lot of people who feel financially insecure because they're worried about their careers. For others, it's the pressure of supporting their kids and their parents, the sandwich generation.

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  Or maybe it's something entirely emotional. You know, they've reached a level of financial success that they only dreamed of, and now they don't have the peace of mind that they thought they would. And that's where things get really interesting to me because I don't necessarily want to make an episode or a series about how to spend less or save more. What I would prefer to understand is why financial success and financial security can feel like completely different things, especially in midlife. And that is an editorial decision that I'm making. Gemini, of course, can help me sort through the information, explore possibilities, but I'm still the one deciding what the story is, what my audience needs, and who I want to bring to the show to have that conversation.

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  It's ultimately helping me get organized and spend more time doing the part of my job that I actually love and I'm good at, which is figuring out what the questions should be. What are the questions worth asking? Stay tuned. In the meantime, get AI tools for work, upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini, and try for free for 14 days at goo.gle/workspacewithGemini. I have been wanting to refresh my bedroom for years. You know those home projects that just keep getting pushed to the bottom of the list? This was mine. And honestly, I think part of the reason I kept putting it off was the cost, especially the window treatments. Have you seen the prices? I was convinced I was going to have to spend thousands of dollars to get the look I wanted. Well, I finally did it.

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  UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was So Money. It's the best way to support the show. If you're building wealth, growing your career, or running a business, every dollar matters. That's why more entrepreneurs and small business owners are turning to Walmart Business. Whether you're stocking up on office essentials, supplies for your team, or everyday business needs, Walmart Business helps you save money with everyday low prices on an ever-expanding assortment of products. And in today's economy, finding smart ways to cut costs without sacrificing convenience can make a real difference. Plus, with fast, reliable shipping and fulfillment, you can keep your operations running smoothly without the hassle. I also love the flexibility.

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  It's also about how you use your money to drive real change in the world. And if you've ever tried to figure out how to donate effectively, you know, it can be daunting and it can feel like a black box. Where's your money actually going? How do you know if an organization is making a real impact? That's why I want to share a podcast I've been using for guidance. It's called Giving Done Right, hosted by Phil Buchanan from the Center for Effective Philanthropy. What I like about the show is that it cuts to the noise with candid conversations on how to make a real impact, whether you're donating $20 or $20,000. Phil's interviews are very insightful. He brings on nonprofit leaders and experts to answer philanthropy's biggest questions and bust common myths.

• 29:39Speaker 06

  If you want your giving to feel intentional and truly meaningful, check out Giving Done Right wherever you listen to podcasts.

• 29:48Speaker 03

  I've got big news. I switched to Verizon and got the new iPhone 18 Pro. Shh. I can keep my old phone and I also get the latest iPhone every year. Shh. Anything else? Verizon let me choose Apple Watch Series 12 or iPad on them. Everybody, listen up. Shh. Switch to Verizon and get the new iPhone 18 Pro now. No trade in needed and the latest iPhone every year with Simplicity Plan. Plus, choose Apple Watch Series 12 or iPad on us. Simplicity Plan with Simplicity Pro required. Plan and device payment purchase are separate agreements with separate terms. Service plan for Watch or iPad required. Additional terms apply for all offers.

• 30:21Speaker 06

  Postnup, talk about awkward, right? Bringing that up because it's like, I love you, can we get a postnup? Prenup is a little bit more, I think, like innocent. Like, there's no judgment in terms of like, oh, you don't, obviously, I want to marry you. We're getting married. But if you're married and you're asking for essentially like this legal document that would protect you in the event of divorce, what, how do you, what's your advice to anyone who's, that's the block? They're like, I don't want to do this because then it's going to make it seem like I don't want to, I'm not committed anymore into the, into the relationship.

• 31:00Speaker 07

  Yeah. Well, I brought it up in my relationship because we'd already had some issues regarding money and to be fair, like, I always kept my finances separate in my first marriage and we still do have separate finances in my, in my new marriage. So it's, that comes back again to like the level of confidence and trust that you have with the person or just like your preferred way of operating. You know, my, I trust my husband now fully with our financial lives and decisions, but I also just like, you know, him to maintain his financial autonomy and mine as well. So I think it's like, you have to find the approach that works for you. But as far as bringing up the conversation, again, I think what happens oftentimes is

• 31:45Speaker 07

  people think of that stereotype where, oh, why do you want to bring this up? Are you like planning to get divorced? And oftentimes I've found that it's not even the actual person that you're planning to marry that may have that opinion. It's like their family members or their friends. And that's when I think sometimes it's just better to, you know,

• 32:02Speaker 06

  Don't tell them.

• 32:03Speaker 07

  Tell people after the fact versus soliciting opinions.

• 32:05Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 32:07Speaker 07

  But it's, it's important to navigate that conversation and bring it up if this is important to you to have in place because if your partner is not okay with it, for me, that's like a yellow flag of just first not wanting to understand like the true purpose of the document because it is meant to protect both of you. It's not meant to have one person be able to take advantage of the other. That's why you're both supposed to have legal representation during that process. You have your attorney, they have their attorney, they work together to make sure that everything is like, you know, equitable and you guys agree on everything. But it is an awkward conversation.

• 32:48Speaker 07

  When I was bringing it up with my ex-husband, I brought it up mainly because I was at that point, growing my business and I wanted to just maintain that control over that entity. And also I told him frankly, like, if this goes to crap, because I am quitting my job and like, what if I end up filing for bankruptcy? I want you to be protected from that, too. So there are, a prenup or a postnup should never be, it should never leave either party feeling like they lost or they are being taken advantage of. If that's the case, then you need to go back to your attorneys and make sure that you have, you know, the right clauses in there. And I'll tell you a really funny one, Farnoosh, that a lot of people, when I tell them, they're like, I didn't even know you could do that.

• 33:32Speaker 07

  So, you know, I'm on social media, my public presence is part of my brand. And so I actually have a clause in my prenup that says that my husband, if we were ever to get divorced, is not allowed to disparage me on social media or like leak confidential information or like maybe some risque photos or anything that you may have possession of.

• 33:52Speaker 06

  Whose idea was that? Was that your attorney?

• 33:54Speaker 07

  No. So believe it or not, we actually worked with Hello Prenup. They, they sponsored our prenuptial agreement. Shout out to them. And it's actually one of the clauses that is built into their platform. So you can just click on it if like it's relevant to you and then you guys kind of, you know, tweak the wording. But yeah, I mean, there's so much stuff that you can include in there that is beyond what people think, you know? It's not just about money.

• 34:17Speaker 06

  Halle Berry needed that in her prenup with her ex. Because he's like showing text messages and all sorts of things. Wow, that's brilliant.

• 34:29Speaker 06

  Let's talk about financial boundaries with our loved ones. A lot of people in my audience, I just actually did an episode exclusively on this, on how to have these difficult conversations and what action steps do you take, do you not take with aging parents who have nothing say for retirement? You are their retirement. They may not be explicitly asking you for money, but you just know. You just know. And you're just kind of, on the one hand, yes, there's a part of you that wants to help and feels like, of course, I want to help, but you have student loans, you have your own financial life that you want to build with your family. How do you draw that line?

• 35:14Speaker 06

  What is the line?

• 35:16Speaker 07

  Oof. If I could think of the one topic that I have experienced more people literally brought to tears when I talk about it, it's this topic. And especially as someone from, you know, the Latino community, this is such a common thing. And, and for a lot of immigrant families in general, I think it's just the reality of the situation. It's, I don't think it ever gets easy.

• 35:44Speaker 07

  I think about it all the time. It has literally brought me to tears on the internet. You know, there's this feeling of, is it ever going to be enough? Can I ever save enough? What if, you know, you're just like doom planning for thousand different scenarios. And at some point, you have to just be real with yourself about what help you can actually extend. And I've had conversations about this with my husband, too, because we know that both of our families have different levels of, you know, financial insecurity that we know we're going to have to confront at some point. And we are very much operating from our oxygen masks have to be on first.

• 36:26Speaker 07

  We have to be able to give from a place of abundance. We cannot afford to sabotage our own security because folks weren't prepared or they just didn't know, or they wanted to put their head in the sand, or there's making bad financial decisions, right? There's a myriad of reasons why we are confronting this stuff. It has to begin with some honest conversations and it's not going to be fun. You know, when I asked my parents, like, what do you guys have for retirement?

• 36:57Speaker 06

  You are not sugarcoating this at all for us.

• 37:00Speaker 07

  It's hard, you know?

• 37:01Speaker 06

  Which I appreciate the honesty. I mean, it is, but it's one of those things. I'm not a martyr for like, I'm not like, oh, you have to be a martyr in all aspects of your life for things to be good and be successful, but this is an area where it's like, be the martyr.

• 37:16Speaker 07

  Yeah, you know, and, and sometimes there is no answer. Like, I've asked my parents, like, what is the plan? And they just look at me like deer in headlights. And I ask, you know, in a couple of different ways.

• 37:29Speaker 06

  Ask your father.

• 37:31Speaker 07

  My dad doesn't even know. You know, it's like one of those things where like God will provide. You know, there's a lot of this like, if God wills it, energy in, in, you know, Latino culture, folks are kind of like, whatever God's will, it will be what it's going to be. And I'm just like, guys, like, we can talk to God, but we also need a plan here on planet Earth. You know what I'm saying?

• 37:50Speaker 06

  God is not a plan.

• 37:52Speaker 07

  God is not a plan. He's just like a support system, but we need like real numbers. And sometimes it's like deferring the conversation until a later point. Sometimes it's like, well, you guys let me know when you need help and I'll let you know what I can do.

• 38:07Speaker 06

  Yeah. Something that I have started to say is just, if you have the ability, if it's, you know, because sometimes you get, you have the money, but you just don't want to get involved because it's just like, it's not even about the money. It's about the energy. And what I would say is for people who have that ability to invest something in helping their parents is help them hook up with a financial advisor. You know, because yeah, it gets sticky. This isn't really the role you were, you were poised to be in and it shouldn't, it shouldn't be your burden to some extent at all.

• 38:50Speaker 06

  So, but you want to help and what a great way to help is to bring in a professional. This is their job, especially somebody who might be more attuned to the issues and financial concerns of retirees and boomers. Like, what a gift. And you can still be involved, but at least you have a buffer. You have this other person who's objective, who you're paying to get the job done.

• 39:14Speaker 07

  Yeah, for sure. And at the end of the day, if you have siblings, too, you got to rope them into the conversation. What I find oftentimes is like the daughters of the family are the ones that are like losing hair stressing out about this. And the sons tend to kind of be a little more hands off. You know, that's obviously a generalization, but it is something that I've noticed culturally. And I think we just need to take all the pressure off ourselves to be the ones that change everything in one generation because it's, it's called generational wealth for a reason. It takes a long time.

• 39:47Speaker 06

  Well, speaking of generational wealth, as a mother, how are you thinking about it for your own daughter? So here in our household, we have 529 plans, we have opened the Trump accounts. I'm thinking of also doing the Roth IRA, but I'm like, am I just doing it because I can? Or is there a point where I just need to be like, they will have enough and they need to at some point also make money for themselves? And I can maybe use some of that for myself, you know, some of that money. I feel like I have confronted this in recent in recent times, like, maybe I'm just like, overdoing it in this department of generational wealth, because I keep hearing about how it's so important, but also I want them to have grit.

• 40:30Speaker 07

  Yeah. I think that's a key factor that a lot of parents miss. One of the conversations that frustrates me to no end is when I talk to parents who are dead set on paying for their kids' college out of pocket. And then I ask them, like, well, are you saving for retirement? How does your own 401k look? And they're just like, oh, I'll just do that after we pay for college. And I like to remind people, there is no loan for retirement. Okay. The kids will be all right with the student loans, but you will not be okay trying to get a million dollar personal loan at the bank to fund your retirement. It's not

• 41:13Speaker 07

  going to happen, my love. So we need to, again, put the oxygen mask on first. I say that the most generous gift, the most generous form of wealth that you can give your kid is a financially independent parent, so that they can actually go and live their lives and pursue their eat, pray, love dreams without having to worry about, oh, we're going to have to save money to put mom in a home, or they didn't save for retirement, or we don't know what their plan is. Having personally experienced that, that is the gift that I plan to give to my daughter. I literally want her to just decide what she wants to do with her life without having to factor me and taking care of me in any way, shape, or form. So what that looks like practically, she has a brokerage account, she has a Roth

• 41:58Speaker 07

  IRA, she has a 529 plan. And at some point, if she wants to work, you know, in various capacities in the business, when she's a little older, right now, she's just doing like, social media modeling for me. But if she wants to learn in the future how to do marketing, how to do content, I would love to have her under my tutelage. And if she wants nothing to do with what I'm building too, I don't want her to feel the pressure of like, oh, my God, we got to continue the legacy of what mom has built. I just want her to have choices. And so that, for me, is the most important thing. Like, do the things that not only, you know, give them opportunity, but also remove yourself from the equation by doing what you need to do to financially shore up your own money.

• 42:39Speaker 06

  And generational wealth is not just money. It's also the examples that we pass down, the models, right? Where you're the breadwinner in your marriage, it's healthy, it's working, it's thriving. That is an aspect of wealth that you're going to hand down to her. That observation, that life experience is going to inform her and it's going to make her even stronger in this area of her life. And I remember this morning, I was editing something at the kitchen table for So Money. I was editing an ad, a video ad, and my daughter was just watching me, like, really curious for the first time, like, watching every cut, you know, and being like, oh, yeah, that's a good mom. Oh, wait, mom, go

• 43:21Speaker 06

  back. There was a little bit of like, a of like, a blip. And I was like, wait, is she going to take over this business? That was not in my plan. That was not in my generational wealth plan. But even if she doesn't take over So Money, it's just seeing mom work and be really diligent with work and bringing work to the kitchen table while she's also cooking up eggs and making lunch and all that. I think that, and for my son too, to witness that, I think that is also a generational wealth that they're going to inherit.

• 43:51Speaker 07

  1,000%.

• 43:53Speaker 06

  You are doing incredible work, Janice, and it is, you're unstoppable. And most recently, I was watching you talk about fundraising for a really special event you want to throw next year for women. I want to give you the floor to talk about it because I have contributed. I can't wait for this. I will be there, whether, you know, whether you want me there or not, I'll be there. Whether it happens or not, I'll just be there. Tell us about this conference for women that you want to put on next year.

• 44:25Speaker 07

  Yeah. So, I mean, you already know, you have a front row seat. That's not even a question. And so this event is really inspired by the first iteration that I built back in 2023, which you were so graciously the keynote speaker for. And I still hear incredible rave reviews about that speech and just the conference in general. One thing that I've realized is that more than ever, especially in this era where it feels like the robots are taking over every aspect of our lives, that people are really craving community and connection and conversations that feel relevant to their lived experience. And you

• 45:04Speaker 07

  and I both know how still in this year of our Lord 2026, the financial conversations, and especially in live event spaces, are still very much geared towards, you know, white men, frankly. I found myself recently at a, at a big finance conference. And it's those moments where I realize how much of a unicorn I am to just even be in this space and talk about finance and investing and entrepreneurship to Latinas. And so my vision, my dream is to bring a, the signature live event to life that really centers the experience

• 45:43Speaker 07

  of women, people of color, and fosters conversations that go beyond the basics, that talk about these realities that we face as first generation wealth builders of what it's like to face the pressure of financially supporting your elders, of wanting to break cycles, of wanting to, you know, make the sacrifices worth it that so many of us saw growing up. And so the vision is a conference that centers that experience in Puerto Rico. I'm from Puerto Rico, and so I've seen this incredible burgeoning of like, culture and entrepreneurship and financial literacy that the younger generation over there is also manifesting for themselves.

• 46:26Speaker 07

  And I, I just want to use the opportunity that I have with my platform to bring attention to the island, attention to this very neglected group of people who needs more safe spaces to have real money conversations. And so we're crowdfunding to bring this to life because, as you know, as a person who puts together live events, sponsorship is difficult. Unfortunately, in this era, DEI has almost become like a, you know, taboo and events that-

• 47:01Speaker 06

  Punishable. It's a punitive word.

• 47:05Speaker 07

  It is. It's really hard to try to bring these events to life, knowing that most of the time, we have to bootstrap them and it's expensive. And so that's my hope, is that we can crowdfund to a place where we can bring an event that's worthy of the community to life.

• 47:22Speaker 06

  Yes. And we will put the link in our show notes. It'll be fundraising. And you're going to do this, I think, no matter what, right? Like, you're just-

• 47:29Speaker 07

  Absolutely.

• 47:30Speaker 06

  Yeah, it's happening. So everybody just, just hold your calendars for next fall, 2027.

• 47:36Speaker 07

  Absolutely.

• 47:38Speaker 06

  Janice, tell us more about where we can find you. You, are you working on another book? Do you have it in you? I mean, I ask that as somebody who just hosted a book workshop and told everybody in the audience, I will not be writing another book. But you should. Y'all should.

• 47:53Speaker 07

  I would argue that writing a book, and more importantly, marketing a book, is the most overwhelming, challenging endeavor I've personally experienced as a, as a business owner. It is definitely a labor of love. And so my next book idea is actually a children's book. So, you know, the brand is called Yo Quiero Dinero, which means I want money. I want to write the book Yo Tengo Dinero for the kids who are the ones that are getting the money, right? We've got the money. What the heck do we do with this to make sure that it now becomes a multi-generational thing? So I'm excited to like, dive into that space and hopefully create some like bilingual financial literacy resources for children

• 48:36Speaker 07

  and for families. Because again, it's not just, it's not just the work of one generation. We have to educate the, the future generations that are going to get all this inheritance and get to reap the rewards of all of our hard work and show them how to be good stewards of that. Because I think when, you know, communities like ours get that financial power, like, that's when we'll actually see real societal shifts. And I'm excited about what that is going to look like.

• 49:05Speaker 06

  So am I. I can't wait. Janice Torres, thank you so much, always, for coming on the show and for all the advocacy that you do through your, just, you're such a role model. And then on top of that, you really are creating these resources, these rooms for women, and we appreciate you so much.

• 49:23Speaker 07

  Thanks for having me.

• 49:37Speaker 00

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  Hey, we're Nick and Jack, hosts of The Best One Yet. Behind every episode, there's research, emails, spreadsheets, and our shared Google Doc, the headline hammer. With Google Workspace with Gemini, Google's AI is built right into the premium versions of tools we already use, like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets. No new tools or extra logins, just personalized AI for the way we work. That means less time on the work around the work and more time finding the stories worth talking about. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle/workspacewithgemini. That's goo.gle/workspacewithgemini.