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Louis Barajas, CFP®, MBA, is one of the very first Latino Certified Financial Planners in the country and founder of International Private Wealth Advisors and Business Management LAB. Wealth Stream News sat with him to talk about the chance encounter that sent him back to East LA, why he believes Latino poverty is a mindset problem more than a knowledge gap, and what it really means to leave a wealthy legacy.

Barajas has spent nearly 40 years managing money for immigrant families and iconic Latin entertainers alike, and is the six-time author of, most recently, Finances Con Corazón: The Latino Journey to Financial Dignity, released in July.

Louis: I'm considered one of the very first Latino Certified Financial Planners in the country, if not the first. I've been at this since 1985. In the late '80s, I was working at a big firm in Newport Beach, doing financial planning for some of the wealthiest people in the country. Then in 1990, tragedy struck three times in a matter of weeks: my grandmother, who raised me, passed away; my uncle, who taught me to love books, took his own life; and then my daughter was born.

Louis: The morning my daughter was born, I stopped at a coffee shop, and a stranger asked to sit next to me. He noticed I looked sad and asked if my daughter was okay. I told him everything, about my grandmother, my uncle, my new baby, all within days of each other. We talked for an hour. I went to the hospital; told my dad I was quitting my job to go back to Boyle Heights and start a firm to help our community. Eight years later, I ran into that same man at a book event in New York, the night before my first book came out. It was Pastor Rick Warren, eight years before he published The Purpose Driven Life. He'd spoken those words to me first.

Louis: When I first went into financial planning, I quit because it disappointed me: sell a product, sell insurance, sell investments, and nobody cared about people. When I went back to the barrio, I realized the reason we're poor isn't a lack of financial literacy, it's a scarcity-poverty mindset we've been taught. Before anyone can accept that financial success is possible, somebody must help them build a positive mindset around money first. That's what my books, including the new one, are about.

Erika: Honestly, it's a mix of both. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know — people don't realize they can buy an existing business that already has customers, cash flow, and employees. It's also confidence. We were raised on "get a great education, get a good job, and stay." So, it's lack of knowledge, lack of confidence, and capital that isn't deployed to Latinos the way it should be.

Louis: People are tired of watching TikToks about getting rich for a mansion or a jet. Most of my clients just wanted a used car that wouldn't break down, or to order off a restaurant menu without checking the prices, or to have health insurance. Financial dignity means creating more income, saving more, and living the life you were meant to live and not somebody else's fantasy of wealth.

Louis: My advice is: don't shrink. Stand up and believe in who you were meant to be. I'm more aggressive on social media now than ever, because I want to inspire people, not just motivate them. Latinos are the youngest demographic, the biggest spending demographic, and now the fastest-growing wealth demographic in America but he who has the gold, rules. If we build real wealth instead of just spending power, our position in this country changes.

Louis: Money is a tool, not the goal and being rich and being wealthy aren't the same thing. I want young people to move from income to ownership: buy homes, build businesses, become financially independent, and use what they've been given for something greater than themselves. We also must teach the next generation, our "kids" who are sometimes 50 or 60 years old themselves, how to honor and build on the wealth their parents sacrificed to create, instead of just spending it.

Louis: Wealth is consciously using money to express your full potential and help others. I know actual billionaires who are some of the unhappiest people I've ever met. Being wealthy means having your health, people who truly love you, and meaning in your life. A pastor once told me he'd been to every kind of funeral, rich and poor, and never once seen a U-Haul behind a hearse. My legacy is simple: I want to show people how to make and build money without fear, so they can become who they were always meant to be — and leave a tribe behind them, not just an estate.

Disclosure: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice.

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