By Alma Elena Cervantes
Alfonso E. Islas G., a former treasury director for various banking and government institutions and a teacher of financial matters in private institutions, guided scholarship students and scholarship recipient alumni through a free Zoom presentation titled “Personal Finances: Understanding The World of Basic Finances.” On November 3, the two-hour Zoom session covered impulse spending, budgeting, and basic investment options.
The global private market successfully entices buyers to purchase items not considered essential. The illusion of admiration by others and moments of short-lived satisfaction sabotage opportunities for people to save money. Islas used the purchasing of luxury clothes items as an example. The amount of money spent on clothes can limit one’s ability to meet the costs of essentials such as food and transportation, even school costs. He also pointed to buyers who take the bus to work every day to save money and yet go into a café and buy a fancy coffee drink that exceeds the expense of round-trip public transportation. The former director concludes that both examples represent opportunities to rethink and redirect spending into a savings account.
According to a worldbank.org article published in April 2021 titled “Expanding Financial Access for Mexico’s Poor and Supporting Economic Sustainability,” “only 37 percent of adults in Mexico have a bank account, and just 32 percent have made or received digital payments.”
To engage students in the practice of identifying money that can go into savings, Islas gifted participants with an Excel tool he titled “Financial Culture.” The tool encourages students to monitor their monthly spending and identify their own savings potential. Watching your savings grow can counter the temptation of spending money on non-essential items. We asked, “What was the most valuable thing you learned?” University scholarship recipient Abigail Diosdado Chávez responded, “I learned to practice better financial organization and to save.”
Becas coordinator Alma Cervantes asked Islas, “Why did you include bank-related investments, property, gold, and federal bonds in this presentation? After all, students, in general, do not yet have the means to invest.” Consultant Islas believes in making savings and investment information available to everyone regardless of their current means. Sharing the information about investments to people with modest means gives them the opportunity to initiate a lifestyle that is dedicated to growing their money.
Alfonso E. Islas G. is a private consultant. He can be reached at alfonso@culturafinanciera.mx or 552 758 5758.
