From budgeting to investing, we look at ways to help you start the new year off right with better financial health.

And we get a firsthand look at how one local nonprofit is helping the next generation achieve long-term financial stability.

That and more stay with us as we dive into Your South Florida.

Hello and welcome to Your South Florida.

I'm Arlene Borenstein, filling in for Pam Giganti.

The start of a new year is a time for reflection and setting new goals for the future.

It's also a good time to take stock of your financial health.

It can be a daunting task, especially for those with no education in financial literacy, which focuses on key points like knowing how to budget, managing debt, and planning for retirement.

Knowledge that's essential for economic empowerment.

Joining me now to share some tips on getting financially fit is Dr. Albert Williams, associate professor and chair of Finance and Economics at Nova Southeastern University.

Dr. Williams, thank you so much for being here.

Let's try to talk about getting financially fit and the economy and inflation.

Wonderful.

It's a pleasure to be here to talk to you about such an important topic.

But let's talk about the global context of what we're gonna discuss further down.

The global world has been under stress because of inflation and it came about because of many factors, but one of them is the Russia/Ukraine struggle that was going on.

It impact fuel prices and our fertilizer and grain prices.

So if fuel prices are impacted, the whole world is impacted by fuel prices and fuel prices impact food prices.

So if you think that way, we need to resolve that struggle first.

[arlene] Right.

The next one is China.

China impacts the world with all its production.

So, China is going through a COVID challenge right now.

They've just opened the economy and I believe that China's situation, if they get back to work and make more goods and services.

Remember we have a global economy, so we need China to produce more things.

COVID is still not fully gone as a global pandemic but we are watching it and the government has been working on it, trying to fix it.

So, economists look at the world and we try to figure out what's driving it.

Overall, we are projecting a steady or a slightly flat economy and that ties in with the financial literacy that we need to talk about.

How can people survive in a projection where we don't see the growth?

But there's some good things 'cause the unemployment rate is really low.

So, people have money and in fact, that's another factor why we have inflation.

People got money, they're spending money, the supply chain got messed up so we don't have many goods.

So there's imbalance that causes inflation.

So we need to figure out now how are we gonna make the world, you, a family member can do better with the situation of having a flat economy.

So that's kind of where we are, you know?

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, that's the question that everybody has on their minds.

Whether, you know, you're living at home by yourself or you're trying to feed a family.

You go to the grocery store, you wanna fill up your gas tank and although you have money, you're paying so much more.

So, how do you ride this wave of inflation and not feel like you have no money left in your bank account at the end of the day?

You know, it is one of the most important topics right now about how to manage your money.

The first thing you have to do is put the cards on the table.

There are two components of managing your money budgeting what's coming in and what's going out.

So coming in is hard to really determine 'cause you have a job.

Most people, and they don't, they need more money they have to find something else.

But what's coming in, what's spending now the one of the biggest items is rent or mortgage and there's not much you can do with that.

But here's some basic data.

The global growth for 2021 was 6% per year, 2022, it fell about almost half, 3.2%.

And the projection for '23 is 2.7.

But, let's go to food.

It is, I told you that fuel prices impact food prices and food prices are showing some signs of improving, but there's still some challenges there with food.

These are the things you have to look at.

So look at your food bill, evaluate it and see.

Some substitution will have to happen.

By the way, good news is that chicken prices have gone down and so you could eat more chicken and maybe less beef.

That's really good.

That's really good information for dinner.

[dr. williams] Definitely.

All right, so going to the stock market... Mmm hmm.

Which has also been volatile because of everything going on.

Going up, going down, what can people expect?

What are ways investors can turn a profit?

You know, the stock market has its own behavior and inflation does impact it because once we heard inflation was coming down, the market goes down with a mild recession.

I would advise people not to go tinker with their stock portfolio, just let it ride the wave.

It's not going to go crazy and you're not going to have to go restructure your portfolio.

So I would tell people at this point in time, hold on to what you have.

If you have very risky investments, like, in the crypto world, everybody knows... Wow.

You shouldn't have too much in there.

Yeah.

And if you do, maybe that's something you should really reconsider if you have more in there.

But if you have regular stocks and bonds, we don't expect too much of the world to turn upside down with the stock market because we are not projecting a horrible recession.

It's more like a flat or maybe a little reduction.

So I would not tinker too much with my investments.

Coming around the corner is tax season.

And what should they do with that money?

Pay down debt, keep it for a rainy day?

Oh.

Mmm hmm.

The history of the rebate has always been across the board.

People will go on vacation, they'll pay debt they'll do everything.

This year, I would recommend you hold onto it and keep it in your savings account because of what I had said earlier.

If there's a little recession or it's flat, then maybe you don't want to... you could keep that as a little cushion.

Right.

Cushion of money.

So do not go spend it.

Now, if you have a cushion already and you don't need to top it up, that's okay, but if you... What about paying debt, no?

It's a good thing to pay the debt... [arlene] Mmm hmm.

But you... Pay the debt if there's a real need to pay it.

Now, we usually say when there're hard times, you pay the minimum and then you weather the storm and then you come back again.

[arlene] Right.

But if you get $2,000 rebate from the government, your money comes back to you, I wouldn't just go blow it.

I would hold onto it and see how the economy goes for the year and just keep it there.

Rainy day or extra cushion.

Nothing is wrong with that.

And this is important that our people understand inflation is not static.

So, by next week, if we resolve, we get some resolution to the Ukraine/Russian situation as well as if China were to get back to work.

You might see some improvements in the inflation situation.

And the more improvement we see, the more flexibility you have with your spending.

Yes, absolutely.

And speaking of hope for the future, you know, once we all get to the age of retirement and talk about a cushion, we're paying social security.

You don't think that that should be all folks rely on?

You know, from financial literacy and wealth building, we do not recommend.

You only depend on the social security check that you are all entitled to, you paid for it.

One of the advice I give all my classes and I give everybody I talk to is, social security is your money.

Get it when it's your time.

But that may not be enough to keep you-- keep your standard of living that you're used to.

If you were used to living at $8,000 a month and your social security only comes up to $2,000, you might have a challenge to live the lifestyle that you're used to.

So I recommend that you have additional wealth building along the side, along with your compulsory wealth building for your future, for retirement.

So I tell everybody, you need to also contribute.

And, by the way, wealth building is complicated but you need to save first before you could invest.

It's a simple recipe.

People, if you don't save, how can you invest?

Yeah.

Well that's a good point because we wanna talk a little bit about how the younger generation can start early.

What is your advice?

Because these days, you know, younger folks wanna think about homes and obviously we are dealing with tough times.

[dr. williams] Right.

So what's your advice, maybe they don't know how to budget.

What would you tell them?

One of the exciting things about a young person is getting that first good job and you come outta college or you finish your training and you say, oh, now I'm making money.

You start to get a little excited and maybe a little too excited and you wanna do all kind, oh, I want that car that I really wanted from when I was in college.

But I recommend plan, plan, plan.

Look at where your life is gonna go.

Don't overborrow at the first job you have.

But I think many people don't understand financial literacy.

I mentioned many times that we have PhDs in spending but we don't have PhDs in investing and managing our money in the total sense, though..

Yes, many of us have PhDs in spending.

That's correct.

But you would say don't do that.

[dr. williams] No, no.

A final tip before you leave us today.

Yeah.

So I would recommend that-- look at all your expenses.

I didn't mention the one about the car expenses but don't drive too fast.

That burns up gasoline.

Keep tabs on you, keep your car in top shape.

But if I were to leave something for all of us here in South Florida it's that financial literacy is part of our lives.

And you will need to do it from the time mommy had you and your parents had you 'til the time you pass on.

Financial literacy is a continuous process but the sooner you learn it like South Florida, in fact Florida has just passed a bill that all high school students starting fall of '23 must take a financial literacy course.

I applaud that.

[arlene] Yeah.

Because that'll help to break the cycle of poverty.

It'll help the world to understand that we need to manage your money like how we manage our health.

We manage money the same way.

You need a money doctor, you need a health doctor.

So we must keep in, keep tabs of how our money is being spent.

Well, I already feel more financially healthy.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. Williams.

You're welcome.

It's a pleasure to be here and I'm hoping that we're all a little bit more financially literate from this program.

Yes, absolutely.

Well, what better way to learn financial literacy than with real world experience?

Through their partnership with Broward County Schools, Junior Achievement of South Florida is doing just that by giving students the opportunity to experience firsthand what it's like to manage a household budget while opening their eyes to different career tracks.

Recently, the Your South Florida team spent the day at Junior Achievement's JA World in Coconut Creek to learn more.

Let's take a look.

The moment you step foot into JA World, Huizenga Center at the Lillian S. Wells Pavilion, your first word will be, wow.

What JA is all about is about making education an experience.

We know that today our children need more than someone speaking to them right in front of a classroom.

They need to feel it, touch it, see it, hear it.

And that's what happens at JA World.

It's about connecting education, academics to the real world, right?

The one that they're gonna face when they come out of school.

Junior Achievement has several signature programs.

Two of those are JA BizTown and JA Finance Park.

We're so fortunate both of those programs are required by Broward County Public Schools.

So every single fifth grader will do the JA BizTown curriculum.

So that means 16 to 18 classes within their classroom taught by the teacher who are trained by Junior Achievement.

And then, they will teach those lessons.

Those students in fifth grade will learn about savings, checking accounts, setting that foundation for those students.

Second piece is they will come here, they will have already interviewed for their jobs in the classroom through the curriculum and they will know what their jobs are.

They will run this town.

And then, the third piece of that is running businesses.

They have to go to the bank they have to take out a bank loan, and then, by the end of the day they have to pay it back.

So learning about entrepreneurship.

So that program really embeds all three of our core pillars into the curriculum.

What happens when you put those kids in teams running those store fronts, right?

All those work skills we talk about, collaboration public speaking, problem solving, all of those things start to get put into action.

And then eighth grade, which is called the JA Finance Park.

every single eighth grader in Broward County does that program.

That program focuses on personal finance as well as career exploration.

The great thing about Junior Achievement is they provide resources and most of all, a curriculum for teachers to implement the financial literacy piece.

And we go through lessons such as how to do your taxes how to take out your social security, your Medicare, how to balance your budget, how to start a savings, a checking, why it's important to have good credit because you're gonna be making important major purchases like a car, a home.

Not everybody is going to go to college.

So we look at trade schools or technical schools, even technical high schools.

The growth that I've seen is the end is that they realize what we're doing here at Junior Achievement is only going to set them up for success in life.

I learned how to budget, I learned how to save money.

I learned that it's really easy to go into debt and I learned how you can start planning your future from a very young age.

Being in this program helped me realize that how hard it is to be an adult and how hard it is to budget and use money in a accurate way.

I learned the difference between stocks and mutual funding which I've been wondering for such a really long time.

I used to live in New York and they don't do stuff like this.

I'm glad that the students of Florida have this opportunity to this program where they can learn about budget and financing.

'Cause I never had that.

Today at JA World, I worked at dev.com.

we learned how to manage money and budget.

I am looking forward to getting a job and I think I'm ready.

We greatly appreciate your time and you have a huge impact on the students that are here as well as the teachers.

We're gonna go over your volunteer pamphlets as well as your binders and talk about what will happen once the students arrive.

Our volunteers are critical to JA programs.

We could not do this without all of them.

In the last couple of years, on average, we use about 6,000 volunteers to run all of our programs.

You know, we know from research and just from, you know hearing from our students how important mentors and role models are.

And that's really the role of our volunteers.

It's to be in those storefronts with them sharing their experiences around financial literacy and managing finances as well as their careers with those students.

To volunteer for JA Academy, it's been a very rewarding opportunity.

I've done it now three times.

I've been able to go to multiple schools, both virtually and in person.

They get to know things such as, you know, how to deal with money, what money actually is and how everything works as you grow up.

So it's been, it's been quite interesting to see them interacting with you and seeing them learn and you know, that shine in their eyes when they're doing something that is fun for them.

It's an amazing opportunity not only to give back to the community, but also to give back to the kids that would eventually become adults.

And just teaching financial literacy which is just so important for everybody to know.

[laurie] That's what makes JA so unique.

It's that combination of the corporate and business partners and role models that we have through them.

The school district, right?

Embedding this into curriculum and into core subjects.

And then JA, bringing that real world curriculum.

In the 21st century.

Financial literacy is critical.

We have to teach our students.

we have to teach our children to be financially responsible.

Many families do not necessarily have those tools.

As a teacher, I can provide that opportunity.

If I give them just this little piece, it could open the door so, so much.

And we have to do that.

We have a responsibility to do that as teachers.

Investing in our youth is a community effort.

This is not just about JA.

JA is here.

We want to be a solution, but we can't do it alone.

It's going to take the public sector, the corporate sector, the educational sector, nonprofits.

We all have to work together to make sure that our students are ready for the future.

We need them to be.

According to the United Way's ALICE Report, which measures financial difficulties in communities, nearly six out of 10 Miami households are living in or are close to poverty.

That's why for more than a decade, United Way Miami's Center for Financial Stability has been helping residents by providing tools for better financial health and opportunity.

Joining me now virtually to share more is Karina Ron, Senior Director of United Way Miami's Center for Financial Stability.

Karina, thank you so much for joining us.

Of course.

I'm thrilled to be here.

Thank you for inviting me.

The Center for Financial Stability has been around for more than a decade.

Talk to us about how this center came to be.

What was the need you were seeing in the community?

The Center was created during the Great Recession and it was originally selected as one of two national pilots designed to help stabilize families and then help them work towards economic independence.

At that point, we saw a need for coordinated services and individualized support.

So we were designed as a one-stop shop where people could access key services at one single convenient location.

We selected a local partner, Branches Inc., who would house and operate the original site in North Miami.

And the services were led by financial coaches who helped each household identify and then develop a really personalized plan of action.

And we did that in the the different languages that Miami needs, English, Spanish, and Creole.

By 2015, we had a statistically proven powerful model that really demonstrated that we could have impact in just two financial coaching sessions.

Let's talk about the success rate of these programs.

When someone walks in that's been maybe set back for some life experience that they've been dealing with but then they walk out so much more successful.

Give us some examples of that or what you see day-to-day.

Sure.

So it really depends.

Again, it's an individualized approach and it completely depends on people's goals and we really pride ourselves on meeting people where they are.

So I would say that the range of successes really, really ranges widely but it almost always includes setting and achieving goals, creating and managing a realistic spending plan, building an emergency fund, paying down debt.

And often, what we hear the most from people is a sense of relief, actually oftentimes a lot of surprise by all the things that they're learning and accessing.

We hear a lot of gratitude just for the comprehensive approach that a coach can take and we hear hope and empowerment in situations where people were feeling alone and they didn't have resources, they weren't sure where to turn, how to start tackling things.

And now, through the help of someone who's actually helping you analyze and plan forward, you are feeling this renewed sense of hope, not just for yourself but maybe what's even possible for your children.

That struggle is felt by so many families.

And so, it's really great to know that they can walk in and leave with a better skillset when it comes to dealing with finances.

Tell us a little bit about what you teach folks there.

What are some of the tools they leave with?

Sure.

So financial literacy is a term that is, I think, the most common probably but a lot of times it's limited to the concepts and vocabulary.

And what we focus on is financial capability which definitely includes knowledge but it also includes skill-building and access to resources.

Sometimes, something as perhaps, common as a bank account or the right insurance.

And most importantly, I would say we focus on taking all of that and actually giving people the confidence to apply it over time on an ongoing basis for the rest of their lives.

Those are things that they walk away with.

And again, it doesn't just help them tackle whatever they're tackling with right now, but it also helps them to be able to pass these things along to other people in their circles.

Their family members, their children.

And that's really important because for us, we really are building a long-term resilience and we're trying to help break transgenerational cycles.

And so, those skills and the ability to confidently apply them on and on, it's something that is key to everything that we do.

Wow.

Talking about paying it forward and such a rewarding opportunity for these families.

Tax season always comes around and people don't know what to do.

So another great thing you guys offer is tax preparation.

How do you help people at the Center that way?

Sure.

So United Way Miami actually supports our countywide coalition.

There is a program named VITA.

People are probably very familiar with it.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance.

It is established by the IRS and volunteers are actually certified by the IRS to prepare taxes.

So, in our community, this coalition of partners is led by our longtime partner branches.

They're called Miami Tax Pros.

And you are definitely welcome to get your taxes filed in person or virtually, through one of these Miami Tax Pros partners.

And if you're interested in volunteering, opportunities are definitely available and we can provide the information for both of those.

Tell us, Karina, for anyone who might be scared to reach out and maybe they're struggling, maybe they're a family with children or maybe they're just a single individual trying to make ends meet, they're scared to go into the Center.

What would be your message to them today?

You are in the hands of people who very much are passionate about helping others in the community.

United Way's all about bringing people together to help neighbors.

And our financial coaches are not just trained professionals who understand the different issues going on in our community in particular, but they're also individuals who are committed to empowering you and walking alongside you and not doing things for you necessarily, but helping you and making sure that you are feeling capable of doing these things for the rest of your life.

They are capable.

We are capable.

Thank you, Karina Ron, for giving us that inspiration to fix our finances.

Thank you for joining us today and we will be sure to see you again soon.

Thank you.

We'll have more on all the resources discussed on today's program on your social media at Your South FL I'm Arlene Borenstein.

Thank you for watching.