Hussein Montoya: Hello, everyone. My name is Hussein Montoya. For those of you that do not speak Navajo, I just introduced myself in Navajo. And for those of you that do speak Navajo, hello to all of you that I'm related to. A little bit about myself real quick. I am a local boy. I was raised in Shiprock, graduated high school, attended Haskell Indian Nations University for my undergraduate degree, and then attended Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts for my Master's of Science and Financial Planning.

I've been here with Cole Stoneman working on the San Juan Plan for going on five years now. It's been quite the experience. And I got to say, I'm super glad to be able to serve the community that essentially has raised me.

Today's topic is going to be creating habits for generational wealth, and we're going to ask ourselves, what does that exactly mean? And that honestly doesn't mean having millions of dollars. It doesn't mean having trust funds. Really, what it comes down to is just not starting with zero, making sure that we have stability, that we have options and, more importantly, that we're breaking cycles here, and we're not just leaving burdens to that next generation, but we're leaving those options and gifts. Now, everybody might have their own opinion on what that looks like. But again, just boiling it down to those basic terms, I think is perhaps one of the easiest things to do.

Habit number one, I think a lot of times comes back to paying yourself. Well, you'd be asking yourself, "Well, how do I do that?" Well, the 403(b). There are plenty of tools that we have available to us, and I think understanding how they work and when to use them are going to be key points. The 403(b), for example, for those of you that don't know, whenever you make contributions to that 403(b) account, the hospital actually gives you a match up to a certain percentage every single year. But that automatic saving of paying yourself every single pay period before the money gets to you, I think, is one of the more optimal ways.

Now, you know, there's additional things that you can be doing as well, whether if that's every pay period, I'm taking some money and I'm putting it into a savings account or a brokerage account or a Roth. There are tons of different things that you can do. And really, you know, to what degree you should be doing each kind of just boils down to your personal situation. But again, getting in the habit of first paying yourself before anyone else, I think, is paramount.

Habit number two is stop thinking in the short term. I think a lot of people get tied up in thinking, "Well, I have this money now, so I'm just going to use it." Well, to a degree, that's fine and that's well because that's what the money is there for. It's a vehicle. It needs to be used. But I think making sure that we're giving those dollars directions and we're just not letting them run free will is perhaps one of the more important things to do.

And this is simple as just starting a budget. I tell people all the time not to complicate doing a budget because really it's just two columns. We have fixed expenses, and then we have flexed expenses. If we can just allocate extra savings into those fixed expenses, that tends to take us out of that survival mode. And it also helps us, one, keep the lifestyle that we want, but also keep it in check. And then long term, what it ends up doing, again, is it starts to create freedom in saying, "Oh, well, I have this extra funds for this specific occasion," and we're not leaning towards things like credit cards or high-interest debt. Because once we do that, then we start to become essentially slaves to the lender.

I think one thing that we need to understand as well is the difference between interests. There's good interest and there's bad interest. Good interest is when you can earn something in your retirement account or in an investment, and bad interest is those high-interest credit cards, personal loans. Just making ourself a little more informed about that and having a little clearer direction when we're making decisions are all part of the habits that help leading into that generational wealth.

And that kind of transitions us right into learn before you buy. Too many people, one, don't educate themself enough as far as, again, those interest rates. Putting an abundance amount of things on high-interest credit cards or loans can also start to be a drag.

Additionally, I think what we also need to do is just to be aware of the advice that we're getting. I know that social media is one of those things that we're all kind of tied into, but making sure that were coming at it with a bit of skepticism maybe, if you will, because there's a lot of bad actors, and there's a lot of get-rich-quick stuff that people try to push online, and just understanding what are they trying to get from you. And usually, it's eyes and ears a lot of the time, which eventually follows with your money. So, making sure that you're informing yourself, and you're just staying educated so you don't become a victim of bad advice, basically.

And then, making sure you protect what you build. Wealth isn't one of those things that happens overnight. So, a lot of those get-rich-quick stuff isn't anything that's likely to work. It comes down just to consistency of making sure that we have emergency savings, making sure that we have the right type of coverage of insurance, whether if that's life insurance, short-term disability insurance. Making sure that we're covered in case life happens, which a lot of the times life does happen. And unfortunately, too many people are not prepared when it does. And it can really put us into a bind of then having to lean on things like credit cards and high-interest loans, which can just start to unravel that foundation that we've built.

And I think the fifth habit of what we can do to really start to build generational wealth is teaching that next generation. For those of you that have kids, one of the more impactful places that you can learn about money outside of formal education, it really comes down to learning it at the dinner table. Having open conversations with your kids about how money works, about why you need a budget. Learn together about how specific tools work, investment accounts, I think, is really paramount.

And I know a lot of the times from a traditional standpoint, it's seen as taboo to speak about things like, money, or it can be taboo to speak about things about death and planning for it. But these types of things do happen, and I think one of the more impactful places you can start to have these conversations with that next generation is at home. And I've seen this, again, just in my own experiences that those individuals tend to be a lot better stewards as they get older.

But these are just kind of quick tips for creating those habits, if you will. I know everyone's circumstances are going to be relatively different. But just to recap it, let's pay yourself first, start thinking long-term, learn before you buy, protect what you build and, then fifth, start to have those conversations with that next generation, I think, are going to be some crucial steps in making sure that you guys are taking that next step towards creating that generational wealth.

With that being said, I appreciate you guys taking the little bit of time to be with me today. And as always, if you have any questions about your 403(b), if you have any questions about financial planning, feel free to give us a call here at the office, 505-327-5090. Or you guys could reach out to me via email. It's going to be my first name, Hussien. That's H-U-S-S-I-E-N, dot Montoya, M-O-N-T-O-Y-A, @ironbridgewc, W for wealth, C for council, .com. Thank you.