How to Build Financial Confidence in a New Country

How do you build financial confidence in a new country?

It starts with learning how money works where you are.

On this episode of Get Ready Before Life Happens, I spoke with Bisola Tijani, the Whiz Queen, about building financial confidence when navigating a new country, learning how money works in a different system, and taking ownership of your financial future.

Key Takeaways

🔹 Learn how money works where you live.

🔹 A growth mindset helps you adapt, learn, and take ownership of your financial decisions.

🔹 Start with the essentials by setting up identification, banking, and credit systems early.

🔹 Building credit intentionally expands your access to housing, employment, and financial opportunities.

🔹 Confidence grows through action by learning, experimenting, and making small, informed decisions.

🔹 Protect your money by working with regulated professionals and taking time before making decisions.

🔹 Money is a tool that supports your life, your goals, and the people you care about.

Tony’s Take: Starting over creates opportunity. Financial readiness begins with understanding the system you’re in and taking ownership of your decisions.

Connect with Bisola Tijani:

• Website: https://whizqueen.ca
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/b-tijani/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whiz_queen/?hl=en
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhizQueen/featured

Podcast:

• The Whiz Queen Show: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhG7IsMTPnBNn2MMAoXzDal7cJR7R6jDP

Bio: 

Bisola Tijani, known as WhizQueen, is a Nigerian-Canadian content creator and financial educator with 150K+ followers across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. She's on a mission to make money simple, accessible, and actually enjoyable — especially for first-generation immigrants and newcomers building wealth in a new country. Through her community Smart Money Group and her education platform, she teaches investing, income building, and the kind of financial clarity that changes how people live — not just how they save.

☕ Support the Get Ready Movement.

If these conversations help you think differently about money or prepare for life’s what-ifs, your support helps expand financial readiness education and keep this work accessible.

👉 Support (here)

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Minutes is get ready before life happens. The podcast helping you navigate life's what-if starting over in a new country comes with opportunity and a lot of financial what-ifs. Welcome to Get Ready Before Life Happens. Today I'm joined by Bisola Tijani. Bisola, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Thank you so much, Tony. Thank you for having me here. I'm really excited to share more about my journey and happy to connect with your audience as well.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Yeah, well, glad to have you here. You're doing some interesting work and you've got some great messages that I'm excited to share. So tell us a little bit about yourself. What is your origin story and how did it lead you to focus on financial education for underserved and immigrant communities?

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Yes. So I migrated to Canada in 2019, moving in here as a new immigrant. At the time, I had no friends or family here. I had to figure out life on my own. And I migrated at the age of 23 as a permanent resident, moving into a new country, as we all know, comes with its own challenges. And it was such a fun experience. I mean, the excitement was there to start life all over again in a new place. But it also came with a lot of challenges as well. And um as someone who started to understand how money works in Canada, which is different from what I knew back home, I was like, damn, if it's this hard for me to understand how money works here, how much more for other people? Because I do have a background in finance. I have a degree in finance, and for someone like me, you would expect that, oh, with your whole degree in finance, it should be easier for you to understand money in Canada. But then it was completely different from what I was used to. So that became like the motivation for me to say, you know what, share more of how money works abroad for new immigrants in Canada. And I started to create content about it from there.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Well, that's that's interesting. And I think it's something that people don't really think about because there's so many things, I'm sure, when you're immigrating to a new country to think about that we don't think about our money. So, for you know, people who do immigrate to a new country, what what are some of the biggest financial challenges for them? I mean, is it just setting up a bank account? Is it something more advanced?

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Of course, it's something more. And I think this goes for even those who are who were born here but growing up, maybe most schools don't do enough work when it comes to giving financial education and financial literacy. So they would still they might still have to go through those challenges. And some of those buckets as it relates to finance include like the tax system, the credit system, um, understanding banking, what kind of accounts to use, um, many other systems, credit score. Credit score is also a really good one. From where I'm from, we pay everything in cash. Then moving to Canada, we don't we I mean, it's a credit-driven economy, it's not just cash. You have to use credit cards, you have to know when to pay. And I find that there are a subsector of immigrants who move here, don't want to use their credit card because it feels like, oh, I don't want to get into debt. I heard this is how people get into trouble. I don't want to get into debt, so they don't use their credit card. And there are also some set of people who just found out the whole concept of using a credit card, they get too excited and overuse it and get into trouble. So it's like I'm trying to get you to use your credit card, but not overuse it. So where do we find in between here? And I find that for the most part, it's the education that a lot of people don't have that helps them to understand the credit system. When you go to a bank, I mean, think about it. When you want to get a new credit card, you walk into the bank, you ask that, hey, I want to get a new credit card. Next thing they give the credit card, you apply. Nobody teaches you how to actually use that credit card, they just hand it over to you. Or you're a teenager, you become of age, you turn 18, you go to the bank to get your first credit card. Next thing they hand over the credit card to you, but the bank officer or whoever you spoke to at the bank would never take their time to tell you, oh, this is how to use your credit card, this is how when to pay, this is how credit card works or credit score, and you have to be intentional about learning that. Then I also find investing as well is very interesting. A lot of people want to invest, they don't know how to start, what kind of investment to do, what's the risk involved, and that those are like the core areas that I find that most people who are new to getting financial literacy usually have challenges.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Yeah, well, that makes a lot of sense as you go through it. Is you know, even again, I have a finance degree, but I didn't learn anything about credit cards. So I ran into issues with my uh credit card when I was in college because I didn't understand how it worked. You know, it was great. I had all this money, and then all of a sudden it's like, oh, the reality of paying it back and the monthly payments and the interest rates, you know, because we don't learn those those very basics. And so I can imagine, excuse me, going to a different country is that becomes a bigger issue because it's different in every country. Um, so you know, one of the things is mindset. How does mindset shape the way immigrants approach money, risk, and opportunity?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

That's a really good one because mindset is everything. I always say mindset controls about 80% of the things you need to do, and only about 20% of it is action. If you have a fixed mindset on certain things, then you're not going to grow. So you need to go from having a fixed mindset to having a growth mindset. Um, a lot of immigrants, one challenge that they have is they don't understand how money works, but they move here instead of shifting that reality, trying to unlearn what they know back home, they come back here with the same mentality, with the same idea, with the same things that they know, and forget that oh, this is a new space. I need to pick things back up again. And some people they feel like just because I was really doing back doing so well back home, I'm starting life all over again here, I can just pick things from where I dropped off. But that's not true. You have to take two steps back to learn again, be a student in the game, in as much as you might feel like you're a very, very maybe you're a high performer, you're really exposed, you know, a lot of things. Still take two steps back and be a student of the game, learn something new, challenge yourself, then get into it. But that fixed mindset holds a lot of people back from actually seeing the growth that they desire.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah, that that makes a lot of sense, is that you know no matter who you are, whether you're an immigrant or not, an immigrant is you need to continue to learn. And that's such an important thing. And as you point out, it's a challenge yourself because it's easy to get complacent, but complacency is where bad things tend to happen, is because you're not adapting to the changes in your life, changes in financial products. So that's wonderful advice. Um, so what does financial readiness look like for someone who's building wealth from the ground up? So somebody moves to a new country and you know, quite often they're starting over. You know, what does that look like for people?

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Oh, this is a good one too, because I remember when I moved to Canada, I was curious to see, oh, so what are the next steps for me? Like there are usually a lot of videos on social media that tells you how to get settled with immigration, how to get your social insurance number, how to do this, how to do that, but none of them really spoke on the financial side on how to get ready and how to properly integrate into the society as a new immigrant. So I had to learn that myself, and because of that, I even did a couple of videos on YouTube to you know get that started. And now I also even created a community to not just help people get financially ready and set, but also help them stay empowered while they are understanding their financial journey in a new landscape. Um, some of the things that I'll say to start off with would be one, open a bank account for sure. Uh, you move here, you need a bank account for everything that you need to do. So opening a bank account is number one, or I should say getting your social insurance number if you don't already have one, social security number, social insurance number, national identity number, depending on what country um you're moving to. Then once you get that done, open a bank account. You would need a checking account if you reside in Canada or in UK US, and if you live in the UK, you need a current account. It's pretty much the same thing, just different nicknames, and you definitely need a savings account as well. So, your current account, your checking account would be what you use for your day-to-day banking, and your savings account will be what you use to set money aside. Then, next, you also want to get a credit card. I know most people are opposed to the idea of getting a credit card because they're like, Oh, I don't want to get it into debt, but you need to understand you're moving to a new economy, it's credit-driven. You need to have a credit card. You shouldn't be worrying that, oh, I don't want to get into debt. Instead, tell yourself, How can I learn how to use a credit card the right way so I don't get into trouble? I'll say that should be the growth mindset you should have instead of the fixed mindset that tells you, Oh, I don't like using a credit card can get you into debt. So speak to your bank, speak to any financial institution you're using, and find out about the credit card options that they have. I would say always start off with credit cards that don't have um any fees. Those ones typically would help you ease into building your credit score and not having to pay any fees, then be intentional about how you're using it, use it from time to time, but don't overutilize it. Like an overutilization is around 30% of the credit limit. So, what that means is if the credit limit is 30 is $1,000, that means you have around $300 to spend on it without overutilizing that credit card. So that would be a sweet spot. So once you have your banking set up, your credit card set up, then you can start to think about like maybe investing if you're ready for it. If you're not, you want to definitely get a job because you need income for you to be able to invest. So that would be the next steps that you would proceed with when it comes to getting settled with um the finance, your finances in abroad when you move as a new immigrant.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Yeah, well, I think you said something that's so important is that you have to adapt to the society and culture that you've moved to, and you have to learn how it works. So if, you know, as you mentioned, if you're moving from somewhere that didn't have credit cards to somewhere where credit card use is a pretty big part of life, then you have to adapt to it. You can't continue the way you have been because then it you'll really struggle. And then I think the other thing that you point out is credit cards are not bad in and of themselves. It's how you use it where issues can crop up. So I think that's so important for people. So I'm I'm glad you're really pointing it out that it's about the intentional usage of credit cards and even, you know, taking that to a broader scope is that debt is not necessarily bad. It's how you use debt that can get you in a lot of trouble. But that can be a positive too.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Yeah. I mean, to add to what you've just said, just to point out the importance of building your credits, because I feel like some people might still say, okay, I just want to pay cash instead of using a credit card. If you have moved to a country where it's a credit-driven economy, your credit score, your credit history becomes a part of your own identity. And it's very important for you to start to build it. So, what are some instances where you having a good credit record might come handy for you? For example, you want to rent a place, some landlords would ask you for your credit report. So, if you don't have a credit report or you don't have a credit score, then you might not be able to get a place. Imagine that being a criteria that someone would use to judge you before giving you rental. That's one. Some employers as well do check your credit record before they do a credit check on you before they give you unemployment. So that is your bread and butter, that is how you survive your means of survival. And imagine you not being able to land a dream job just because you have not been serious about building your credits, and things like you want to get a car, sometimes they ask you for your credit record because that would determine the interest that you're going to get. If you're going to get a cheaper interest rate or you're going to get um a higher interest rate, things like buying a property, so many other things like that, buying a phone, all of these things come handy. So building your credit record is very, very, very important. If you're one of those people who feel like, no, I'm not gonna need it, you're gonna need it. And if you're one of those people who feel like, okay, I know I'm gonna need it, so let me start using it now, but you overuse it, then that could also get you into trouble.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Yeah, so that's that's a really valuable point because uh a lot of people don't think about building the credit history. And so not only is an immigrant, even for you know, married couples, is sometimes both spouses don't have credit cards in their own name. And so it's important for everybody to build their own personal credit history, even if you're married, uh, because things happened. So that's that's wonderful advice to build a credit history. So, you know, one of the things that people struggle with is balancing. So, how do you help people balance between life today, traveling, life experiences, and you know, saving for the future?

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Um, oof, this is a good one because for me, I love to enjoy life. I am a finance and travel content creator. I put the two together because finance is how I make the money, how I build wealth, how I prepare for my retirement, but travel is how I get to enjoy life. And that's why it's not one or the other, it's both of them. Because I always say this as much as we are working, working, working hard, working on all of the schools, working on building wealth, ultimately we are doing it because we want to have a better life. So money should be used as a tool to give you better quality life, a life that brings you joy, happiness, and fulfillment. So you shouldn't feel like you should stay stuck in just the grind or hustle mode. Um, balancing both of them, I always say to prioritize, to have a good, like prioritize ahead or plan ahead. So, in as much as I love to travel, I've been to almost 30 countries now. In as much as I love to travel, I also understand that travel can be expensive. So instead of just taking money out of my savings or setting off my investment to travel, I set aside a separate sinking fund, which I call my travel fund, and I put money in there whenever I have a travel plan or I have I see a good travel deal. I don't go and take money from my savings. I go into that travel fund where I'll have some money to put towards my trip. So that would be my recommendation. And this is not just for travel. Let's say for someone else listening now, you your interest is beyond it's not just travel. Maybe you love fashion, you love beauty, you love something else. You can just create a separate sinking fund for that thing which gives you joy, happiness, and fulfillment, and set money aside every single month or bi-weekly, depending on your pay schedule, into that sinking fund and prioritize it. So think of it like that monthly bill that you pay. So the same way you have to pay your phone bill, you set money aside into your enjoyment account or your whatever it is that you need to help you feel like you are alive and um set money aside into that account. So whenever it's time for you to maybe maybe you're into fashion to go shopping, then you can always take money from there to go shopping without feeling like um you're depriving yourself or you're stealing from your own self. Um, because of my love for travel, I even started a travel brand, Sabia Enjoy, to help people know that they can actually travel the world, see all of the beauty, take them along. We offer group trips and personal private trips as well to take people along to these destinations that they've always dreamt of, feeling like, oh, I can't afford to go there at once. So, because of that, we offer like our payment plan works like a savings account where you set money aside on bi-weekly basis or monthly basis towards your trip, and when the trip is ready, you just take that trip. That's pretty much how we do it. So, yeah, you can always go ahead and still balance it and enjoy life and work at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

I I I love that concept because you know, as you mentioned, then you're not taking money out of your savings or money that you're using for certain things. So, you know, maybe we don't use the word budget, but it's essentially, you know, you're setting up your cash flow to go to different places, you know, to for the different goals. So you have your goal, maybe whatever you're setting aside for your financial independence. And I love that, that you have your travel experiences, I don't know, clothes fund, you know, whatever it is, if you're a sports fan, you know, money to go to sporting events, but that it's a it's an item for you that you're saving for. So I think that's wonderful advice. And I hope that helps people watching and listening to think about it. And also if you're a financial planner, is you know, are you helping clients set up that kind of account where they can use it for whatever they want instead of them taking money from other pops? So that's that's a great way to look at it.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Thank you. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

So, you know, one of the things though for immigrant communities is it can be intimidating, uh certain financial systems. So why do you feel that traditional financial systems can often feel inaccessible or intimidating to immigrant communities?

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Uh, it's a lot of reasons because one, the terminologies, they are not used to it. So people come in here and you tell them something like checking account. Maybe back home. For me personally, we used to call it current account. And our current account was for something different. We our day-to-day banking account was a savings account. So moving here, I find that a checking account is supposed to be your day-to-day banking, and your savings account is what you're meant to use to say. So it's kind of reverse or quite the opposite. So I would say for most immigrants, why it feels intimidated. One of the reasons why it could feel intimidating is the terminologies used, very different, very new for them. Then also, it feels really embarrassing sometimes for you to say you don't know something. And this is in general for us adults, humans in nature, where you're new somewhere, you don't want to seem like you're the new guy in the class or in the room, and you want to feel like you're among already. And when everyone is saying something, you it feels intimidating for you to say, Oh, I don't know how that works. What is that? So instead, you just hold back and you stay quiet, and they're going on about talking about other things, and you can't even relate to it. So I'd say it feels very intimidating to be in spaces where people are way ahead of you and you're not feeling comfortable to talk. That in itself could also be a problem or a challenge, I'd say. Then also, um, because the newcomer programs are not set up in a way that covers in-depth as it relates to finance. I mean, it covers things like career development, getting a home or renting an apartment, going to school. Some of those programs are not tailored for financial literacy. So that gap is always there for a lot of immigrants. And then if you like, oh, you're new here, who do you get to talk to? They don't even know what an advisor is meant to do. And sometimes you even walk into a banking hall, you tell them you want to start investing, they're just selling their products. You speak to an insurance person, they're selling insurance products, they're not educating you how it actually works or what to actually do. Instead, for them is to just sell. So, how is someone who is completely new to the whole system supposed to understand it when the end goal for you is to end your commission, right? So that's why I always that's why I love what I do, which is creating content on social media to help people get educated. For me, I'm not affiliated with this company. I don't stand to benefit anything from them. I will just tell you the general knowledge, the general education, things you need to know. And if at all you decide to invest through this platform, through that bank, or buy this insurance, that'll be completely up to you at that time. But at least you have the general advice and knowledge on what to do so that you're not just being getting sold.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

Yeah, I I I love that. And I think that's so important is for people to recognize that when you talk to these bank representatives or insurance agents or whatever you know, position, if they're paid on commission, then their job is to sell you something. And that's how they get paid. So they're not neutral advisors. And so I'm sorry for people who are watching and listening that are paid on commission. It's just the reality. You know, the yeah, it's the reality. That's how you're paid. I I made commissions early in my career, and I was paid to sell something. Um, so you know, if somebody's paid to sell you something, then they're gonna try to sell you something because that's how they eat. So there's nothing wrong with being a salesperson, but it's just you have to be honest with yourself.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

Yeah, and also be transparent to the person too, because that's the part that most people don't do. They're not transparent to the person.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Yeah, so I think that's important, and I'm making a note, understand how people get paid. Um, I think is super important as part of that as we talk through this. So, what are some tips you give to people who are immigrants, you know, on just getting started with a new financial system? I I know we talked about some of the action steps, but do you have any more general mindset tips or you know, like how do you even get started?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Yeah, I mean, the first thing I always say is to be intentional about understanding how money works here. It's not just a case of you saying, Oh, I'm gonna go open a bank account and that's it or whatever. So be intentional and be intentional about learning. Um, the same way you're taking getting a job very seriously. You should also be learning how to manage your money very seriously. And when it comes to managing money, There are core pillars like saving or making the money, I should say, which is your job, getting an income, saving the money, making sure you're staying efficient, you're making good interest, your money is not sitting idle, and also growing the money, which is typically through investing, other avenues for you to build well. So those are things to keep in mind. And um, there are several ways for you to learn. You can learn on your own through YouTube videos, Google, these days, even AI tools can teach you things, and um, you can also get programs, there are online programs that can teach you um how money works in different regards. I find that a lot of people are more interested in investing, so you can get online programs. I even have a program as well that guides you through um financial education and investing. You can also join communities. I think communities are a great way for you to feel like you're a part of something instead of doing things alone. I do have a community smart money group where I have over 200 members who I support on their financial and wealth building journey just to give them that education and support, knowledge, just be there for whenever they have questions, so they don't feel like they're doing it alone. So get that support, get that knowledge, be intentional and experiment. Don't be too scared to try out things. It's very normal for you to feel like, oh my gosh, this is new to me. But it's normal that is your brain doing its job. Your brain's job is to protect you, right? And anything that might feel a bit scary out of the comfort for you, it would try to hold you back from doing it. But you knowing that, oh yeah, I want to take a bit of risk, I want to experiment, I want to try things out, just push yourself a little bit to learn, at least learn, then take risks within your comfort zone, experiment and try things out. So, for example, if you're someone who you are interested to invest, you you've heard a lot about investing, you don't know how to go about it, and you've learned a lot, you've watched a lot of YouTube videos. The best ways for you to learn is by doing. You don't learn something by not practicing, right? So instead of just continuing to consume all of that knowledge, then say, okay, I'm going to experiment, take a risk with $100 or $50 to try to see if I invest, what's gonna happen, how would I go about it? And just play around with that hundred dollars. And you see, there are many brokerage platforms these days that allow you to do um, I forgot what it's called, where you just invest with play money and um you practice investing that way. However, I always say when something is at risk for you, at stake for you, you take it more seriously. So I'll say try with $100 to see and to learn, and then as time goes on, you can continue to increase and opt that contribution into your investment. And that's fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Yeah. So that's great. And for everybody watching and listening, there will be a link to Bazola's uh community in the show notes, so you can go there to check out uh Bozola's uh community. And um, you know, I I did have a question for you. So, you know, say you're an immigrant, you watch these videos. Is do you have any tips for people on how to, you know, decide if like this is legitimate uh advice or if it's scammy, you know, that red flag advice?

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Yeah, yeah. Um, so it depends on what it is. That as we spoke about there are different segments as it relates to finance. So there's investing, there's insurance, there is um credit, there's so many things like that. Depending on what it is, there's always going to be a regulatory organization, a regulatory body for every country that you're residing in. So let's say, for example, as it relates to investing, in Canada, we have what is called the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. And any brokerage or any platform you're using to invest, you want to make sure that they are registered under that platform or with that platform. If you're also going to be using maybe agents to invest, you want to ensure that they are licensed to give you investment advice or create an investment plan for you. If you live in somewhere like the US, you want to make sure that you have the um securities investor protection fund and just make sure that you know it could be any name, just Google investment investor protection fund plus the name of your country and whatever protection that you have or um regulatory authority that that is available for you, you can find it. It will come up for you and you can see if that's platform, organization, brokerage, if they are registered on that there, then you can be sure that they are safe. So get making sure that whoever is doing things for you, they are licensed, they are authorized to do so, they are regulated because I mean it's your money. You want to make sure that you are protecting your hard-earned money with due diligence and not just giving random people access to it, anyhow. So be intentional about your money, make sure that you're giving it to the right people, but at the same time, don't be too in a hurry to just give your money away. And also, a very big tip that I'll say I know I've not mentioned this since, but it's kind of off the point. Do not be in haste to get rich quick. Many, many scams, many opportunities that so-called opportunities that people fall for, it is because they are packaged to get you, they are packaged in a way that it sounds too good. If you're thinking about it properly, some of these things that people fall for, you would know that they are not even real in the first place. So anything that seems too good to be true, then it probably is right. So be very, very, very careful about your hard-earned money. If something sounds like, oh, this is going to work overnight, run away from it. When it comes to building wealth, it is it comes from consistent, long-term efforts. Nobody gets wealthy or successful or blows up overnight. They have to continuously put in some efforts, it takes time, it takes consistency in learning, growing, and building. It doesn't happen by miracle, it doesn't happen overnight. And um, don't let someone else don't fall for the scam that someone else will just take all of your hard work, it's your money. So it's it's your responsibility to protect it. I'm not saying don't take risks, take risks to a reasonable extent, ensure things are regulated, um, they're licensed, whoever you're working with is licensed. They they have some online appearance. I always say if you're partnering or working with someone, they need to exist somewhere on the internet. You can where you can check on your own, do your own research, do your findings, but don't be in a hurry to say, oh, I want to make all this money overnight, I want to get rich quickly. That is how people lose all their money.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Yeah, and for people watching and listening, is you know, you've you may have heard some of the podcasts where I've had on people who uh are experts in the areas of fraud and scam. Uh, you know, you definitely check out my episode uh The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Scammers, uh, where we talked about this because it's exactly as you talked about, Priscilla, is that, you know, they get you to hurry, they get you to, you know, they pressure you to make decisions, they isolate you. That, you know, the scammers run, you know, from certain playbooks, but they psychologically manipulate you to do these things. So, like you said, the best advice is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, because there's no magic out there. There's no magic way to make money. Um, at least that we know of, probably.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

I don't think there is it would be on what we know unless you win the lottery out there. And that's the lottery tickets can be costly.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

But you know, every once in a while, I'll buy a lottery ticket. You know, I mean it's two dollars. You know, as long as you're not buying, spending all your money on lottery tickets, it can be fun.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

So definitely not advise to go out there and buy lottery tickets. But you know, if you want to spend two bucks every once in a while to dream of winning a hundred million, I don't think there's anything wrong with it. So, Priscilla, to wrap up, I have what's called the get ready hot take trio. These are three quick questions that I ask all of my guests. The first one is what's one money myth you're trying to break?

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Making people think that, especially immigrants, think that they cannot make it abroad. Everyone can make it.

SPEAKER_01 30:13

Anyone can make it abroad.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Anyone can make it.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

I I love that. That's wonderful advice. So, you know, I immigrants, underserved communities, women, anybody who feels like they can't make it, you can make it. So that's powerful advice. So let's get out the time machine for a minute. If you could go back in time, knowing what you know now about money, what advice would you give your younger self?

SPEAKER_00 30:41

I would invest in myself first. I think investing in yourself is the highest form of investment you can ever make. And that that is bound to you the returns in hundreds of fold. So investing in myself first would be the first thing I would have done. And when I say investing in myself, I mean things like education, health, appearance, you know, many things that helps you feel better, look better, stay empowered, stay knowledgeable, and it would always bring back more and more value.

SPEAKER_01 31:13

Yeah, I think that's so important. And as you said, is education and knowledge is power. Um, you know, we can talk about whether you know, a college degree is worth it, you know, in the in the US, a college degree, university degree, depending on the country, is but but knowledge does help you, especially if you have the right knowledge. Uh, it can make a huge difference in your career, how much money you earn, uh, you know, or you know, if you're doing a side business or whatever, it can really help you. So the last question is what's your number one tip to change the way we think about money?

SPEAKER_00 31:52

See money as a tool. Money is a tool in itself, not the end. So money should be used as a way to help you get a better life, be better, you know, help others around you, help your loved ones, but not be part of your identity.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

I love that. And I I love that you added to help others around you because we we forget sometimes, you know, we talk about all these other things, savings, investing, debt, and all these other things, but your money can have a lot of impact on your family, on your community, that you can do a lot of good with your money when you have when you have everything else taken care of for yourself. You can use a lot of your money to have impact. So, Basola, where can people learn more about you? Your work is the whiz queen and the resources that you share.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Um, definitely on Instagram. I'm very active on there. I create social media content to help people learn more about finance, investing, business, entrepreneurship, travel, and the likes. And you can also find me on YouTube as well. My handle on both platforms is the same name, We Screen. And these days I've been liking a lot of live streams on TikTok and Instagram. So you'll find me on there occasionally doing my live streams or on LinkedIn as well. You find me on LinkedIn too. And I'll share with you the links to my community, my website, and other details as well. So you can check them in the show notes.

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Fantastic. And that's what I was just about to say: if you have access to the show notes, you'll find all these links in the show notes. So, Prisola, thanks for joining us on Get Ready Before Life Happens.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Thank you so much for having me, Tony. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Have a good day. Bye.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Yeah, and thank you everyone, as always, for tuning in to this episode of Get Ready Before Life Happens. If you learned something today, change the way you think about money, please be sure to subscribe and like this video. You can also go to my website at TonyStewar.com to uh get access to my newsletter, or if you can support my work at buymeacoffee.com slash Tony Stewart. Because when life happens, the way you think about money matters,