Siblings Israel and Sunem Tovar come from humble beginnings. “Our parents were able to raise a family of eight in Los Angeles in the early 2000s on a salary of $17,500 a year, so we grew up with a lot of money trauma and money scarcity,” Israel tells Insider.
When they decided to start their financial freedom journey in 2018, Israel was making $44,000 a year as a teacher, while Sunem was making $20,000 a year with $42,000 in student loans. Sunem says, “All of my money was literally going to paying off my loan, and I started feeling very overwhelmed by it.”
The two decided to hold each other accountable on their journey to become debt-free and build a combined net worth of $325,000, and they say three books and two podcasts helped them reach their goals.
“Your Money or Your Life” by Vicki Robin is a nine-step guide to changing your mindset and habits around your finances. In the book, Robin encourages readers to consider their time — or “life energy” — as their most precious resource, a finite resource that you can’t afford to give to a 9-to-5 job for the rest of your life.
Before reading this book, says Sunem, “I had just been focusing on debt repayment, but after reading the book, I started investing, because I realized I didn’t want to have an employer dictate my time or life energy forever.”
Financial independence blogger JL Collins wrote “The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life” for his daughter, to keep her from making the same mistakes that he’d made with his own money. “The Simple Path to Wealth” encourages readers to spend less than they earn, invest the surplus, and avoid debt at any cost to achieve financial independence.
“By the end of the book, the reader understands that building wealth doesn’t have to be difficult,” says Sunem. “I recommend this book to many because it was very easy to understand, with captivating stories that motivate folks to start their wealth-building journey.”
The Tovars swear by bestselling author Erin Lowry’s “Broke Millennial Takes on Investing” because it breaks down complicated financial terms and concepts into simple language.
Sunem has a Master’s degree in finance, but she acknowledges that financial terms are confusing and difficult to understand even for someone with her education. Says Sunem, “Lowry makes financial terms easily digestible for the average person.”
Jamila Souffrant invites guests and experts to discuss budgeting, debt payoff, and investing on her podcast, “Journey to Launch.”
“‘Journey to Launch’ helped me so much when I quit my first teaching job, had a mortgage, debt, and no plan or financial literacy,” says Israel. “This podcast motivated me so much to get my finances in order, build wealth, and gain clarity on my life goals.”
Jannese Torres-Rodriguez started the podcast “Yo Quiero Dinero” for the Latinx community, but she also invites other people of color to share their stories and expertise to promote economic solidarity between all people of color.
Says Israel, “I started listening to this podcast when I was already on my way to financial independence. Through her infectious energy, culturally responsive lens, and inspirational guests, Janesse further encouraged me to continue on my financial journey even when it got hard.”
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