New financial apps demystify stocks and bonds for Latinos
NEW YORK — Carlos Garcia was three years into his first job in technology at Merrill Lynch when he first learned what a 401(k) retirement savings account was. He was floored when he learned that a colleague had already saved $30,000 in three years, and the company had matched it.
The concept of making money off money was foreign to Garcia, an MIT graduate who was born in Texas to immigrants from Mexico. His story is not uncommon among U.S. Hispanics, who lag behind other demographic groups when it comes to saving for retirement. But for Garcia, the episode became the inspiration many years later for Finhabits, a bilingual digital service designed to make savings and investment accessible for Latinos.