New York State En Espanol – Planificacion de Jubilacion – For the Hispanic Community

This week we have the pleasure of chatting with Mateo Galindo Lozano, who has been a licensed clinical psychologist in Colombia since 2022 and is currently the Business Specialist at the Committee for Hispanic Children & Families in NYC. He helps licensed childcare providers improve their businesses through 1:1 consultation and training on business-related topics.

Mateo Galindo Lozano, we’re so excited to talk with you today. You are a business specialist with the Committee for Hispanic Children & Families in New York City. Tell us about your work and clients.

I'm a business specialist at the Committee for Hispanic Children & Families in New York City. We're a nonprofit organization that focuses on the continuum and improvement of education in specific communities in all five boroughs of New York. We're focused on children as well as families. We also help small business owners, specifically small business owners in the childcare industry.

My role is to connect with the community and identify ways to expand opportunities for small business owners in the family childcare industry. I do direct business training with some of these home-based childcare providers. We try to be their support, whether it's economical support or moral support. With my support we explore how they are going to maintain their business, which includes money management, and savings and retirement.

We met at a UNIDOS US event in a session on retirement security. Is retirement savings a very common conversation in the communities where you are working?

Retirement planning is not a widely discussed topic, but it's important. The challenge is increasing awareness of the options available and understanding if they are a good fit. At UNIDOS, I became more involved in retirement planning and expanding my knowledge as I believe it is a crucial aspect for success. My background is in psychology and as I am re-entering the business field, I have a lot to learn. I am working to bring these conversations to my providers, making it easy for them to understand the options available. To achieve this, we are planning to host conferences where experts from various fields can share their knowledge with our providers. This is our current focus in New York City.

What do you think we can do to make emergency and retirement savings easier for this committee?

I really think it's all about knowledge and being able to clearly explain things so that our childcare providers can fully understand. I believe that we have experts who can make it easy to understand. Many providers are not aware that these options even exist, and they often handle their finances in cash. I understand this, but it’s important to consider other options like employee benefits that can benefit not only the providers but also their employees and the organization as a whole. It’s all about having a better understanding.

I also believe it's about empowering these women, who are not just babysitters, they are business owners and professionals in the childcare industry. They may not see themselves this way, but I think by changing this mindset, it will make them more open to receiving this information. We are currently planning a financial literacy event exclusively for childcare providers. We will bring in experts from banks and retirement businesses to make this information easily accessible. We’ll also invite other successful childcare providers who have been in the business for over 20-25 years to share their experiences.

I have noticed that many providers can become discouraged and lose motivation, questioning if this business is still for them. Our goal is to provide them with the information and resources to help with this. I think this event could be groundbreaking because it is not a common occurrence in New York.

It is easier to find in other parts of the country, but in New York City the cost of living is high. In our community, we have a lot of providers who live in different stages of economic circumstances, which means they may not realize that these options are available to them. The key is breaking down the information and making it accessible.

The state of New York has passed legislation authorizing an automatic IRA program that small businesses would provide to their workers. Do you think a program like that might be important?

Yes, I absolutely do. I really hope that within the next couple of years we will be able to launch such a program here, as sometimes it is not only accessibility but also simplifying the complexity of the programs that is important.

I believe this program would also break down barriers by making retirement plans easier to understand and accessible. And that's what it's all about, breaking down barriers, making these plans more understandable and easy to access. This program is a great example of what's possible, and I believe there should be more programs like this that use technology to achieve this goal.

There are a few things to consider. In my work I have found that it is essential to be in the field and really listen to the needs of the community. Every community has different needs and being in the field allows you to be a voice for these people and provide feedback to the political figures and representatives of the community. With that said, I believe the program is a great example and I hope to be able to expand upon it and inform providers about it before it launches.

How much does language matter -- do you feel like your small businesses are seeing material and information in Spanish that's relevant to them as small business owners?

It’s a good point. At the Committee for Hispanic Children & Families, we strive to assist all communities and not discriminate against any group. We often take it upon ourselves to translate any information we receive in English into Spanish, to make it accessible to providers who may not speak English. This is particularly important as many of our providers, who operate in all five boroughs including Staten Island, primarily speak Spanish, and many English-speaking parents prefer to bring their children to these providers so that their children can learn Spanish. But you’re right, important information about financial services is often not made available directly in relevant languages.

Thank you Mateo! We appreciate your perspective and insights. Want to connect? You can reach Mateo Galindo Lozano on LinkedIn and by email at mlozano@chcfinc.org. You can learn more about the work of the Committee for Hispanic Families and Children here.

Are you in New York City? The CHCF hopes you will be interested in being a benefactor of this year's Annual Gala for the Committee for Hispanic Children & Families – sponsorship information at the link. CHCF is a grassroots organization with important direct service impact on under-served neighborhoods in New York City. Mateo says: If you want to learn more about CHCF's direct impact, view our Annual Report any time online -- it's easy to skim, with lots of data about our evolving approach to direct services. Please feel free to reach out directly if you have any questions!

This piece was featured in the February 9, 2023, edition of Retirement Security Matters. For more fresh thinking on retirement savings innovation, check out the newsletter here