Latino roots at heart of financial planner’s message

It started with a book – and it ended with one. After he lost two jobs, and his family was nearly homeless in East Los Angeles, Louis Barajas’s father bet everything he had saved to buy a welding machine to start his own business. It was a risky move for a Mexican immigrant, but the faith it represented made an impression on young Louis.

Now, as renowned financial life healer, speaker, and author, Barajas credits his childhood experiences with his foray into finance.

"When I was 13, the IRS showed up at our door," Barajas recalls. They informed his father that he hadn’t filed his business tax returns.  “My father looked at me, because he didn’t understand. I told the IRS agent that I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I asked her if there was a book about it.”

That evening, his father drove him to the nearest bookstore 14 miles away. He bought a book on taxes and read it cover to cover. He prepared his family’s taxes. “It wasn’t perfect, but I think the IRS woman felt bad for me.” 

And the rest was history. Barajas went on to attend UCLA and later earned his MBA from Claremont Graduate School. However, he would still face challenges. He entered the financial planning industry only to become disillusioned by its focus on product sales over genuine financial guidance.

"I realized that no amount of financial literacy would help the poor," Barajas’s says. "Poverty was a mindset."

Determined to make a difference, Barajas began giving talks about the Latino mindset and financial literacy. His insights were both enlightening and humorous, resonating deeply with his audience. This eventually led to a book deal with Harper Collins, further amplifying his message.

“It was never about the money,” he says. “It was about your life. It was about money to create money as a tool to build a better quality of life for people. Where I grew up, when somebody died we would have car washes, make T-shirts and sell them to raise money to bury that family member because we didn't have money to bury people in East LA. This was in my head – that I can change the world in my community.”

Barajas went on to write five books, all aimed at helping ordinary people with the everyday challenges of managing their money and making pressing financial decisions. But through it all, he’s never lost touch with his roots – or forgotten hard learned lessons of his childhood.

“I still help people from the Barrio to this day,” says Barajas. “I have some of the most iconic Latin entertainers in the world that we're doing all the financial planning for – all the insurance, investments, paying their bills, buying their homes and their cars. So I have a very eclectic client base.”