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Financial Literacy and the Power of Credit · Divas That Care Network

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's Divas That Care Radio.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Divas That Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is a global movement for women, by women, engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: To find out more about the movement, visit DivasThatCare.com after the show.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Divas That Care.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Candice Gish.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: If this is your very first time tuning into the Divas That Care, a huge welcome.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: We are now in our 12th season.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: We have an amazing array of hosts on the Divas That Care network, so you want to check them out.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: And we are listened to in over 30 countries around the world.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's because of all of our amazing listeners, everybody that's been with us the last 12 years.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's why we're able to do that, and we've been expanding and having a great time.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're going to be, I shouldn't say we're going to be introducing a brand new diva to our family because I don't think Mo would like to be called a diva.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we're really excited that Mo Raffi is going to be joining us on the Divas That Care Network and sharing a little bit about what he does.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: So Mo, welcome to the Divas.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to be chatting with you today.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for having me, Candice.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it is a pleasure.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: It is, you know, what you have to offer.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think our divas, our listeners, our tribe around the world is going to really enjoy that.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: So Mo, would you mind introducing yourself to all of us today?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm happy to be here.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: So my name is Mo Raffi.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a credit coach in Canada.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: I spent most of my, I guess, career in the banking world.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: And now I sort of have my own practice where I help people learn about the banking system and taking charge of their money, pursuing their dreams, all that kind of stuff.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: And that's kind of where I am.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, that's what I do.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you, Mo, why did you decide to go into the financial industry?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of just fell into it.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: My first job in university was as a teller.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: at Scotiabank, that's a bank in Canada.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I just kind of moved up from there.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: And from there, I guess I learned the ranks and I learned all of the systems and figured out what works, what doesn't work.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then one thing led to another.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: I just kept moving around type of thing.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: And that sort of led me to this career, basically.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I love it.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I find that financial planning and financial literacy is really important.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And what you're doing is really helping a lot of individuals out there.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to ask you why that's important.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Why is it important for people to understand about their finances?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: Honestly, Kenneth, it's crazy.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I speak to people all over the world.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: Money is Very important, right?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: And people tend to not– people aren't really taught how to use their money.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I saw this across the board.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: I saw it across the board that people were intimidated when they went into the bank, right?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: People weren't really sure what to do or who to speak to or how to negotiate money.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: and really take charge of their own money.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so I found that to be very inspiring.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, hey, I've been in all of these systems and I can empower people.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: I can help people learn all of these systems so they can turn around and take matters into their own hands.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's why it's important to me.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like there should be more people like myself, I guess, globally to just kind of educate people.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's what inspires me.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and I think it's really important, too, to have people like yourself really teach the younger generations.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: In high schools and in college, have a course on financial literacy so that these young individuals coming up will understand that.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Because I know with myself, it was a very intimidating time.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody ever talked to me about money and the importance of saving and just having an understanding on what's out there.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I really find that the education part was lacking quite a bit.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you're definitely seeing more people getting involved in teaching, but not to the extent of what you're saying, too.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: There's not a lot of people out there that are really empowering the individual themselves.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: No, absolutely.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's money, taxes...
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: And also health.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: I'm also a big advocate in teaching health in terms of nutrition and what things that boost your immune system versus just popping pills.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: There's so many key elements that should be taught to people all over the world, but they're not.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I think there's a huge demand and people are crying out for this type of stuff.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: I completely agree with you.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me a little bit about your program and how your program can help our listeners.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: So we do like a coaching program.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: We basically look at our client's profile to see where they are, what their credit score is, and how long they've had a certain banking relationship.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then we just kind of work from there to say, okay, this is where you are.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: In the next five years, what do you want your net worth to be?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to buy that property?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want some passive income?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: What are the goals?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then we find a way backwards to kind of make that happen for them.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: Within Canada, we do have certain connections and certain, I guess, networks to help facilitate a lot of those things.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: So that's kind of how it works, and we guide and, I guess, hold our clients' hands, basically.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And what an important thing to do.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of people don't realize, you know, we hear about credit scores and we hear about, you know, different things on how to get approved for loans and things like that, but we don't really understand it.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you offer courses.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: I know that you do a one-on-one, but do you offer like workshops and stuff like that also?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: So we're pretty good on Instagram and on TikTok.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: There are courses and just kind of like these live trainings that we also do.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_02: And people do say, oh my gosh, why didn't anyone tell me this?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: That type of little golden nuggets, we do try our best to kind of drop those.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, that's kind of the bulk of what we do.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's pretty cool.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I noticed that you have a master class.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about that.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: So the masterclass was essentially, so I've been doing this now for three years, like officially.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: But I would say the first year or so was essentially clients would all have these questions and they'd figure out, they would want to know, like, how does this work?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: How does that work?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: How much should my credit score be?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so we kind of put all of those questions and the whole process and everything and how it all works, we all put that in the masterclass.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was a huge turnout.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: We had a bunch of people and kind of old testimonials of our clients.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then after the masterclass, people pretty much know exactly what is possible and what we can do for them, basically.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I like that.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: I know that it was probably an interesting choice to come on to the Divas That Care, but we're really about women empowerment.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to talk to you a little bit about that because I think A lot of women don't understand the financial part of it.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: If we're in a partnership, sometimes the husband takes control of a lot of this.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Do you find that that happens and that now women are wanting to be more empowered in regards to their finances?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: I honestly believe this, Candice.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think each individual should be responsible for their own money.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like we should have our own ability to control and make decisions regarding our own money.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: We have to be responsible.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's absolutely huge.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, things are changing.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: Times are changing.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_02: Gender norms, all these things are just going away.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: At the end of the day, it's a collaborative effort, I feel.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: And, yeah, I do think people should have their own kind of control when it comes to their money.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: And this masterclass, I know that some of our listeners have, you know, young children in, you know, high school and college, like we had mentioned before.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: And do you think that the masterclass would be a great thing for them to do, you know, perhaps even as a family, so that they can sit down and have those conversations so that they can say, you know what, I know this person, his name is Mo, and Mo can help us go through this, but this is a great starting point.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: I did my best to put in concepts that people don't necessarily think about in terms of banking and credit and buying property.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: All of that kind of little, I guess, golden nuggets are in there.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, I would say it would be worth in terms of knowledge.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: I
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: love that.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: And Mo, one of the things I want to ask you too, like we do have our global program here and You are from Canada and you work mostly with Canadians.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Will this masterclass and the things that you do, will this help some of our other listeners in other parts of the world?
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: So the majority of, I would say, credit, we have some clients in the States.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: We do have some kind of programs overseas, things like that as well.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: For the most part, you just have to be above the age of 18, essentially.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: It would pretty much apply to any, I guess, country.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say it would be worth it.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: Just as long as you're age of majority, then these concepts definitely apply.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: That is absolutely perfect.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: I want to ask you another thing.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: What other things are really important to you?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: I know that I had seen some of the questionnaire that you had actually filled out for me, but I'm interested.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Why is the law of attraction important to you?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because that is something we talk about quite a bit on our program, but why is it important to you?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, really?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, nice.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think, honestly, we attract what we put out into the world.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I think people, what you guys are doing, what you girls are doing, everything that's out in the world right now, you need to put it out there, and that's what's going to be coming to you.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: What's the saying?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: Your thoughts become your feelings.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: Your feelings become your actions.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I can't tell you how many of my friends and my family you know, personally are just kind of glued to the news and just scrolling how terrible the world is.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: And in reality, if you actually do a study, you look at it, we're actually doing way better than we were in the last like 10, 15 years in terms of health and things.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: I suppose COVID is another variable.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I think generally speaking, a law of attraction, if you surround yourself with people who are like-minded, who are positive, who are, you know, uplifting and they fill you up I feel like that's what can keep you going and can really lift you and motivate you, I think.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: I completely agree with you there.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of what we've been talking about for the last 12 years is really surrounding yourself with the five people that are going to lift you up and empower you and make you the best version of yourself.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm really excited that you were able to come onto our program today.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Mo, one thing I want to ask you is do you have some tips and some tools, things that you can help our listeners with today?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, generally speaking, one big one, I mean, this is pretty much global.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't even suggest Canada.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: That would be to, when you're talking about credit, always use your credit card.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: Don't ever use your debit card or your cash.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: And so as you're doing it, it builds up points.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's basically what will give you that leverage when you are trying to negotiate with any bank or financial institution.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: That would be my one tip.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: The other tip would be to figure out your cash flow.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is universal, and I ask this to all of my clients, all of my coaching clients, to say, hey, look, how much money is coming in every month?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: How much are you spending every month?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: How much is left over?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: And are you happy with that?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: Are you okay with that?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Are you not okay with that?
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: And where are you going to be in the next five years if nothing changes?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: you know, and just write that down on a piece of paper and stare at it.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's the real wake-up call.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: Most people don't even do that.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: I would say that would be my second tip.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: Those are great tips.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: I really like them.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we've had an amazing cash flow family come onto our program, and they really have talked great things and inspired a lot of people.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: So it's always great to hear another point of view and how that works also because, you know, It's not a conversation that a lot of people have, and it's not a conversation that you have within even your family.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to ask you a little bit about that, too, is how important is it to have those conversations between spouses, between yourself and your children?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: And do you talk about these conversations when perhaps you are doing planning with families and stuff, too?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: We work with a lot of couples, a lot of families.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: It's a huge component.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: It is so crucial.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: When you talk about marriages, when you talk about raising families and things, money is like a big pillar.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: They say money cannot buy happiness, but the absence of money causes unhappiness, right?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's a tool, and people have kind of these ideas of what they want to do, what they want to achieve, and how much time they want to spend here or traveling or spending time here or spending time there.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's all connected to money.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's so crucial to talk about these things and be open about them because then things just kind of hit you in the face, and then you're left scrambling, and that's what causes major problems.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: We hear a lot about that.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: We've had different individuals come under our program and really talk about those relationships too.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: And And I want to thank you so much for being able to have those conversations.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: I can really tell by what you're doing and by reading about you that you really are empowering people and helping them take control.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of that is when you don't understand your finances, you feel out of control and you feel like there's no– you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: But when you can talk to somebody like yourself that has an understanding and that you can teach somebody– at a level that they understand, I think it's so important.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to dumb it down and just like simplify like, hey, look, this is where you are.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: This is where you are going.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: And this is what's going to happen if nothing changes.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it's so related to your health, your peace of mind, the levels of anxiety that's out there.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's all linked to money.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is absolutely crucial.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Can I ask you why you think that other individuals, financial organizations, they don't have more people like yourself doing that for people?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: I suppose it's kind of like a niche.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: There are financial planners, I guess.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: That's the official term, but they're employees of banks.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say financial planners are the kind of official person out there, but they're geared towards, I guess, selling bank products, which I did not want to do.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I could have gone down that route.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: I could have just done that.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: But at the end of the day, I wanted to do something that genuinely helped people.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: Also, the official financial planner has, I think, a limit of, okay, if the person's worth a million dollars, you deal with them.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: If they're less than that, then you just hand them off to the regular bank person.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I didn't like that either.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, okay, I mean, everyone has problems.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone needs advice.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone needs guidance.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I suppose I just fell into this niche and here we are.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think you're doing a fabulous job and I'm really excited that you're able to come onto the program today to really talk about that.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: Mo, how can our listeners get a hold of you?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: How can they check you out so that they can work with you?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: So we're mainly on Instagram.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: So the handle is raffycredit.ca.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Excellent.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Well, again, I am so happy that you came on to the Youth That Care, Mo.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: It has been a pleasure chatting with you.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: Is there any last-minute things you'd love to share with our amazing listeners out there?
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, no, I absolutely, I glanced over all of your stuff.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: I love the work that you guys are doing.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: Candice, Divas That Care, keep going, keep being, you know, inspiring women all over the world.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think people need to wake up.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: People need to put the mainstream media down and tune in to, you know, beneficial, you know, pieces of advice and this kind of collaboration that you have.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: Just keep going.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I would suggest and, yeah, I would say Just keep on going.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: It has been a pleasure.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I do hope in the future you do come back on to the Divas That Care again, Mo, because we love having amazing individuals like yourself sharing with us and empowering us because I know our listeners today are going to be absolutely inspired to go and check you out.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: And what I'm going to be doing at the end of our program is I will be posting all your social media with some links so that our listeners can go and check that out and get a hold of you.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: I would love that, Candice.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much again.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you to all of our listeners to checking out the Divas That Care.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: We love it when you guys collaborate with all of our guests on our program because they're here to support you in any way that they can.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that you will check out Mo.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you will check out all of our other divas on our network at DivasThatCare.com.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that everybody has a fantastic day.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: And please remember to be kind.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: We need a lot more kindness in this world and kindness And that's what the Divas That Care is all about.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: Take care, everyone.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: This show was brought to you by Divas That Care.
• 19:25
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