Ignacio Aguirre: Financial Education Entrepreneur

Today, we are pleased to feature in the Sammy Spotlight - Ignacio Aguirre!

Ignacio is the founder of Snowball Financial Education. He is a software developer with a Finance and Educational Development background building tools to improve people’s lives through smart decision making skills.

He loves taking abstract ideas and turning them into working products.

I LOVE READING

Sam X Renick: Share a little about you, your current family, your non-professional life, a favorite hobby, etc., so readers can get a sense of who you are.

Ignacio Aguirre: I’m originally from Lima, Peru. At the age of 18 I got into Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia to study Business and Finance. I love reading, learning about programming, developing games, and surfing. I’m also a Software Engineer. I became one while building my financial education games.

$50 FROM GRANDMA AND GRANDPA

Sam: Tell us about what it was like growing up - your family and community? What was one of your first money memories?

Ignacio: I got $50 from my grandparents for my 12 year old birthday. When I asked my father what to do with the money, he told me to “get that money working for me”. So instead of buying a new videogame, I purchased stocks in a company called Atacocha, a mining company in Peru. It went from $ 0.50 to $5 in 6 months. I thought investing was easy; funny thought.

FIRST JOB: CONNECT AND CREATE COMMUNITIES

Sam: What was your (first job formal or informal)? What did you learn from it? Share a little about the experience?

Ignacio: I worked at Lumni, an education company that provides a viable alternative for funding college. They did income share agreements, so a student gets on a contract to pay a percentage of income after they finish their career, and Lumni pays for their education.

I learned to connect with people and create communities to expand the impact of the program by linking Lumni alumni with current students.

MONEY TALK WITH MOM AND DAD

Sam: Did your parents talk to you and/or teach you about money / personal finance growing up? What do you remember? What, if anything stuck?

Ignacio: Always.

When we ate out, my father challenged us to guess the total amount the check was going to be.

Every time we got money gifts, regardless of the amount, he would tell us to save, spend, and invest from that amount.

Waiting in line he’d make us calculate how long it would take us to reach the front of the line.

I’m sure there are many more exercises I can’t remember, but they were always there. I still do all of these in my head nowadays. 

MY MAIN MONEY MENTOR

Sam: Who was your primary or one your main money mentors as a child or teen?

Ignacio: Obviously my father.

EARNING CLOSE TO NOTHING

Sam: At what age and how did you come to realize money had a value?

Ignacio: At the age of 12. I was paid to do chores and earned close to nothing.

INTEREST IS INTERESTING

Sam: What if anything peaked your interest in personal finance or financial services?

Ignacio: Earning money so fast at the start.

HAVING REAL IMPACT

Sam: Tell us about your current career and why it is important to you and what drew you to the financial services industry?

Ignacio: I design learning experiences that have a real impact through software. It’s important to me to always create things that serve others. I can never stay still, so I am always creating. I feel a sense of responsibility to give back to the world. I’ve been given so much in my life. I want to give back doing something I enjoy.

VISION AND MISSION

Sam: Share with us your vision, mission, goals for the future?

Ignacio: My vision is to have a world where people know how to make important decisions about their futures that make them really happy. 

My mission is to create something that will have a real impact in people’s lives. I currently believe that will be in the education world.

ONE MONEY HABIT

Sam: One question I ask everyone is: If you could only teach a child one money habit, what would it be and why?

Ignacio: Without a doubt it is to invest. Start early. Invest as often as you can and as much as you can. Put it an index funds or companies with real value and you’ll be happy you did.

FINANCIAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

Sam: Should personal finance be taught in schools?

Ignacio: Financial education, along with Emotional Intelligence, are the most important skills a school can teach you.

Basically every decision you make when you’re an adult involves money. It’s crazy that we’re learning Geometry, which is also important, and we’re not learning how to properly invest, which is 100 times more important.

Connect and network with Ignacio Aguirre on LinkedIn or visit him at his website: SnowballFinances.com.

Thank you Ignacio Aguirre for the important work you do and sharing your story with Sammy Rabbit and his friends!

If you have questions, suggestions or would like learn more about Sammy Rabbit and his mission, contact us!

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