Community Highlights: Meet Lino Perez of Virtuity Financial Partners

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lino Perez.

Hi Lino, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, to indigenous parents of Zapotec descent. We have a big Zapotec community here in Los Angeles that allowed my parents to thrive via the community’s support. I have a diverse background based on my upbringing in Koreatown combined with my Zapotec culture, as well as the education I received in the suburbs of Woodland Hills as a teen. During this phase, teens gravitated towards their own cliques, and I found refuge in the underground Hip Hop scene of Los Angeles. Years later upon graduating high school, I became heavily involved in the scene as an MC. At the same time I was finishing my Bachelor’s and upon entering the Master’s program I left the scene to focus on academia. I graduated in 2017 with a Master’s from CSU Northridge and became an adjunct professor where I currently still lecture. My goal was to obtain a full-time job as a community college professor, but was unaware of how difficult it was. This is when I shifted careers and got involved in the financial services industry. I’m currently a registered financial advisor and I find no greater reward than when I am able to educate my Zapotec community on basic financial concepts. I spend a great portion of my time doing pro bono work as I feel that there is a lack of education in terms of financial literacy in my community. As an educator, my main goal is to educate and empower people.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been smooth, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I was undocumented up until 2012, when Barack Obama introduced the DREAM Act. Prior to 2012, I was unable to hold a driver’s license or have a job due to not having a social. I did not qualify for grants and my parents paid for my education out of pocket. I am a DACA recipient, and currently I am finally on the road to obtaining permanent residency.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Virtuity Financial Partners?
My interests lie in bringing financial literacy awareness to communities of lower socioeconomic status and those with minimal access to resources.

I am knowledgeable and have experience implementing investment products including: retail mutual funds, variable annuities, Traditional/Roth IRAs, educational plans (529), 403b/401k plans, as well as life insurance plans, and more.

These are resources mostly unknown to my community, and I feel extremely proud to be able to help my people.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Luck and word of mouth have played a role for sure. I had a friend that I met in college that was in this industry, and he opened the doors for me to step into financial services. I have degrees in a completely different field. Moreover, when the pandemic happened, all client meetings were predominantly on Zoom. It appears it will stay that way and I guess I got extremely lucky as now, I can run multiple meetings in a day as opposed to driving out to meet a limited amount of people.

Pricing:

• FREE FINANCIAL EDUCATION FOR EVERYONE

Contact Info:

• Website: https://calendly.com/perezlino
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linoskiii