Miami, August 2026 — Elaine King, CFP®, founder of Family and Money Matters™, appeared on Telemundo, WLRN’s Ante Usted, and MarketWatch with one message for families making money decisions under pressure: pause, run the real numbers, then decide.
Key Idea. Money disappears as fast as it arrives — within 36 hours of a lottery win or in the first weeks of school — and the real protection isn’t willpower. It’s having a plan before the emotional moment of decision.
Why It Matters
Back-to-school bills, an unexpected windfall, the convenience of asking AI, and a more generous retirement rule all invite decisions made with the heart before the head. The same discipline that gets a family through August protects it in larger transitions: an inheritance, a divorce, or the sale of a business.
Elaine King’s Perspective
- A deadline and a “classroom close-out.” On Noticias Telemundo, King noted that back-to-school shopping can leave families with $500 to $1,000 in debt per child. Her first step: set a realistic deadline — $1,000 paid at $100 a week is cleared before Christmas — and audit what the family already has at home before buying anything new. With journalist Andrea Cruz, she debunked two myths: that families must start from zero every year, and that the full list must be bought before day one. Her line: “A discounted item isn’t a savings if it ends up being something your child doesn’t actually need.”
- PAZ: three steps out of debt. In a second segment, King shared her PAZ method: Put a number on everything owed, Activate dormant money (unused subscriptions and purchases), and Zero interest — move balances to a 0% card for 12 months. Her rule for any extra income: half to the emergency fund, half to paying more than the minimum. The National Retail Federation reported that families with K–12 students planned to spend an average of $863.86 per household in 2026.
- A staircase for unexpected money. On National Financial Awareness Day (August 14), as news broke of a Powerball winner, King told Telemundo Atlanta that the most common mistake is committing a windfall within the first 36 hours. Her staircase: first, an emergency fund of at least three months of fixed expenses; second, savings with a purpose — education, travel, family; and only third, investing and taking on risk.
- The question AI can’t answer. On Ante Usted (WLRN), King advised describing a hypothetical situation rather than uploading real figures, since few rules protect what people share with free AI tools, and noted that in her experience about 70% of money decisions are emotional. In MarketWatch, quoted as Elaine King Fuentes, CFP®, she described a prospective client who arrived with ten well-crafted AI-written questions — none of which touched the real concern, which surfaced only in the last five minutes. She expands on the case in her blog “AI and Financial Planning: The Missing Question.”
- 4.7% is a starting point, not an instruction. On her blog, King explained that Bill Bengen updated his historic 4% rule to about 4.7%, while Morningstar’s forward-looking estimate is 3.9%. On a $1 million portfolio, that gap is $8,000 a year; on $5 million, $40,000. Her close: “A withdrawal rule tells you where to begin the conversation. A retirement-income plan tells you whether you can sleep well after making the withdrawal.”
Coverage
- Noticias Telemundo Buen Día — “How can families get out of back-to-school debt?” (Aug 11, 2026) · Segment · Watch
- Telemundo Atlanta — Lottery, Powerball, and National Financial Awareness Day (Aug 14, 2026) · Segment · Watch
- Noticias Telemundo — “Back-to-school myths that could make you overspend” (Aug 17, 2026) · Segment · Watch
- Noticias Telemundo — “A trick to pay off your debt fast” (Aug 18, 2026) · Segment · Watch
- Ante Usted · WLRN (PBS Miami) — “Should you let AI manage your financial decisions?” (Aug 18, 2026) · Segment in Spanish · Watch
- MarketWatch — “55% of Americans now use AI to help them with their finances — but it doesn’t always go well” (Aug 31, 2026) · Article, quoted as Elaine King Fuentes, CFP® · Read
Go Deeper on the Blog
Facing an inheritance, a divorce, or the sale of a business? Request a Discovery Call →
About Elaine King
Elaine King, CFP®, TEP, CDFA™ — also published as Elaine King Fuentes — is a bilingual financial planner and the founder of Family and Money Matters™, based in Miami. She works with families through inheritance, divorce, business transitions, and retirement. A CFP Board Ambassador, TEDx speaker, and author of eight books, she was named one of Forbes Perú’s 50 Most Powerful Women (2025) and received a Doctor Honoris Causa from CREA LatinX.
Learn more: www.elaineking.com/about
