Miami, July 2026 — Over June and July, Elaine King, CFP®, founder of Family and Money Matters™, wrote for Investopedia and spoke with MarketWatch and Noticias Telemundo about honeymoon budgets, inflation, couples and money, and the new Trump Accounts — and was named Person of the Year by CREA LatinX.
Key Idea. Financial health is measured in habits, not quantity. The best decisions — from a honeymoon to an emergency fund — are made with intention, reviewed often, and never calculated just once.
Why It Matters
A first big trip as a couple, rising prices, a new account for a child, and the back-to-school season all test the same habit: deciding with purpose instead of reacting. Families who build that habit early carry it into the larger moments — an inheritance, a divorce, or the sale of a business.
Elaine King’s Perspective
- A honeymoon is a couple’s first intentional financial decision. In her Investopedia column (June 25), King noted that The Knot puts the average honeymoon at $5,300, often the largest wedding expense nobody planned. Her approach: choose the experience before the destination, price the trip in the off-season (savings of up to 50% on flights and hotels), and replace part of the registry with a honeymoon fund for specific experiences. Her benchmark: 5% to 15% of annual household income — $5,000 to $15,000 on $100,000, or about $500 a month over 12 months.
- The “memory test.” King asks clients to recall a vacation from five or ten years ago: almost no one remembers what the hotel cost, but everyone remembers who they were with and how it felt.
- Adjust the emergency fund to your real bills, not a formula. Asked by MarketWatch how families should respond to 3.5% inflation, King said she doesn’t believe in an emergency fund calculated once and forgotten: inflation quietly changes the cost of living, so the fund should reflect today’s bills, not those of several years ago.
- How a couple handles money matters more than how much it earns. On Noticias Telemundo Mediodía, republished by Yahoo, King responded to a survey in which Americans said they would need $106,417 a year to “find true love.” Her read: the number distracts from the real indicator, which is how the couple manages money together. Talker Research found that 15% of respondents had ended a relationship over a partner’s finances (25% among Gen Z).
- “Financial health, not financial quantity.” In a second Telemundo interview (July 14), King shared her rule for uncertain times: separate fixed from variable expenses and pause the variable ones when volatility rises. She also explained the new Trump Accounts: a $1,000 government deposit for eligible children born from 2025 through 2028, with families able to contribute up to $5,000 a year. Her example: $400 a month from birth adds up to about $87,000 in contributions by age 18, before any investment growth.
- Back-to-school as a money lesson. In a third Telemundo interview (July 14), King showed families — expected to spend close to $900 per child — how to plan ahead, buy value rather than price, and involve children in the budget without carrying credit card debt.
- Person of the Year. CREA LatinX named King its Person of the Year. Her response: “Receiving an award for impact is especially meaningful to me because that’s how I define success — not by the quantitative side of life, but by the qualitative difference we can make in other people’s lives.”
Coverage
- Investopedia — “How I’m Talking to Clients About Budgeting for a Honeymoon” (Jun 25, 2026) · Opinion column · Read
- MarketWatch — “Inflation has hit 3.5% — so you’d better do this with your savings now, pros say” (Jul 2026) · Article · Read
- Noticias Telemundo Mediodía — Why money management matters more than salary in a relationship (Jul 2026) · Segment in Spanish · Watch
- Yahoo — Republished interview on romance and money (Jul 2026) · Article · Read
- Noticias Telemundo Mediodía — Financial health, a financial detox, and Trump Accounts (Jul 14, 2026) · Segment in Spanish · Watch
- Noticias Telemundo Mediodía — Back-to-school savings tips (Jul 14, 2026) · Segment in Spanish · Watch
- CREA LatinX — Person of the Year recognition (2026) · Award · View
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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
