A heart for finance — with Lizbeth Menjivar

As Lizbeth Menjivar works to help her high net worth clients plan for their retirement, she looks back and marvels at how far she has come in her own financial journey.

Menjivar is a financial planner with Fidelity in Chicago. She is one of two recipients of the Financial Planning Association’s 2025 Heart of Financial Planning Award. The award recognizes financial planning professionals, firms and organizations that demonstrate remarkable commitment and passion for contributing to or giving back to the financial planning community or the public.

But Menjivar remembers the time when she didn’t know how to write a check and she didn’t own a credit card. The daughter of a single mother who came to the U.S. from El Salvador to escape civil unrest, Menjivar not only grew up in a financially challenged household, but she also came from a culture where talking about money was taboo.

“It wasn’t like we were openly talking with my mom about what our finances were,” she said. “But you know, as a child, you kind of get a sense of what’s going on financially in your home.”

Menjivar became a single mother at a young age and worked two jobs while attending college. 

“I would work from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon, then go to school from six until 10, then work my second job from 11 at night until seven in the morning and then do it all over again, just to put my daughter in a care facility so I could work.”

Menjivar studied abroad when her daughter was 5 years old, and she took her daughter along with her while she attended classes in China and Thailand. While she was studying in China, she would have her daughter sit in the hallway outside the classroom, doing her own studying on a tablet as Menjivar was homeschooling her at the time. Professors would allow her daughter to enter the classroom as long as she was quiet, and her daughter eventually crossed the stage with Menjivar when she received her master’s degree from Hult International Business School. 

When it was time to center on a future career, Menjivar went to a counselor at her college for some advice.

“I wanted a better future for my daughter and me, so I asked the counselor what would create a better future for the two of us,” she said. “I was already working at a bank at that time, so the counselor thought that finance would be a natural fit.”

Love for clients keeps her there

The counselor’s recommendation may have been what started Menjivar in the business, but something else keeps her there.

“I feel the love and passion that I have for my clients and the profession — the fact that we’re helping other people — is truly what keeps me here,” she said. “At the end of the day, this is a relationship business. And I love talking to my clients, sharing what I know.”

Before Menjivar landed in financial planning, she worked in banking, insurance, mergers and acquisitions, and data analytics. She attended a networking event for women in finance, which led her to her current company.

“I think one of the biggest barriers in this industry right now is representation,” she said. “I often walk into a room, and I can count the number of women there on one hand. And if I take it even further, usually it’s just me or one other person of color, because I am Hispanic. So that’s the challenge we face.”

She said that industry organizations such as FPA are making a difference in increasing diversity in the profession. “I feel that the next generation of advisors is more diverse and we’re helping a lot more next-generation planners succeed in the industry.”

The profession is changing

Menjivar works with many older female clients, and she said they tell her how comfortable they feel discussing their finances with a female advisor.

“A lot of these older women are inheriting funds from their husbands, and they’ve never spoken about money before, had these conversations,” she said. “They still feel like they can’t be their genuine selves talking about money with a man versus speaking with a woman. And I think you see that across the board, and I think that’s part of the reason why things are changing. I believe the next generation to come into this business will make a world of difference.”

Menjivar believes strongly in mentorship — in the financial planning profession as well as in the community.

She is president of FPA of Illinois. At Fidelity, she serves as regional co-chair of SOHL (Support and Outreach for Hispanics and Latinx employees). She is a past member of the boards of Arden Shore Family Services and the Chicago Financial Women Association

“Having a mentor in this profession is so important,” she said. “Because it can be discouraging at first, it can be a tough business to get into. I remember reading that only 50% of advisors make it after the first five years, and so that’s why I spearheaded and I created a mentorship program for FPA of Illinois because I saw the need to have that connection. Sometimes you just need to ask someone a question, or you need some advice. It takes a village. I’ve had mentors my entire career, and I want to do the same thing for the next generation.”

Over the past year, the mentorship program at FPA of Illinois tripled the number of people interested in being mentored, Menjivar said, with about 60 people looking for mentorship. But the number of mentors isn’t keeping pace, with only about 25 or 30 volunteering for the program.

Those eligible for mentorship include everyone from college students to career-changers to anyone who has been in the business for less than five years. FPA members travel to colleges in Illinois that have financial planning clubs and give presentations with more information on financial planning as a career.

Reaching out to the community

Menjivar performs pro bono work in her community to educate people about financial literacy. She answers questions about retirement issues at senior expos and works with Fidelity Cares, a program that educates consumers on smart money moves.

Her husband is CEO of a nonprofit, La Casa Norte, which serves homeless youth in Chicago. Menjivar gives financial literacy presentations to the young people there, teaching them the basics, such as how to use a checking account or a credit card.

Menjivar also takes time out from being a “girl mom” and “personal chauffeur and chef” for her two daughters to educate them about banking, credit and saving for retirement. 

“I talk to them openly about finances because talking about money was a taboo in my culture when I was growing up,” she said.

Looking to the future, Menjivar said she wants to continue helping people achieve financial security, while encouraging more women to enter the profession.

“I’m so proud of everything I’ve been able to accomplish,” she said. “That’s why I want to pay it forward, and I hope more women come into the profession. It’s a great space to be, in and we do a lot of good for the families we serve.”

Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].