Why Crypto may well be the hot graduation gift with UNest's Ksenia Yudina

 

Parents and grandparents may be wary of crypto for their own portfolio's, but when it comes to setting up their kids for long-term investing success, UNest.co expects digital currency to be the gift of choice this year.

 
 

Follow Ksenia!

Follow Bobbi!


Did you enjoy the show? We would love your support!

Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. We love reading what our listeners think of the show!

  1. Subscribe to the podcast, so you never miss an episode.

  2. Share the podcast with your family, friends, and co-workers.

  3. Tag me on Instagram @bobbirebell1 and you’ll automatically be entered to win books by our favorite guests and merch from our Grownup Gear shop.



Full Transcript:

Bobbi Rebell:
Hey, grownup friends. This episode is sponsored by UNest, start investing in your most important asset, your kids, with UNest. Soon, you will also be able to give the gift of crypto. Join the UNest Legacy waitlist and get early access, entry into giveaways, and much more. Visit unest.co for more information.

Ksenia Yudina:
We actually ran a survey on the platform to see what is it our parents would like to see next on UNest platform. Is it life insurance, credit card, debit card? How can we help? And overwhelming feedback was that parents want to invest in individual stocks and crypto.

Bobbi Rebell:
You're listening to Money Tips for Financial Grownups with me, Certified Financial Planner, Bobby Rebell, author of Launching Financial Grownups. Because you know what? Grownup life is really hard, but together we got this.

Bobbi Rebell:
Here we go, grownup friends. If you are a regular listener, you know I spend a lot of time talking about how to set our kids up for success, especially as they get into the teen and early adult years. But it all starts early. And while money isn't everything, of course, having money ready for them to go fund those early life needs, whether it's college, a car, a first home, and yes, even a wedding, it is a wonderful gift that we can give to the next generation.

Bobbi Rebell:
And so I was fascinated by what I learned from a relatively new company called UNest, which is an app designed to help parents and loved ones save and invest for their kids. They found that in addition to stocks, which is a surprise to nobody, what parents really wanted to put in their kids investment accounts was crypto. And the reason why actually makes a lot of sense, especially when you're worried about the risks. We're going to get to that soon.

Bobbi Rebell:
I recently sat down with Ksenia Yudina. She is the founder and CEO of UNest. And we started by talking about her own experience getting started in her adult life which, like so many young people, included a mountain of student debt. Here is Ksenia Yudina.

Bobbi Rebell:
Ksenia Yudina, you're a financial grownup. Welcome to the podcast.

Ksenia Yudina:
Hi, Bobbi. It's great to be here.

Bobbi Rebell:
Thank you so much for coming on. You are truly a financial grownup. You came to the U.S. when you were only 18, put yourself through undergrad and business school. You've done so much with your life. We're going to talk about your company UNest in a minute. But you graduated, we're talking a lot about student loans, you graduated with I think $180,000 in student loans. Tell us how you did that.

Ksenia Yudina:
I came to here when I was a student. I was 18 years old. I was truly passionate about education. And I believe that education is a key to getting financial freedom. So even 18 years old, I kind of was very rational and logical person in that respect. So I put myself through college, got my undergrad from CSUN. And then later got my MBA from UCLA Anderson. I also received a CFA, which is one of the hardest financial exams in the nation. And I believe it just changed me as a person, right? I do know how to manage my own money. I'm trying to help my friends every day financial planning. And I'm trying to kind of save the country right now from the little bit of financial crisis we're going through right now.

Bobbi Rebell:
And I think you're talking a lot about what's going on especially with student loans and how to finance our education, how to finance the futures of young people. And to that point, your company is UNest. Tell us about UNest.

Ksenia Yudina:
Yes. UNest is an app that makes it super easy for parents to create and manage the account for their kids, the investment account, and get gifts from friends and family. The inspiration to start my own company, as you mentioned, came from kind of twofold. First, because I graduated myself with 180,000 in student debt. And a lot of my friends were impacted by the student debt crisis. Right now, it's estimated to be at 1.7 trillion. And a lot of parents, quite honestly, just want to build a better future for their kids and want to make a difference in their kids lives and give them more chance to success. The key to that is start saving early and investing for the kids future.

Bobbi Rebell:
Now, on the surface, a lot of parents were told to open up a 529. Recently, there's been a lot of debate about where is the best place to really put the money for your young children as they grow up because there are limitations to 529s. UNest made a change. You pivoted from 529s to UTMAs early on. Walk us through that.

Ksenia Yudina:
Yeah, that's correct. I was actually a huge fan of 529s when I was working at Capital Group, my previous employer. And Capital Group was number one provider of 529s in the nation. And when we started the company, we focused on 529s because of amazing tax advantages and tax-free growth. What we realized in the middle of pandemic is that parents have different priorities for their kids and not necessarily want to save for college.

Ksenia Yudina:
The biggest limitation of 529 is that if you do not spend it for education expenses or for college, you lose all tax benefits and you get penalty of 10% on all the gains in your account. As we learned from our user base, parents want to save for some other things sometimes, for the child's first car or for the wedding day or for the first home. It's not necessarily college. And also, a lot of people were just questioning the value of college and the cost of education when everything shifted online during the pandemic.

Bobbi Rebell:
And that makes a lot of sense because I can say having raised three kids here, every kid is so different and their dreams and aspirations and their priorities can really vary. And we don't know necessarily when they're young where they will want to focus and where we can help the most as they become financial grownups. Why is it so important then to start saving and investing for children when they're really young, when we don't know necessarily what their priorities are going to be?

Ksenia Yudina:
Yes. I think that's the best way to set them up for success. Right? So I'll just give you quick example from my life. When I went through my undergrad, I actually got assistance from the government and I was lucky enough to get financial aids and all of that. But in the meantime, my parents did help me with the down payment on my first apartment, or the townhouse. I actually still own it. That resulted in such a huge value-add and just wealth building and gave me a great opportunity to kickstart my own savings and investment.

Bobbi Rebell:
Talk to me about the pandemic because you're growing this company during the pandemic and you had to make a lot of decisions. How did the pandemic impact the focus of UNest?

Ksenia Yudina:
Sure. So the first one, as I mentioned, that big pivot from 529s to UTMA, which is a different type of account that allows parents invest for other priorities for their kids. Another interesting observation during the pandemic was that gifting became super popular on the platform. So UNest gives this ability to gift for birthdays or other holidays electronically. And when people were hit with pandemic, a lot of times they were not able to celebrate holidays in person. That feature became extremely popular, just sending a quick gift to the child in your life.

Ksenia Yudina:
And another interesting thing during the pandemic and just most recently last year was huge demand for crypto assets. We actually ran a survey on the platform to see what is it our parents would like to see next on UNest platform. Is it life insurance, credit card, debit card? How can we help? Overwhelming feedback was that parents want to invest in individual stocks and crypto. So that's what we're doing right now. We're actually launching it in few months.

Bobbi Rebell:
And by the way, you have a waitlist for this product, which is kind of mind blowing to me. Tell us about this new crypto product because I know a lot of people are interested in it. And why move into digital assets, especially as you're still a growing company?

Ksenia Yudina:
Yeah. As we look into the future, the next 10, 15, 20 years, people realize that crypto has a lot of potential. And it does have a lot of interest right now. Everyone reads the news. Everyone expressed some interest in buying, holding crypto. And sometimes when people are hesitant to buy it for themselves, when they think about their kids and that long, long time horizon, they understand that this is the asset class that has the highest probability of appreciation. It just reduces risk, right? Like when you think about holding something that might be volatile in the short term, but you think about holding it for the next 10, 15, 20 years, all of a sudden you realize that you can withstand that risk.

Ksenia Yudina:
Another observation is that parents want to learn more about crypto. We would like to provide about 30 coins on UNest platform, and we will provide educational component so they can actually learn what each coin means and make informed decision when they buy something for their kids.

Bobbi Rebell:
I think that educational component is so important. Before we wrap up, I also want to touch on, there was just a piece in Fortune about how you've been helping employees in Ukraine and Russia. Tell us what you've been doing to support them since the war started. I know this is something obviously, you're from Eastern Europe, this is something that is really in your heart these days.

Ksenia Yudina:
When I started UNest, the goal was to create a truly global company. So we hired people from all around the world. And today, I'm proud to say that we have team members in U.S., Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Belarus. And as situation in Ukraine escalated, our top priority as a company was safety of our team members. So we acted very quickly to relocate them to safe zones outside of those impacted by the war and provide financial assistance to our employees and their families.

Bobbi Rebell:
Well, thank you very much. This has been so interesting. Tell us more about where people can find out more about you and about UNest, which I want to tell everyone, by the way, is unest.co, co not com, unest.co.

Ksenia Yudina:
Yes. Yes. Thank you. They can find out more about us and actually get on the crypto waiting list on our website, unest.co. And just search for us in the App Store or Google Play. You know, the app is available. They can read some reviews. They can learn a little bit more about the product if they just simply go to the App Store or Google Play.

Bobbi Rebell:
And your social media handles. I forgot to ask you.

Ksenia Yudina:
Yeah, it just @unest. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Bobbi Rebell:
Awesome. Thank you so much.

Ksenia Yudina:
Oh, thank you so much, Bobbi, for having me.

Bobbi Rebell:
So friends, now I'm thinking after this interview, if we're on the fence about crypto, is the best way to manage risk to create the longest time horizon by investing for the next generation? I'm curious to hear what you guys think. DM me @bobbirebell1 on Instagram or Bobby Rebell on Twitter. And I'm now on TikTok. They said it would never happen. But please check out my videos there. It is an understatement to say I could really use your support. And by the way, my new book, Launching Financial Grownups, makes a great gift for Mother's Day, Father's Day, and of course, for parents of high school and college graduates. Don't just get presents for the graduates, get presents for the parents, right? Give it to each other.

Bobbi Rebell:
Anyway, make sure to check out UNest at unest.co. That's unest.co without the M. And download the app to get on the Legacy waiting list and enter their giveaways. Big thanks to UNest founder Ksenia Yudina for helping us all be financial grownups.

Bobbi Rebell:
Money Tips for Financial Grownups is a production of BRK Media, LLC. Editing and production by Steve Stewart. Guest coordination, content creation, social media support, and show notes by Ashley Wall. You can find the podcast show notes, which include links to resources mentioned in the show as well as show transcripts, by going to my website, bobborebell.com. You can also find an incredible library of hundreds of previous episodes to help you on your journey as a financial grownup.

Bobbi Rebell:
The podcast and tons of complementary resources associated with the podcast is brought to you for free, but I need to have your support in return. Here's how you can do that. First, connect with me on social media @bobbirebell1 on Instagram and Bobby Rebell on both Twitter and on Clubhouse where you can join my Money Tips for Grownups Club. Second, share this podcast on social media and tag me so I can thank you. You can also leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Reading each one means the world to me. And you know what? It really motivates others to subscribe. You can also support our merch shop grownupgear.com by picking up fun gifts for your grownup friends and treating yourself as well. And most of all, help your friends on their journey to being financial grownups by encouraging them to subscribe to the podcast. Together we got this.

Bobbi Rebell:
Thank you for your time and for the kind words so many of you send my way. See you next time. And thank you for supporting Money Tips for Financial Grownups.

 
Advice, Financial Grownup, Money, Personal Finance, Women Role Models, Women EntrepreneursBobbi Rebell KaufmanKsenia Yudina, UNest, Crypto, Cryptocurrency, Graduation