Explore why holding excessive cash isn't as safe as it seems. Discover how inflation erodes purchasing power and why strategic investing, combined with emergency savings, builds true financial security.
Her Story
About Daniela
Daniela Ruiz serves as a day trader and financial market analyst in the finance sector. She began her professional journey with eight years in sales, during which she developed an interest in numbers and money, leading her to study finance, economy, markets, and trading for two years prior to entering the field. Currently, she works at a family office asset management company, where her daily responsibilities include trading portfolios, performing market research, networking to connect companies with investors, and assisting with fundraising and strategies for stable asset pricing. Her educational background includes studies in tourism, which she credits with fostering her love for travel and people, skills that enhance her networking abilities. Daniela Ruiz emphasizes that consistency and the simple act of showing up are key to success, and she encourages aspiring professionals to persist through challenges, continue studying, and learn from knowledgeable colleagues even when concepts are not immediately clear.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Daniela
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to consistency.
I think a lot of people wait to feel motivated, but motivation comes and goes. There are days when you don’t want to work, you don’t want to go to the gym, you don’t want to talk to people, and you just don’t feel like doing anything.
For me, the key has been having the discipline to show up anyway. To keep doing the work, even on the days when it feels difficult.
I truly believe that consistency compounds over time. You don’t have to be perfect every day, you just have to keep showing up. And I think that has made the biggest difference in my success.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice would be to keep going, even when you don’t fully understand where the journey is taking you.
There are so many things that won’t make sense until five years later, when you look back and realize how much you were learning along the way. So keep showing up, keep studying, keep doing the work, and surround yourself with people who have more experience than you.
Listen to them. Learn from them. Even if you don’t understand everything they’re telling you at the time, keep listening. One day, it will click.
If you truly enjoy what you’re doing, trust the process, stay curious, and keep showing up every day. Experience will eventually connect all the dots.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me are integrity, consistency, and kindness.
I believe in doing the right thing, even when no one is watching, and in treating people with respect. Whether it’s in business or in my personal life, relationships are very important to me, and I think trust is something you build over time through your actions.
Consistency is also a big part of who I am. I believe in showing up, keeping my word, and doing my best even when things aren’t easy.
And above all, I try to be kind. You never really know what someone else is going through, and I believe you can be ambitious and successful while still being a good person.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Daniela
Cash Feels Safe — But Is It?
Why keeping all your money in cash might be costing you more than you realize.
Cash Is Not the Same as Safety
We tend to think of cash as the safest place for our money. It’s liquid, familiar, and available whenever we need it.
But I think that idea deserves a closer look.
Money, at its core, is a tool. We created currencies to make the exchange of goods and services easier. Dollars, euros, pesos, and even newer forms of currency all serve essentially the same purpose: They allow us to transfer value.
That makes cash incredibly useful. But useful and safe are not necessarily the same thing.
And when I say “cash,” I don’t only mean physical bills sitting in a drawer. I mean money that remains in cash or cash-like accounts instead of being allocated toward long-term assets.
One of the biggest risks is inflation. Your account may still show $100,000 ten years from now, but that does not mean those $100,000 will buy what they buy today.
For a simple illustration, imagine $100,000 sitting in cash while inflation averages 3% annually. Ten years later, its purchasing power would be equivalent to roughly $74,000 in today’s dollars.
Now imagine instead that $100,000 was invested and hypothetically grew at an average of 7% per year. After ten years, it would be close to $197,000.
That isn’t a promise of investment returns. Markets fluctuate, investments carry risk, and no return is guaranteed. But it illustrates something important:
Doing nothing with your money is also a financial decision.
This is why I believe every dollar should have a job.
Some dollars should protect you today. Others should be working toward your future.
I absolutely believe in keeping cash available for emergencies. A major home repair, a medical expense, an unexpected job loss, a business slowdown—or even something as disruptive as another pandemic—can happen without warning. We already lived through COVID, and if that period taught us anything financially, it’s that circumstances can change very quickly. Liquidity matters when life becomes unpredictable.
As a general framework, I like the idea of having approximately 3–6 months of essential expenses available for someone with stable employment, and closer to 6–9 months for a business owner or someone with less predictable income.
Enough to give yourself time to get back on your feet.
But beyond that, keeping excessive amounts in cash because investing feels scary can create another problem: opportunity cost.
People often wait for the “perfect” moment. They want the market to fall before they invest, or they worry that prices are already too high.
For a long-term investor, consistently finding the perfect entry point is far less realistic than building a disciplined habit.
Investing month after month means some purchases will happen at higher prices and others at lower prices. What matters more is giving your money time to work for you. Over the years, the growth generated by your investments can begin generating additional growth of its own. That is how consistent investing can turn time into one of your biggest advantages.
There is a saying I’ve always liked: The best time to invest was yesterday. The second-best time is today.
Not because everyone should immediately invest every dollar they have. They shouldn’t.
The point is to stop confusing liquidity with wealth.
Cash is not the destination. It is the bridge between what we earn today and what we choose to build tomorrow.
Every dollar should have a job: some protect you today, and others should be working for your future.
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