The Truth…

I was raised in a community where being financially literate was the furthest thing from my mind. We just were trying to survive. The true definition of the phrase would not cross my path the first 30 years of my life. Society, your community and schools teach you how to work for money but never tell you what to do with that earned income. Making my money work for itself - what did that even mean? So I started to read and do research and I kept seeing the same statistics. Did you know in a report by McKinsey and Company it found that 3.5 million of the U.S. black household have negative net worth due to debt? Keeping people financially uninformed is a profitable business. Any black wealth building opportunities were obstructed throughout a significant portion of the nation’s history by prejudices and legally imposed barriers. Black households struggle because we start with less. But we know this! What we may not know is according to that same report there is a 330 billion dollar disparity between black and white families in the annual flow of new wealth. 60% comes from intergenerational transfer. That’s right generational wealth! Massive amounts of family wealth is passed down from generation to generation every year, having a dramatic and self-reinforcing effect. Black families are less likely to inherit money and when they do, it’s typically far less money. Not enough to make generational cycle changes or big strides. Another issue I kept coming across in my research was that many people struggle with money because they do not understand the rules of the game and some people just refuse to play by the rules. Yet the rules are simple! Earn income and then spend less than you earn and invest the rest. It does not matter how much you make. However, society has programmed us to consume, consume, consume instead of produce, produce, produce. So how do we change this narrative?

Food for thought….

Let me give you my perspective. I started investing for my youngest child since birth contributing $50 dollars a month into an S & P 500 Index fund. I asked myself what if I continued to invest $50 until she retired at 60 years old what would be the result. The S&P 500 since 1928 through December 2021 has had an average annualized return of 11.82% if my daughter gets 10% over 60 years at $50 a month; that translates to 1.9 million dollars. If $50 dollars is too much $30 dollars a month over 60 years is 1.1 million dollars. If $30 is too much do $20, $10, whatever works for you! I did not start with my older child until she was 10 years old so that gives me 50 years until she reaches 60. $50 a month into the S&P 500 over 50 years with an annualized return of 10% is 700K. Do you believe that! Those 10 years is a difference of more than a million dollars my oldest daughter would never catch up to my youngest at that rate. She would have to contribute $150 a month over 50 years to get to 1.9 million. She would have to invest more to achieve the same amount. But let’s be real, even though there is a 1 million dollar disparity between my oldest and youngest any amount of money I leave for my children is more than I received. Which brings us back to the point of generational wealth. The point is to start and it doesn’t have to be limited to your children. TIME is key!  My kids have time I can never get back. My greatest assets therefore are my children because of time. But that doesn’t mean they are my only asset. You are your own asset as well. As cliché as it is knowledge is power. Investing in yourself is the greatest thing you can do for you and the future. This is my goal to spread knowledge and awareness to the communities I know and love.