There is only one thing that holds the key to changing our economic predicament once and for all. It is the strongest weapon we have for a life beyond survival. Yet so many of us today are hell bent on becoming successful by ourselves. So many of us want to be “self-made moguls”. We want to buy houses alone. We want to start businesses alone. We believe that showing the world we can survive as single parents is some form of right of passage. And guess what?
– The Black Union –
This seclusive way of thinking has gotten us nowhere in over 30 f’ng years. 1984 – 2014
Sources: For 2014: Pew Research Center tabulations of Survey of Income and Program Participation data from the 2013 panel; for 1984 to 2004: various U.S. Census Bureau P-70 Current Population Reports – PEW RESEARCH CENTER
The net worth of the average Black household today is less than $6,000. With less than $6,000, you couldn’t even purchase a recent model Kia Rio, let alone do any of the things you need to do to ensure your child doesn’t fall into the same economic traps you did. But it gets worse… You know that incredibly
high net worth we just talked about? It’s actually LOWER today
than it was in 1984. (after adjusting for inflation: our average net worth was $6,679 in 1984) (after adjusting for inflation, the Black average net worth was $6,679 in 1984)
This low level of household wealth + continued lack of unity has allowed us to devolve into a nation of survivors only content on celebrating survivorship. And by doing so, we’ve missed valuable decades of developing more effective ways of working together as units. But at the end of
the day however, the BKF philosophy is not about surviving. Its about thriving.
The truth is, we as a community have two real choices at this point:
Because staying together is important. Teamwork is important. We will not win until we begin to realize that without a significant other/teammate, we’re doomed. We. can. not. do. it. alone. Without this realization, we will continue to procrastinate on developing an appropriately bonded community. Now with that said however, BKF Relationship Goals is not a “how to find a man book”. This is not a book on how to pick up chicks.
Trust me, your relationship will be complex enough. Having a financial roadmap that is simple to remember can change you and your significant other’s lives, forever. Regardless of how long you worked on trying to appear different and educated in that inbox message… Don’t you understand that the first thing a woman will do online is go look at what your profile / timeline / header image / bio quote says about your mentality and where you are in life?
**Why Investing is Important:**
By now, most people know that their incomes are **important**. When you have an income, **regardless of what that income is**, you are miles ahead than if you did not. Now, as you should have learned in **Brass Knuckle Finance**, the **absolute best use** of that income, outside of the purchasing of food/shelter & basic necessities, is to help ourselves **get out and stay out of debt**. Then after we are out of debt and no longer paying interest to banks, we can then use this income to set money aside for the **type of future** we want (for ourselves and our families). Because even when we have a life without **debt**, many of us also know that the **average income** can only take us so far and that the average **savings account** can only take us so far. At a certain point, our paychecks may not keep up with inflation. And over long periods of time, the balances in our savings accounts will **definitely not keep up with inflation**.
When a company decides to raise money for expansion, research and development etc, that company will issue “equity” aka “stock” in their business to the Public. The **simplest way of thinking of a stock** is that it is a **share** in the **ownership** of a specific company. When you own a share of a publicly traded company, you basically have a small claim to everything that company owns and does. And while it **is possible** to buy stock in just about any company in existence*, what we’re specifically referring to here is buying stock in **publicly traded companies**. A company that has issued securities through an initial public offering (IPO) and is traded on at least one stock exchange (such as the New York Stock Exchange) is considered a **publicly traded company**. These would be your Apples, Googles, Fords, Proctor and Gambles of the world.
Using this approach of relying on massively diversified ETFs while not trying to time or outsmart the market throughout the year, has been statistically proven to provide the highest real returns compared to actively managed mutual funds who do the opposite.