Black Wealth Initiative: Wealth for Life

Through the decades, Black Enterprise has been a key resource for financial empowerment for African Americans. Over the past ten years, the Declaration of Financial Empowerment (DOFE), a mainstay of Black Enterprise’s Black Wealth Initiative, has assisted readers of the magazine, BlackEnterprise.com, and viewers of the Black Enterprise Business Report (BEBR).

As times have changed, so too has the Black Wealth Initiative. This year, Black Enterprise is introducing 10 new Wealth for Life principles, the next step in the evolution to financially sustain the African American community. It is a step-by-step guide that encourages readers to generate wealth for themselves in this lifetime and for generations to come.

It was time to reboot the Black Wealth Initiative with a plan that would most effectively illuminate the path to financial empowerment considering the challenges in the nation’s economy, says the magazine’s editors.

“The principles are meant to be a concise financial action-plan for

your entire life,” says John Simons, senior personal finance editor. “The beauty of this guide is that it’s timeless and universal. It represents sound advice for good times and bad–for people with massive wealth or those just starting to build it.”

This year, Americans watched the economy unravel in ways that rivaled the Great Depression. Pressure from an unprecedented mortgage crisis caused the largest banks, insurance companies, and financial services companies in the country to collapse, including Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, and Citigroup.

Some, such as insurance company AIG, sought refuge in a $700 billion bailout, while others simply ceased to exist and/or have merged into larger companies. The Big Three automakers — Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., and Chrysler L.L.C.– have also pleaded for government intervention in order to avoid bankruptcy.

Loans for consumers and small businesses are scarce as banks tighten their belts. At the center of it all, consumers, battered by a 26-year-high unemployment rate, are struggling to make ends meet, let alone save for retirement.

“There is nothing wrong with the DOFE principles that we let expire, but we felt that as the times change, the rules of building wealth and sustaining wealth also change and our principles have to change along with them,” says Alan Hughes, editorial director for business and finance at the magazine. “Too often in our community individuals either don’t know what to do or they don’t know how to go about doing it. Sometimes they don’t know that there is another way or they don’t even know that they need to do anything.”

The 10 new principles address questions and challenges that African Americans face with simple advice given in the order that people face these issues in their lives. Previous principles stressed homeownership, but Wealth for Life takes into account recent changes in the economy

that have affected the housing and job markets. While the surefire No. 1 goal is still to purchase a home, Black Enterprise and its media platforms will walk the audience through the new principles so that they first learn how to live within their means and maximize their income potential through knowledge.

“Living within your means sounds very simple, but that is one of the top issues within our community,” Hughes says. “We also wanted to really talk about the fact that you can change your financial picture through education, which is the second Wealth For Life principle. A lot of people are doing that. With unemployment rates higher than ever, now is the time for the jobless to learn another career or further themselves during their current profession by advancing their education.”

The Black Enterprise Business Report will also integrate consumer-driven advice into weekly segments. “The wealth building segment on BEBR will

be one of the most obvious changes on the show. It will present a direct outlet to illustrate the new Wealth For Life Principles,” says Genevieve Michel-Bryan, senior producer of BEBR and Our World with Black Enterprise. “As we maintain the spirit of Wealth for Life, we will actively address each principle on a more evenly and consistent basis than we did before with DOFE.”

BlackEnterprise.com will intersect original interactive editorial with supplemental content from the magazine and television show to implement the principles. In addition, BlackEnterprise.com will supply hands-on resources and tools, such as mortgage, cost-of-living, savings, and retirement calculators.

Finally, Black Enterprise hopes that our readers and viewers will use the message of financial empowerment to ensure that family and friends also adhere to sensible money management principles, support the creation and growth of minority-owned businesses, and strengthen the community through philanthropy.

Check out our new principles here.