Financial Illiteracy Will Make Us a Permanent Underclass

Hewitt Associates found that African Americans overall were more than 10 percentage points less likely to participate in 401(k) plans than were their white counterparts: 66% of blacks invested in their company programs compared with 77% of whites.

We must stop this madness. On several levels, many of us have sabotaged our prospects to achieve multigenerational wealth. Do we really want to leave these bad habits as our legacy to the next generation?

Each of us must renew our commitment to financial literacy. That’s why for years I’ve charged our editors to beef up our personal finance coverage through Wealth for Life. I wanted to ensure that we served our audience at every stage of their personal and professional development, from a college graduate trying to devise a financial program to a retiree seeking to refine a comprehensive estate plan. You see, individuals must learn the basics–the practicality of saving, the power of compounding, and the advantages of smart consumerism–as much as they need to gain a full understanding of economic indicators and market dynamics.

Even with the fragile economy, African Americans today have more education and earning potential than previous generations. Our circumstances may be pressing, but they are far from hopeless. We have the tools and intellect we need to advance. We must embrace the fact that lifelong financial literacy leads to empowerment. Wealth for life must be our way of life.