B) Do Something About It
Apply these 5 Keys to Keeping It Rich:
Define. You must define your rich life for yourself. If you are shopping all the time and the bills are running up, its because you have not defined a better life for yourself. Decide where you really want to live, vacation, eat out, etc. then…
Invest in your newly defined lifestyle. Figure out how much that house or vacation costs and then start to save your money accordingly. Once you get 3 months worth of living expenses in the bank, then ask your bank advisor or a friend’s financial advisor about CDs or mutual funds. The options for growth will continue to grow as you grow.
Build your credit. In America, you can’t do much without credit until you truly fall into the upper echelon classes of Carlos Slim Helu or Oprah Winfrey. Get your credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com and call your debtors and work out a plan. See “A Perfect Score” I wrote a bit ago for Black Enterprise to learn more about building credit.
Own a home or a business. This is where the true net worth building will come into play. The value of a home (although some can’t tell today, but it will change) or a small business adds true worth to a net worth statement. Trust me. I’ll tell you my story at another time to convince you.
Hire professional advisors for insurance, financial advice, taxes, etc. Also, you will need to hire staff for your businesses. You will never become as large at Carlos Slim Helu or Oprah (they are my picks for today apparently) by doing all the work yourself.
Ok, I gotta run. I hope this helps you deal better with the news of black women and their net worth. Tweet me your questions at www.twitter.com/keepingitrich.
Sakina Spruell is host and creator of “Keeping It Rich with Sakina,” and a business journalist, specializing in personal finance and entrepreneurship; she contributes to the personal finance sections of Black Enterprise, Money, and Essence. You can follow Spruell on Twitter and Facebook, as well as view her Keeping It Rich video series and free newsletter.