It’s okay, brothas. I know what you’re thinking. You just got your copy of your April 2009 issue of Black Enterprise, featuring the latest installment of the magazine’s Women & Money series, and you’re thinking: “Where is the love? Who’s getting hit the hardest by the current economic crisis? Who has the highest unemployment? Who is under the most pressure to provide for the women and children of our community, and who is more vilified when he fails to do so? Black men! That’s right: Us brothas! Where’s the series on Men and Money?”
Hey, I’m guilty of it too. Three weeks ago, I devoted my weekly Your Money segment on The Ride with Doug and Dede syndicated radio program to the “Five Mistakes Women Make with Their Money.†Okay, to be fair, I devoted the following week’s segment to money mistakes made by men, several of which I outline below. But it’s partly our fault–we don’t get a lot of financial advice because we are often too prideful to ask for it. So here is my expanded summary of the biggest money mistakes made by brothas, along with what we need to do to correct it–namely, admit we don’t know and take action to learn:
1. Ignoring good financial advice. Brothas, let’s be honest. Women get a lot of financial education directed toward them because they tend to be the most receptive to it. In fact, they demand it. While we wouldn’t be caught dead publicly admitting that we really don’t know the difference between a growth investment and a value play, women don’t mind admitting that they have no idea–which is the first step to being open to learning. This is one of the reasons why the portfolios of female investors often out perform those of male investors. Investment pro Larry E. Swedroe, in his book The Only Guide to A Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need, put it this way: “It appears that a common characteristic of human behavior is that, on average, men have confidence in skills they don’t have, while women simply know better.â€