In his new book, Living in the Village: Build Your Financial Future and Strengthen Your Community (St. Martin’s Griffin; $14.99), Ryan Mack, president and founder of Optimum Capital Management, discusses how to gain freedom from the weight of poor financial choices that often plague not only individuals but also communities. Mack proposes that since, like the African proverb, it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to build a strong community. Mack says “village members” can become strong through financial literacy. Consequently, they will have the freedom to give back to the community and pass on their knowledge and newfound wealth. Mack sat down with Black Enterprise to discuss financial empowerment and achieving freedom in your finances.
What prompted you to write this book?
I saw what the lack of financial literacy can
What does it mean to live in the village?
Living in the village is a play on the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.†But the book takes it a few steps further. If it takes a village to raise a child, then the strength of the children depends on the strength of the village. The village is comprised of individual members and households all doing what they can to contribute to the greater good of society, and all doing what they can to make sure they can manage their own resources.
Essentially, when you go through foreclosure, your neighbors suffer because their property values decline as well. And now you have many individuals under water. If we’re going to look at the village as a whole, if we’re going to create stronger children and stronger villages, it has to start from the individual level. But it can’t stop there–we have to create stronger households in order to create stronger communities.
What are some obstacles to financial freedom?
The first obstacle is the mind. We fail to realize the mental aspect of wealth. Â Lack of faith and hope is
How would you define economic empowerment?
When we talk about true
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Sheiresa Ngo is the consumer affairs editor at Black Enterprise.