Historically Black Guide to Wealth

Ughhh, money? Again, the topic of conversation, Marlon wonders. “Can’t I just get a stack of tickets and win the lottery?” he thinks. Well, no Marlon. You can’t because the odds of that happening are 1 in 302,575,350. In other words, you have more of a chance of getting struck by lightning 42 times in your lifetime. If you did get struck by lightning, at least your money obstacles go away. Unless, of course, you survive. Marlon is a 38-year-old black man that graduated from one of the top HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in the nation. He has a decent paying job, a good financial support system, and no major health or personal complications that would prevent him from enjoying a beautiful life. However, he is living paycheck to paycheck with no more than $400 in the bank for emergencies. He has a FICO score of 608, he’s never heard of business credit, and has no real assets or wealth to talk about let alone pass on to his two beautiful daughters. He doesn’t even have health or life insurance which means if something were to happen to him, those daughters would only inherit his student loan bills and whatever health/mortality debt that came along in case he actually does, in fact, get struck by lightning. I was Marlon, although the name was changed to protect the ignorant. The good news for me is that I survived that time in my life and now I am 50. What I understand much more fully now is how budgets, credit, assets, and asset acquisition all work together to create the life that few people have but most people dream of. I want to do everything in my power to help the next 20, 30, 40-year-old understand these concepts also, so they don’t have to wait until they are 50 to start enjoying life. I decided to put this book together to help the 99% understand what the 1% have known and used for years.