Why Modern Black Culture Became So Toxic & Expensive
In this episode of the Financial Griot Podcast, the hosts share their thoughts on modern Black culture, building wealth, and changing priorities in order to change the spending narrative.
Table of Contents
Median Modern Black Household
Currently median Black household wealth seats at $24,000. To clarify what median wealth is, it’s simply your assets minus all your liabilities. As a visual exercise, take out a piece of paper. Draw one line in the middle. On the left side, annotated the title as INCOME. For the right side, call that one your EXPENSES. Now list out your money income sources and expenses. You can either list them by category or by dollar amount.
That’s your cash flow problem. Too few sources of income to cover way too many expenses.
This is a precarious space where income barely meets expense. This is merely the iceberg. The spending power of Blacks in the US reached $1.6 Trillion, however, we don’t have the assets to show for it. White families are substantially more likely to receive inheritances, gifts, and other family support than Black and Hispanic families.
About 17 percent of White families expect an inheritance, compared to 6 percent of Black families, 4 percent of Hispanic families, and 15 percent of other families. Similarly, conditional upon expecting to receive an inheritance in the future, White families expect to receive relatively larger inheritances. In contrast, Black households are more likely to retain the debt and financial burdens of the prior generation. Without any assets from stocks to homes, wealth tumbles.
In all age groups, Black and Hispanic families are far less likely to have such retirement accounts. For example, among middle-aged families –who have the highest rates of account ownership— 65 percent of White families have at least one retirement account, compared to 44 percent of Black families, and just 28 percent of Hispanic families.
The cost of keeping up
Here’s how we got here, Community Stagnation. In the shadows of the Civil Rights Movement, most Black families migrated across America. This came at a cost to the stability of the Black family.
The constant brain drain led to stagnating smaller towns in favor of high-cost-of-living cities. Add on the staggering diminishing return of student loans to career income, wealth inequality was bound to turn sour. The biggest issue with the Modern Black community falls squarely on spending to cosplay being wealth.
You can’t get ready if you are constantly spending for social capital which doesn’t pay dividends or capital gains. These are merely fleeting assets. This leaves a lot to discuss on the podcast. Can we choose to change under the weight of systemic oppression and the lingering issues of transatlantic slavery? Or will we, “Atlanta, Miami, and Brunch ourselves to death?”
How the Next Recession will Impact Modern Black Communities
Another recession would likely bring the median wealth of Black Households to $12,000.
According to The Road to Zero Wealth report, the median wealth of black Americans will fall to zero by 2053 if current trends continue. With spending up and credit card usage bolstering lifestyle creeps on social media is the Modern Black cultural zeitgeist detrimental to long-term wealth building and wealth preservation?
Do we really want to have generational wealth?
About Us:
The Financial Griot is a play on two words (Finance + Griot) that hold significance in closing the wealth gap while embracing our differences. We tell the stories that others don’t.
Stories about growth, opportunity, and embracing changes. Beyond that, we talk about Finances. Specifically, how to become Financially literate, incorporate actionable steps, and ultimately build generational wealth.
Can you imagine being a Millionaire in 20 years or less? Yeah, it’s possible.
80% of millionaires are first generation. That means they didn’t come from wealth. We teach you how. Join a community of subscribers that welcome a fresh take on money.
So there you have it, The Financial Griot, or TFG for short. The hosts were able to amass over $2 Million in wealth in about 8 years and are on track to retire early. If you want the secrets; we will gladly share them since the opportunity is abundant and Win-Win.
Connect with TFG Crew aka the Hosts:
- Alainta Alcin – Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @alainta_alcin
- Lovely Merdelus – Entrepreneur and Small Business Growth Specialist @lovelymerdelus
- Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez – Federal Auditor, Blogger, and Tax Specialist @theneighborhoodfinanceguy
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