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Media Says Black People are Poor… Again
Alainta Alcin, Lovely Merdelus and Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez are three first-generation Haitian Americans discussing the Racial Wealth Gap and why it keeps popping up every year. On this episode of the Financial Griot, we dish out our thoughts on the latest stats that paints Black people as poor and impoverished. The goal with this conversation is to give you actionable ideas that changes the narrative and helps move the conversation forward. The Financial Griot is all about engaging the narrative to lead us to a brighter future. Thanks for joining us as we normalize money conversation, dispel myths and provide solutions on building wealth while sharing stories. Turns out financial conversations…
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Becoming a Griot – The Art of Picking Out a Great Name for Our Podcast
Names matter? Today's episode is all of the start of our journey as podcasters on The Financial Griot. Alainta Alcin, Lovely Merdelus and Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez are three first-generation Haitian Americans discussing what to title this podcast. We settled on The Financial Griot which is a play on why we started this in the first place. Normalizing money conversation, dispelling myths and providing solutions on building wealth and most importantly sharing stories, thoughts and ideas. Turns out, conversations that elevate doesn't always have to be about dollars and cents. You can find us on our IG accounts: Alainta Alcin - Blogger, Travel and Money Enthusiast @its_alainta Lovely Merdelus - Entrepreneur and Small…
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The Value of Our Priorities: Renting vs Ownership
Renting vs Ownership as the new American Dream. It all comes down to valuing your own priorities. Home Ownership is still a wealth builder.
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Pay Me What I’m Worth: a Black Man’s Journey to $100,000+
A reflection of one Black man’s journey from dropping out of Grad School, being broke, terrified and finally taking personal accountability. Written by Lawrence Delva-Gonzalez, CFE and Edited by Ecclesiaste Guerrier, SHRM-CP, DEI Paychecks and Balanced Efforts At some point, any Job will do! I’d like to start by saying, “Personal Accountability is not a bad word.” Growing up watching fictional characters, it was easier for me to attribute success with effort. The Bad guys created obstacles and the Good guys learned something along the way and defeated the obstacles. Over time, like many other Black boys transitioning to Manhood, I forgot about these stories. Better yet, I never knew…
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How to Pay Off Three Mortgages Before Retirement
Details on how this couple plans to pay off three mortgages by retirement, while others are paying 40-years of home loans.
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Figuring Out your Net Worth from the Average
Net worth is the language of wealth builders. Here's how you figure our your net worth and how to improve it over time.
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The Five Things You Need to Improve Your Wealth Before 30
How to Improve Your Worth Early First of all, don’t panic. Take a deep breath and read this on the toilet, in the club, at happy hour, during brunch, after lunch, and prior to Netflix. If you want to reach $1M and cruise Saint Tropez, you really need to get your act together quick. Turns out most people end up broke. Don’t choke during the finals. These are the five things that I think you can accomplish because you are an adult. And here is a bonus plan just because you clicked on this, the Net/Max Personal Financial Plan. 1. Google/YouTube Everything No shame in the game. There are tons…
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The Nouveau Rich and Non-Affluent Millennials
We are Living in the Age of the Nouveau Rich, Black Excellence, Sharper Couture, and #TravelNoire. College grads who Hope to Start at $100K.
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How this 31-year old Govt. Auditor Spends $64,000 in DC
In 2014, I moved from Tallahassee, Florida to Washington, DC. An opportunity of a lifetime awaited and I did not hesitate. Similar to the ideas in “Think and Grow Rich“, a good choice should never linger for more than 30 seconds. Making no more than $32,000 annually (before Uncle Sam’s cut) at my last position; receiving a phone call for DOUBLE WAS A NO BRAINER, NO MATTER THE ODDS. What Goes Up Cost of living increases added up quickly. Those first few months were rather rough. I was hit with setbacks: waiting on old paychecks and new paychecks, sleeping on the ground in the cold and dead of winter, without adequate heat…
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How I Improved My Salary by 5x in 5 years
Back in 2012, I was hit with the perfect storm. It was as if God was throwing rocks at me so that I could eventually avoid the boulder. Being poor is indeed the hardest job in America. Here are the five unfortunate events in no chronological order: The (then) girlfriend broke up with me for her abusive ex. Her number one concern is that we would always be financially broke. My credit card bounced. That moment when the cashier rings you up and nothing happens. You let them know to run it again and nothing happens. You go home mad and make the call to the credit card company. And you finally realize that…
