the black woman’s generational wealth agenda
Every episode of the Black Women Parlay Podcast, while I am the host, I am still in so many ways a student. Each of my guests bring me into their world of expertise and add that next level of knowledge.
For a very long time, I have always maintained that as Black women and Black people we are in accumulation mode. Dependent on where you were born, there are a lot of foundations that still need to be built.
With Black women in the US earning almost a million dollars less in their lifetime (36% less than white men and 12% less than white women) and in the UK, 16% less there is no doubt that our wealth creation should be different.
In the episode We Should All Be Investors, Lydia said something so powerful. She said the ‘Black women’s agenda is not the same as the middle class agenda’. The goals of wealth preservation is very different to wealth accumulation.
When she said this one statement, so much fell into place. Having worked in asset management, I was around a lot of people with so many investments and talking about dropping this much and that much in XYZ Funds and buying stocks and I remember that at the beginning of my career, thinking how am I meant to be able to do that?
Some of my peers were investing and doing this and that, but it wasn’t something that felt relevant or achievable at that time. If I had someone like Lydia, when I was 22, this would have made a huge difference to my life and I think this is what is missing in the narrative for younger Black women and why it is so important to have Black women as financial advisors, who recognise that our agenda is different.
It is not just about risk profile, but what are we trying to achieve and how can we build generational wealth rather than preserve what we don’t yet have.
My other significant takeaway is to go where you can be served rather than thinking it is outside of your reach. Wealth advisors seem to be the preserve of the wealthy, but look for someone within your budget and not just on social media. Expertise and professional advice is required from people who are certified to give this advice.
