My late honorable father once told me that “it is not that which you make, it is what you keep.”In other words, he was saying: “Don’t let me know what you make, show me that which you keep.” Like many of you, I too am puzzled and frightened by athletes and celebrities going broke and losing their houses the foreclosure. What went wrong? My honorable mother said it best by quoting the scripture: “A fool and the money shall surely part.”
I watched and observed my mom and dad successfully managed and ran a home with eleven children. My dad was the only real income source. He literally made peanuts working as a menial worker at a sugar factory. My mother was a housewife with no income whatsoever. They pinched and invested wisely in real estate such as lands. The land was adopted for cultivation then. When my dad made his transition in to the spiritual realm in 1989, I made probably the most crucial discoveries of my life. My mother could bury my father with dignity and with no financial assistance. When I looked at the things they were able to save from making peanuts, I was astonished. My mother explained to take my money-back with me to the United States and save it.
I said all of that to say this. What would make someone such as my poor parents stay afloat financially while athletes and celebrities who made millions are filing for bankruptcy and losing their homes in foreclosure? My parents paid tithes in a regimental manner (10 per cent of the earnings) from each and every pay check, made charitable contributions, schooled almost all their eleven children, etc., Yet they never experienced financial hardship. Well, it goes to what my father skillfully said: “It’s not that which you make, it’s what you keep.
Because most people were not formally trained how to handle money whenever we have money, let me give some solid good sense and invaluable advice. The first is humility. Humility is the greatest attribute any person can have. If you have money, stay humble. Nobody should know when you have a $1.00 or a million dollars. These tips that i’m going to give is solely for the black communities from whence I came. Since the only thing that lots of people get sound advice with money is to spend, spend, spend as if there isn’t any tomorrow.
We must get free from that mode of wanting to look great first. Many of us use our first $5000.00 to buy luxury cars, brand name clothes, excessive jewelry, etc., all what is known as personal property. How silly! The minute you drive off that car dealership, your vehicle depreciates. Let us start out by saving and investing wisely into real property instead of personal property. Having and owning 200 pairs of shoes, mega mansions that are not necessary, five cars, mink coats, etc., are simply idiotic. How many shoes are you able to wear simultaneously? The number of cars are you able to drive at the same time? How many rooms are you able to sleep in simultaneously?
It is crucial to reside within your means. In other words, “hang your basket where you can reach it.” Don’t watch what individuals have, because you don’t know the way they first got it. Do things at the own pace. Plan, plan, plan your future. “Lay your eggs how you desire to lay on them.” Take your time. “Look before you leap.” Invest at least 10 % of every pay check. Save a minimum of 10 per cent of each pay check. Understand what to give priority. Don’t spend that which you do not have. Conserve a decent credit rating of at least 700.
Don’t max your credit cards, equity, lines of credit, 401k, etc. Get an IRA account, buy government bonds, invest wisely in the stock exchange by working with a genuine and accessible stock broker, buy healthcare and endowment policies for the family, save right into a college fund for the children, etc. The cash that you’re likely to use to purchase silly jewelry and brand name clothes and sneakers for the children, you need to place it right into a college fund or money market account. Plan for inflation…$50,000 now is not $50,000 in Two decades. For this reason I recommend buying and purchasing real estate and commercial development.
Last but not least, wining and dining different women isn’t a good investment. We had top notch what went down to some famous athlete (Boxer) who went around and “sow his royal oats.” That’s simply idiotic. Womanizing is the greatest approach to take bankrupt. You are able to take that to the bank. Marry a partner who shares your goals and ambitions, and keep everything under one roof. Let me near by reiterating things i said earlier during my post… purchase real property and never in personal property. Before you purchase a Rolex watch for $100,000.00, make sure you have at least $1 million dollars in tangible estate equity somewhere. Before you purchase an extravagance car or cars, make sure you possess a roof over your head with substantial equity in it, which of course means you need to get your tail from your parent’s basement. Regrettably, law schools, medical schools, engineering schools, etc., don’t teach you how to manage money.