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What personal finance mistake is most common in the Black community?

Lilm0mma

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- having the mentality to “Spend it because you can’t take it with you.”

- not buying insurance(life,auto,homeowners,renter,etc.)

- not talking about finances within the family

- not doing anything with the money we’ve saved

Before we can began to address any of these issues, we have to first become more comfortable with talking about money within our family/community(ive seen more of this in the recent years which makes me proud). Then we have to educate ourselves and each other about savings, debt/credit, assets vs. liabilities, growing and investing money, insurance policies, and the importance of money management. We also have to start teaching OUR children about money before they become adults. It’s not taught in schools because they want us to work until we’re dead..so we need to make it our priority to fill in where the education system is lacking.
 
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GigiLaMoore

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Not investing. Clothes, cars and handbags are not investments. If you can afford those things too, great. However, one should never have more money on their body than they have in the bank. Prepare for the future, prepare for hardships or if you just want to make a change in life. Get life insurance to keep your family covered in the event of a tragedy. Don't just live for today.

There are a lot of books and content out there to educate yourself financially. We have to tell ourselves "no" at times. I think in our community, some fall into the "bling" trap, especially when they have come from a background where they didn't have a lot growing up. This mentality will keep you poor.
 
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Lilm0mma

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And another mistake we make is pushing our kids out the house when they turn 18. Instead of encouraging them to stay home, while they work/go to school, until they are financially and mentally ready. Because BABY, I wish I would’ve stayed home for a few more years..

lastly, we don’t pull our resources together to help one another.
 

heyleauxx

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Spending above means with no room for error
Relying on job benefits with no outside investments
Making financial decisions on a whim without researching or proper preparation.

--

I know of so many people who got the stimulus $$ from 2020- now and blew every single penny. Invested nothing . Saved nothing. Spent it all . & are still in debt. More $$ but same bad habit so the cycle of destruction continues.
 

Sang_bleu

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- Credit scores and credit history.

- Ridiculous discussions that relate to finances and relationships. How do you go from 50/50 to birkin bags?
 

877CashNow

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not valuing having good to excellent credit
cashing checks at the check cashing place
treating family and friends like ATMs
putting bills in children's names
 
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apocalipton

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Glorifying high salaries in lieu of budgeting, saving, and investing.

Using substandard banking instruments.
According to the agreement filed in a New York court as part of a class-action lawsuit, RushCard will pay at least $100 to each user who could not access their funds. That amount can increase to up to $500 if the customer can document any losses they might have experienced due to the outage.
But what if they had more in their accounts? :sidefrown

Not having bank accounts.

Abuse of banking instruments.
My cousin always purposely overdrafts her account. She has Bank of America and chime but I doubt she would qualify for another bank.

She claims she preferred chime because her money gets there quicker but she really just doesn’t want all her money in one account because when it’s time to pay bills she can avoid it by letting it bounce back until she’s ready to pay smh.
Some folks just don't understand the concept of paying bills on time, so they treat it like a game. It's no surprise they treat banking in the same manner.
I know a chick who keeps a chart of banks/companies and the times they clear deposits so she can kite checks. She can tell you exactly when your autopay will come out down to the second too. It's sad, yet fascinating.

Not saving/investing financial windfalls.
Let some folks receive $20K to put toward a wedding, they'd go over budget and have to start a gofundme because they'd have to have the best of the best!

Lack of financial support under the guise of character building.
moms favorite threats is to tell me that she won't let my college use her w2 forms so I can get financal aid.
This happened to my husband. In addition to his mother telling him to write letters to famous people to help him with college, she refused to stop claiming him on her taxes so that he could apply for financial aid. He had to drop out of college and work 3-4 jobs so that he made more than her so she'd stop claiming him and he could get the aid he needed to pay for school.He's in a PhD program now and doing well and now she's so proud :disdain
I can attest to this. Especially with that over 50 crowd: they LOVE to say they want you to be successful, but if you are down on your luck? "Say the 23rd psalm"! Or God help you if you are about to be homeless. "I will pray for you". Need a job? "Apply online".

Failure to transfer generational wealth through inheritance, real estate, and life insurance policies.
I won't be here so I don't care. I'm not leaving nothing to nobody. Nobody left nothing for me.

Failure to pool resources.
We may need to create neighborhoods that are gentrification proof. Black folks, professional and non-professional, need to collaborate on establishing colonies outside of the typical NYC-DC-ATL that we struggle to survive in. Redlining is real but it doesn't have to be. Buy homes and get that credit right and stop buying crap that we don't need (mermaid hair, shoes, clothes). Let's be frugal and learn how to do our own hair (again), shop thrifty or even make our own clothes. We have to undo the decades poor financial habits that we've grown accustom to. We're going to have to pool our resources and get educators, doctors, lawyers, etc. so that we have our own professional services. We may need to re-segregate ourselves to see a real change.

Everyone deserves fiscal fortitude. I'd love to see the Black wealthy/Black elite collab to create a financial institution that offers low to no-fee accounts and financial education courses.




 
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Having children you can’t afford.
Putting Tommy Jr. in debt with sh!tty cable bills at 5 years old.
Thinking it’s okay you take money from your children because you’re their parents.
No 401k, investments, or home insurance.
Getting into CC debt over sh!tty leased furniture, clothes, and cars.
Thinking that personal finance is for white people.
 

LazyDaisy

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"Carrying debt builds credit."

I keep hearing this lie be repeated way too many times by black people and it bothers me. I'm starting to feel like this lie was intentionally spread across the black community to keep us financially fµcked so the powers that be could then use the data on consumer debt to blame us for being financially irresponsible.
 

PrimaDonnaDiva

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Not taking credit seriously, not investing, spending your pay check before you even get it, not saving, financing cars you can't afford instead of paying cash, oow children, not taking advantage of living at home, not having some sort of financial plan.
 

chaoticlibra

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"Carrying debt builds credit."

I keep hearing this lie be repeated way too many times by black people and it bothers me. I'm starting to feel like this lie was intentionally spread across the black community to keep us financially fµcked so the powers that be could then use the data on consumer debt to blame us for being financially irresponsible.
This is why I side eye people thar get store credit cards in the guise of building credit. There are better ways to do that.
 

tt00

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Not investing. Clothes, cars and handbags are not investments. If you can afford those things too, great. However, one should never have more money on their body than they have in the bank. Prepare for the future, prepare for hardships or if you just want to make a change in life. Get life insurance to keep your family covered in the event of a tragedy. Don't just live for today.

There are a lot of books and content out there to educate yourself financially. We have to tell ourselves "no" at times. I think in our community, some fall into the "bling" trap, especially when they have come from a background where they didn't have a lot growing up. This mentality will keep you poor.


This we fall into being consumers with nothing to show financially trap.
 

Zahungscyn

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I would say unplanned children would be #1. People don’t see the financial and psychological impact of having children when not prepared.
Another is surrounding ourselves with broke people. Friends and family members who always have issues will drain you.
 

YANAS

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Helping family & friends when we don’t have it. Even when we do have it, some family & friends will bleed you dry.

Dealing with bum men who aren’t even trying to do better.
 

SageDew

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For some reason the "quote" option isn't working for me. But to the above font, cashing checks at the check cashing places just needlessly eats up money. It ain't a lot but it adds up.
 

bbydoll21

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For some reason the "quote" option isn't working for me. But to the above font, cashing checks at the check cashing places just needlessly eats up money. It ain't a lot but it adds up.
Ok so where do you cash them then?
 

CandleCrazii

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Ok so where do you cash them then?
You deposit them to your bank account where it is free. Unless it is a foreign check it usually clears in 24 hours so that shouldn't be too long to wait. The point the other person was making is that you should have enough cash already that you don't need to run and cash a check (at a cost).
 

SageDew

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Ok so where do you cash them then?

You deposit them to your bank account where it is free. Unless it is a foreign check it usually clears in 24 hours so that shouldn't be too long to wait. The point the other person was making is that you should have enough cash already that you don't need to run and cash a check (at a cost).

Yup, what CandleCrazii said

bbydoll21 you can also do mobile deposits thru your banks app too. Even if someone doesn't have a bank account, most people have something like Chime/Cashapp/Venmo or cash cards like Green Dot. Those apps/cards have account numbers and routing numbers that you can also use to get your checks directly deposited to those as well.
 

bbydoll21

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You deposit them to your bank account where it is free. Unless it is a foreign check it usually clears in 24 hours so that shouldn't be too long to wait. The point the other person was making is that you should have enough cash already that you don't need to run and cash a check (at a cost).

Yup, what CandleCrazii said

bbydoll21 you can also do mobile deposits thru your banks app too. Even if someone doesn't have a bank account, most people have something like Chime/Cashapp/Venmo or cash cards like Green Dot. Those apps/cards have account numbers and routing numbers that you can also use to get your checks directly deposited to those as well.

Thank you both!
 

tt00

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I would say unplanned children would be #1. People don’t see the financial and psychological impact of having children when not prepared.
Another is surrounding ourselves with broke people. Friends and family members who always have issues will drain you.

Right , I was just watching this video on youtube .. Read the comments . lol

 

Crimson Belle

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Even if someone doesn't have a bank account, most people have something like Chime/Cashapp/Venmo or cash cards like Green Dot.
I wouldn't suggest the scam that is Green Dot. Their terms & conditions are terrible, especially for those who are financially illiterate. You reminded me that I need to deactivate my Green Dot card lol.
 

ICUWatchinMe

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And another mistake we make is pushing our kids out the house when they turn 18. Instead of encouraging them to stay home, while they work/go to school, until they are financially and mentally ready. Because BABY, I wish I would’ve stayed home for a few more years..

lastly, we don’t pull our resources together to help one another.
I agree with this. Let your kids stay home and stack their coins before they move out.
 

877CashNow

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Leaving your finances to he said she said BS. Im tired of it. Please set up at least one beneficiary and give them the documents. It takes less than five minutes to do so.
 

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