Professor Pig has teamed up with America’s Money Maven, Patrice Washington from SeekWisdomFindHealth, to bring you insights into saving in the Black community. Read on to learn more! You can find more of Patrice at www.patricewashington.com.
Professor Pig: What are some of the financial challenges you or women you know within the Black community have faced? How have you overcome them?
PW: Black women are masterful at stretching a dollar. We know how to get the most even by spending the least and yet this knack for creativity and flexibility in spending habits hasn’t been enough to help close the wealth gap between Black and white families in this country.
The typical white family has a net worth of $171,000 which is roughly ten times greater than that of a Black family who according to research1 are at ($17,650) in 2016 and since the pandemic has impacted Black communities overwhelmingly, we know the gap only stands to widen.
The gap is caused by a number of factors. From slavery to the Jim Crow era and even many covert and overt discriminatory practices that are still happening today have contributed to Black families being behind generation after generation.
While voting, completing the census accurately and doing our best to stand up to unfair practices will certainly assist in making changes, one way that I’ve overcome and teach the Black women I serve to do the same, is to focus energy on earning more money. Rather than spending hours scouring circulars looking for coupons to save $50 off a grocery bill, I encourage women to figure out what gifts they have that can be monetized without waiting for someone else’s approval. I took my gift of speaking and writing and turned it into a full-time business. Others have taken a love of sewing, coding or dancing and turned it into side-gigs that helped them pay down debt faster and save for home ownership.
Additionally, I encourage women to negotiate. Instead of taking the first offer (which we know Black women are overwhelmingly offered pennies on the dollar in comparison to white female and white male counterparts), I advocate for doing extensive research to make sure they come to the negotiating table equipped with numbers and not emotions.
Professor Pig: How can banks and other financial services firms better serve women in the Black community?
PW: They can better serve Black families as a whole by providing more relatable financial education tools and resources that speak to the Black experience. There can be a lot of layers to the Black family structure and financial services firms should be aware of the dynamic and do a better job of catering to it. Many Black women find themselves in the sandwich generation. They’re working to care for aging parents and preparing to send children off to college all while working full-time, getting advanced degrees and the like. Creating a financial education curriculum easily accessible through apps, social media and online tools so that we can learn without having to leave home or feel like we’re neglecting our busy lives to get the information, would be invaluable.
Professor Pig: What is the best piece of advice you can give to Black families just starting to think about saving?
PW: There’s never a “better time to start.” It doesn’t matter if you’re in debt. You can’t afford to wait until all of your debt is paid off to start saving. You have to pay down debt and save simultaneously. Create a plan with realistic numbers and month after month, do whatever you can to stick to both goals. In the event of an emergency, having no savings because you were paying down debt won’t help you. You’ll likely end up right back in debt when you have to borrow from others or use a credit card to get you through what you could’ve saved for.
Professor Pig: What is the most helpful piece of financial advice you have ever received?
PW: Don’t lend money, you can’t afford to give away. It’s okay to give, but not to the point of your own detriment.
Please note that Patrice Washington was compensated by Sallie Mae for providing this content. All opinions expressed herein are her own.
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