Survey Black Investors Together

Ariel Investments, the Black-owned investment firm founded by John W. Rogers, Jr., in 1983, has partnered with investment titan Charles Schwab for 24 years to create a survey that studies the investment habits between Black and white Americans. What they have found over the years is that white investors have greatly outnumbered Black investors, however in 2022, they found that gap is finally closing. Yet it’s not closing fast enough.

More Education is Needed

One of the main factors of the lack of Black investors is education. Many Black individuals and Black families simply don’t understand or don’t know how to invest in the stock market. Thankfully with organizations such as Financial Joy School, which is dedicated to teaching Black and brown families how to build generational wealth, all hope is not lost. Not only do parents and older adults need to be taught how to invest, but the younger generation needs to start investing as soon as they can to have a decent retirement and obtain substantial wealth they can pass on to their children.

Life Signs in the Stock Market

It would seem that while education is the main barrier holding most Blacks back from investing, those who do invest are of the younger generation. Blacks in their 20s and 30s have decided to dip their toes in the waters of Wall Street and these younger investors are the ones closing the racial wealth gap. 

In 2022, sixty-three percent of investors were white while an amazing fifty-eight percent were Black. That is a spread of only five percent which means in the coming years, we could see Black investors meeting, and perhaps surpassing, their white counterparts.

Hopeful but Hesitant

While these signs of life in the stock market seem promising, Black investors are more prone to invest in higher-risk stocks and stocks they heard about on social media. While Black youth and families are investing, education is still needed to make smart decisions, wise choices, and invest their money with the goal of not making a quick buck, but propagating wealth for the future.

By making snap decisions and not considering a long-term goal, Black investors might actually be harming their chances for generational wealth rather than helping them.

Cryptocurrency

While Blacks are closing the investment gap, they are also twice as likely to invest in cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Dogecoin, and that is due to investment platforms like Coinbase which makes it easy to do so. For more information about Coinbase, you can read our blogs on this investment platform here and here. 

Coinbase is popular due to its cheap starting price of only $25. It also comes with a debit card that’s branded by Visa which allows you to make purchases from your investment account as you would with a credit card or your bank account’s debit card. This seems like an amazing perk but be warned, having direct access to your investment dollars will not help you build wealth because you are spending it.

All in all, it is an amazing sight to see Black investors finally closing the wealth gap and taking a bite out of the stock market. In the coming years, we could see Black investors surge above and beyond white investors and be free from poverty once and for all.

To learn more about investing, closing the racial wealth gap, and growing generational wealth for Black and brown families, please visit Financial Joy School and become a part of our financial family.

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The Lancaster Teenage Girls Empowerment Summit is more than just a summit, it is a movement designed to empower Black, Hispanic, and other middle school girls of color in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The summit brings together girls from all walks of life to nurture self-discovery and be the very best version of themselves that they can possibly be.

Women of color from all over Lancaster County come to talk with these impressionable young girls, giving stories of success and bringing them representation in the real world. Speakers might include personal trainers, dance instructors, even Lancaster’s own mayor. Breakout sessions follow the main talks, bringing even more discussions to the table, from education to bullying to self-esteem.

Unity of Sisterhood

These girls come from all kinds of backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities, but what they truly find at the summit is unity. Even though they are different in one way or another, they are actually all the same, young girls on a journey to discover who they are in the world. The Lancaster Teenage Girls Empowerment Summit comes alongside them on their journey to empower them to walk in confidence by giving them examples of strong women of color who’ve made a life for themselves, and not only that, but who thrive in that life.

Our own Ruby Taylor is just such a woman, and she has also come alongside these girls by partnering with the Lancaster Teenage Girls Empowerment Summit, bringing her LEGACY! Card game to the table. This game, created by Taylor, is specifically designed to teach Black and brown youth and families how to choose diverse and powerful career opportunities while also learning how to invest their money to close the racial wealth gap. Taylor’s passion is to teach people of color everywhere how to build generational wealth through investing their money. Her card game does just that.

Empowering Tomorrow’s Black Women

Many of these girls at the summit come from underprivileged families and feel as if their lives are already set to follow the same patterns of those who have gone before them. But this summit works to empower these young girls to see themselves as capable and strong. Not only that, the summit works to inspire middle school girls of color to believe in themselves and their dreams. Nothing is too wild and crazy to pursue, nothing is out of reach. By giving these girls representation and a voice all their own, they come to realize they, too, can make a difference in the world, and that their voice matters.

Through Ruby Taylor’s partnership with the Lancaster Teenage Girls Empowerment Summit, a new generation of young girls of color will not only learn to believe in themselves, but also how to better themselves. These girls need strong female voices that encourage them to follow in their footsteps, so that they might one day become the future leaders that inspire even more young girls after them.

To learn more about investing, closing the racial wealth gap, and growing generational wealth for Black and brown families, please visit Financial Joy School and become a part of our financial family.

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Financial Joy School proudly showcases the African Diaspora Alliance this week as one of our distinguished distribution partners. The African Diaspora Alliance began as the dream of two Baltimore natives, Moriah Ray and Jasmine Hall, who envisioned a world for low-income Black youth to have the opportunity to travel and study abroad, but not only that, to learn through awareness of the African Diaspora. 

The African Diaspora is the worldwide population of people who have roots in African descent. This alliance seeks to eliminate the “exoticization” of being “foreign” and “other”, and instead seeks to bring connection and unity throughout the Diaspora. The goal is to educate students of weighty topics such as institutionalized racism, internalized racism, differences in access to health opportunities globally, and much more.

Small But Mighty

Small but mighty, the African Diaspora Alliance allows the opportunity for the Black youth of Baltimore to travel into all the world to study in such countries as Cuba, Brazil, and even the continent of Africa. By traveling abroad, underprivileged Black youth are exposed to a larger world than their own poor neighborhood back home. By exposing these impressionable minds to realities of the Diaspora worldwide, a solid foundation of knowledge and wisdom is laid through this unique kind of education. The world is much larger than themselves, and through this program, a deeper and richer appreciation of the Diaspora throughout the world is forged. On top of that, these Black students also come to more fully appreciate themselves as a member of this worldwide community as well.

We at Financial Joy School have partnered with the African Diaspora Alliance through our Project 10,000 movement made possible by the Wells Fargo Social Impact and Small Business Foundation, which provides Black and brown youth and families the education they need to close the racial wealth gap and build generational wealth. Through this partnership, the Black youth of the African Diaspora Alliance now have access to Ruby Taylor’s LEGACY! Card game which teaches investing and empowerment for your finances through fun. 

Taylor’s LEGACY! Card game offers a wide array of career opportunities as well as investment opportunities, teaching the players how to make their money work for them. This education is vital for Black youth and families to think outside the box when it comes to being smart about their money. 

Coming Together

This type of teaching tool helps Black youth and families to think critically by expanding their own horizons, which, ultimately, expands the Diaspora as well. A partnership between Financial Joy School and the African Diaspora Alliance was only natural and fitting for Black empowerment, not only in Baltimore, but throughout the world. 

With strong and successful Black women such as Moriah Ray, Jasmine Hall, and our own Ruby Taylor leading the way, the door is now open for Black youth and families to find their own voices in the world, not only within their identity and culture, but through their finances as well. 

To learn more about investing, closing the racial wealth gap, and growing generational wealth for Black and brown families, please visit Financial Joy School and become a part of our financial family.

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At Financial Joy School, we work with several distribution partners to bring our vision of closing the racial wealth gap to as many Black and brown families as we can reach. We are proud to showcase our partnership with the Black Fathers Foundation, whose purpose is to build up and support Black fathers and their families. 

The Black Fathers Foundation began with an idea. In 2008, Matt Prestbury opened a simple Facebook group. Over the years, the group grew to become a flourishing community of Black men, celebrating fatherhood and supporting each other on similar journeys. Prestbury’s goal was to create a picture of dedicated Black fatherhood, rather than the caricature of Black fathers portrayed by the media, on television, and throughout society. In order to do this, he banded together with a group of like-minded Black men posting pictures, giving advice, and uniting in a brotherhood—through fatherhood.

By 2018, Prestbury and his wife Kelly decided to take their community and create a non-profit organization, bringing love and fellowship to many more dedicated Black fathers all over the country. By 2019, their dream came true. The Black Fathers Foundation took off and has never once looked back.

The goal of this foundation is to enable Black men, through various resources and commitment, to strengthen their families and become a powerful presence in the lives of their children. Their objectives are threefold. 

First, to challenge the stigma of Black fathers in society. 

Second, to become a beacon of fellowship and support for strong Black fathers. 

And third, to present financial opportunities for Black fathers to further better themselves with scholarships, sponsorships, and grants.

Through their amazing generosity and a heart for Black men, Prestbury and the Black Fathers Foundation have partnered with Financial Joy School to teach Black fathers how to build generational wealth for their families. They have brought 100 men to Georgia to play Ruby Taylor’s LEGACY! Card Game, which teaches players how to invest their money while giving options of choosing diverse career opportunities. This gives players a snapshot of what investing and building wealth might look like within their own lives. Taylor created this card game to promote excitement within Black and brown communities for building generational wealth and closing the racial wealth gap.

By partnering with Taylor and Financial Joy School, the Black Fathers Foundation is one of Taylor’s Project 10,000 partners, a movement which began through a generous grant donated by the Wells Fargo Social Impact & Small Business Foundation. This grant allowed Taylor the opportunity to create and donate 10,000 LEGACY! Card Games to her distribution partners. Through the passion of both Taylor and Prestbury, Black fathers now have the opportunity to learn how to build a firm financial foundation for their children and families.

The bottom line is simple. In order for Black families to flourish, they need strong Black fathers and a strong understanding of how to make, save, and invest their money. Through the partnership of Financial Joy School and the Black Fathers Foundation, Black and brown families are given a promising future, not only for financial peace, but for the peace of mind of Black fathers everywhere.

To learn more about investing, closing the racial wealth gap, and growing generational wealth for Black and brown families, please visit Financial Joy School and become a part of our financial family.

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Black Girls Smile

Today, we celebrate Black Girls Smile, a non-profit organization and one of Financial Joy School’s distribution partners. Founded in 2012 by Lauren Carson, Black Girls Smile began as a way to reach young Black girls between the ages of 13 to 19 and educate them about mental health. According to Carson, there is a stigma within the Black community that young girls are “adultified” too early and become the heart, or the backbone, of the family before they’re mentally ready to handle such a load. Therefore these young Black girls feel as if they need to be tough and strong rather than being mentally healthy as the children they truly are. As a result of this adultification, many young Black girls find themselves depressed and stuck without a voice to express what they’re going through. This only leads to repeating the same broken patterns seen in generations before them. 

Black Girls Smile aims to change all of that. 

Ruby Taylor knows all too well the struggles young Black women face today. As a Black woman herself, Ruby has had to face struggle after struggle learning how to build her own generational wealth before opening Financial Joy School as a Black female entrepreneur. Her heart has always been educating youth and Black and brown families on how to build their own wealth and be confident enough to do so. In fact, you might say that’s what makes her affiliation with Black Girls Smile a winning hand.

Carson’s non-profit organization is distributing 200 decks of Taylor’s own LEGACY! card game, a product she offers on her website to teach youth and Black and brown families how to close the racial wealth gap. Through this affiliation, 200 young Black girls will be able to learn, not only how to build their own wealth, but how to believe in themselves as well.

Taylor believes, as does Carson, that young Black girls need to see, and be seen, by older, successful Black women. Representation is key to igniting these tender hearts into believing that they, too, can be successful in the workplace as a woman, and not only that, as a Black woman. Awareness is exactly what these young girls need, to know they are not alone and that they can dream—and pursue those dreams—with all their heart.

Easing the racial wealth gap through Taylor’s work at Financial Joy School certainly works hand-in-hand with easing the mental health load of our precious Black teen girls and helps them to understand their own worth. These girls are worthy, not only intrinsically within themselves, but also as our future CEOs, investors, and entrepreneurs. Taylor and Carson both envision a better world for Black girls where mental health does not go unchecked, and neither does growing generational wealth.

For more about Black Girls Smile, please visit Statnews, Newsy, and their homepage.

To learn more about investing, closing the racial wealth gap, and growing generational wealth for Black and brown families, please visit Financial Joy School and become a part of our financial family.

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At Financial Joy School, we’re proud to partner with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, a non-profit agency committed to helping entrepreneurs learn, grow, and flourish in their business. In the summer of 2021, our own Ruby Taylor was asked by both the Wells Fargo Foundation and the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center to help launch Connect to More, their vision for female entrepreneurs in order to empower women for success in business.  

Being a Black woman entrepreneur herself, Ruby jumped at the chance. Not only would the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center help her own business, Financial Joy School, but it would also help thousands of others take hold of their dreams and make them become reality.

“I learned from some fantastic women, shedding light on how outstanding women entrepreneurs are,” said Ruby Taylor. “The inspiration and joy I felt during those events is a motivator to keep pushing no matter what.”

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center not only allows for entrepreneurs to more fully visualize their goals for their individual businesses, it also helps them to network and meet other goal-oriented people who have also started their own companies as well. Through its Milestone Circles program, not only do they build confidence and action toward meeting your company goals, but they also build a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

Through this community, much-needed support and friendship is found. Women are not often taken seriously in a world of male entrepreneurs. Through the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, women are able to visualize their goals, determine their milestones, and build a clear business model that will help them meet these goals. Having a dream for a company is easy, implementing it is the hard part. The Milestone Circles program seeks to lead women through the process of determining their own company milestones and bringing them to fruition.

While the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center works hard to give women entrepreneurs all the tools they need to thrive in their respective businesses, they work with any entrepreneur to learn and grow as well. By providing not only resources, but by mentoring young and upcoming entrepreneurs, their goal is to support their businesses and help them to understand their full potential as leaders in the business world. 

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center does not stop at mentoring entrepreneurs, but helps them to become mentors themselves through online classes and their online community as well. The more you know, the better you can help someone else in the place you once were yourself. In this way, the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is more of a family of entrepreneurs rather than an agency that offers quick strategies for business growth and money-making. 

Sixty-one percent of their entrepreneurs are minorities while forty-nine percent are women. The impact of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center in years to come can only be speculated now. However, we at Financial Joy School predict that the future is bright for minority and women CEOs. If you can dream it, you can do it. Never give up on yourself.

Through Ruby’s partnership with the NEC and Wells Fargo she received a $250,000 grant to create Project 10,000. Project 10,000 is an initiative geared towards providing essential financial education to Black and brown youth and families through LEGACY! Card Game.

To learn more about investing, closing the racial wealth gap, and growing generational wealth for Black and brown families, please visit Financial Joy School and become a part of our financial family.

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