My Finance Professor

Black CEO Lays Out a New Way to Innovate

2009-08-26T00:39:00.001-04:00

To say that Global Consumer Innovation (GCI) (www.globalconsumerinnovation.com) is just another marketing or research company is an understatement, to say the least. Touted as an innovation company, GCI uses its holistic perspective to create concepts for companies to enhance growth. Under the belief that corporations have, for too many years gone about developing products and services that are fundamentally flawed, GCI operates under the premise of designing products based upon collecting consumer data.

Founded by former Vice-President of Global Consumer Innovation and Global Capability Group for Dell, Fenorris Pearson, the GCI innovation team defines the next big idea that produces consumer products or services that disrupt the competitive landscape and generate revenue through billion dollar concepts. GCI recognizes that the methodology of corporate America is deeply flawed. There is a process that needs to be examined for success with every company, and GCI has perfected that concept.

Companies must take the frustrations of consumers and provide insights. All efforts must be totally consumer driven, without only seeking to reach quarterly goals or meet the bottom line. Major corporations bring in customers to view their products without knowing or understanding their needs. GCI is helping the consumer become involved and creating an innovation culture for best practices.

The GCI philosophy revolves around identifying whether or not a company has an innovation culture, designing the company to be more innovative, and the steps to take to create an environment. Most companies are all about making big investments. Venture capitalists do a wonderful job of understanding financials around what is brought to them. However, they don’t figure out who is going to buy it. Ninety-nine percent of all acquisitions fail because of poor marketing strategy. GCI offers their approach directly to the consumer. Their goal is to ensure that the investment succeeds.

Through strong leadership, innovative enablement, and solid growth practices, GCI is the alternative to the old way of doing business.

Click to Read

Black Money News from AOL – 8/21/09

2009-08-21T17:47:00.001-04:00

BV on Money: Is the Economy Really Recovering?

The economic downturn has hurt us all. Black unemployment has been nearly 70% higher than that for ...

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Financial Lovemaking: 2 More Links Between Sex and Money

As part of my series on comparisons between sex and money, we will continue with parts 3 and 4 ...

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Financial Lovemaking: What Sex and Money Have in Common

Some people think that money and sex have nothing in common. Actually, they have everything in ...

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Michael Vick, Money and the NFL: The Business Side of The Situation

Michael Vick is back on the field, (I wrote about this last week) but his problems are far from ...

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Black 'Lil Monkey' Dolls: A Very Bad Financial Move

I received a call from CNN today about a major corporate mistake. We talk about such marketing ...

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Financial Lovemaking 101: How The Wrong Marriage Can Destroy You

Many times, when I talk about portfolios, wealth and investing, I am talking about LOVE. Money is ...

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Dr Boyce Money: Wells Fargo's Bad Relationship With the Black Community

Wells Fargo was recently hit with another discrimination suit in the state of Illinois. This is ...

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Love Gone Bad: Scorned Women Krazy Glue Man's Genitals

OK, if you cheer when you read this story, then you need some serious help. If you squirm when you ...

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Dr. Boyce Money: Soulja Boy's Bad Financial Advice

In his video called 'Rich N*gga Sh*t' (I can't even write the title, because I don't want to ...

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Financial Lovemaking: Tiny, Toya, Weezy and TIP

OK, was I confused when I found out that Tiny and Toya (TI's "baby mama" and Lil Wayne's ex-wife, ...

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Dr Boyce Money: Is the NCAA Racist or Just Getting Rich?

In a letter written to NCAA president Myles Brand, Chairman Bill Thomas of the House Ways and Means ...

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Financial Lovemaking: Should You Marry a Professional Athlete?

Many of us remember the nearly $822,500 gambling debt and subsequent arrest of former NBA star ...

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Dr Boyce Money: What Do Black Female Entrepreneurs Go Through?

It's not easy to be an entrepreneur, but the rewards are high. Owning your own business can be one ...

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Dr Boyce Money: Why Consumer Confidence Actually Matters

Beyonce has a song about how she loves men with "big egos." This might imply that she likes men ...

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Dr Boyce: How Companies Make Money off Prisoners

Dr. Byron Price is a black scholar with a mission. His book, 'Merchandizing Prisoners' opens the ...

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Dr. Boyce Money: NCAA Finally Gets Sued

I've written extensively about the NCAA and what I perceive to be its consistent effort to exploit ...

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Dr Boyce and Free Talk Financial Advice on Power 105

In this conversation, Free from Power 105.1 in New York speaks with me about African Americans, ...

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Dr. Boyce and Michel Martin on NPR Discuss the Minimum Wage

In this interview, I speak with Michel Martin, host of "Tell Me More with Michel Martin," an NPR ...

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Dr Boyce Money: What Can Michael Vick Do Now?

Previously, I did a piece on Michael Vick and discussed ways in which Michael can get his ...

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Dr Boyce Money: Steve McNair's Missing Will

My heart was broken when I read about the murder of NFL great, Steve McNair. My heart went out to ...

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Dr Boyce Watkins: Is our Economy Turning Around?

2009-08-20T10:49:00.001-04:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

The economic downturn has hurt us all. Black unemployment has been nearly 70% higher than that for white Americans, and the blow is even greater for people of color, since there is less black wealth to fall back on during tough financial times. We must remember, however, that the global recession has literally led to starvation around the world, as there were many citizens who could barely buy food even during the good times.

The IMF's chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, says the global recession had "left deep scars, which will affect both supply and demand for many years to come." Blanchard also makes the additional point that economic models used to understand past recessions cannot be used to understand this one. When attempting to understand the cyclical nature of African American wealth, the models are even sketchier than they are for the rest of the world.

If you want to understand what happened to our economy, imagine you have a friend who appears to have the flu. The standard flu recovery time is going to be just a few days, so you expect to see them back at it within a week. They then go to the doctor, and it turns out that they have a sinus infection, extending the recovery period at least another week. But instead of coming back to work in 1 - 2 weeks, they are sick for an entire month. Well, this warrants another trip to the doctor, where you find out that the person actually has HIV. This changes the entire treatment strategy, since the short-term problems were nothing more than symptomatic triggers of serious long-term health issues. What's worse is that with or without serious intervention, the patient may never be completely healthy again.

Click to read.

Four Ways to get Fired for Lying

2009-08-17T18:39:00.001-04:00

Lisa F. shares his pain, but from a managerial perspective. “I know when a woman lies about being sick, just by looking at her hands and toes.” For the senior level new media executive, the giveaway is newly polished nails. “You cannot imagine how many women come in after a sick day with a fresh manicure or pedicure,” she observes.

Every day individuals fib, lie and embellish their way through the work day, not realizing that there are repercussions. The consequences may not always be as severe as termination, but it can be a reduction in bonus, a permanent mark on your record or a poor score on your yearly review, not to mention the damage done to your reputation among fellow colleagues. What follows are 4 frequent fibs that every single should avoid in the workplace.
Pulling the Healthy Sick Card

If you call in sick when you’re feeling perfectly fine you better be smart about it. Taking off one too many hangover Fridays, or regularly turning the day before calendared holiday 3 day weekends into your personal 4 day long weekends, will no doubt cause suspicious minds. So come clean to your supervisor and ask that these be reported as vacation days, or try to schedule your healthy sick days on less conspicuous days during the week.

Click to read.

Dr Boyce Watkins: Wells Fargo Accused of Predatory Lending….Again

2009-08-14T08:33:00.001-04:00

Wells Fargo was recently hit with another discrimination suit in the state of Illinois.This is the second high profile lawsuit alleging that the company has engaged in predatory lending in black and Latino neighborhoods. The suit was filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and presents evidence that black and Latino customers were being guided toward higher cost loans even when they qualified for lower cost loans.

Obviously, these lawsuits are not good PR for a company that is one of the primary sponsors for Tavis Smiley's yearly State of the Black Union event.

"I'm talking of the worst of the worst bad loans that were sold in the run-up to the collapse of the housing market," the attorney general said in a press conference about the suit.

The attorney general should be commended for taking on this lawsuit. Just a few months ago, Wells Fargo was accused of engaging in similar practices in black neighborhoods in the city of Baltimore. Christopher Chestnut, a prominent attorney in the state of Florida who pursues racial bias cases, stated that, "The factual allegations plead in both Illinois and Maryland courts indicate a trend of predatory inequity in lending by Wells Fargo. The alleged behavior is alarming, depressing and unnecessary."

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News: Dr Boyce Watkins explains the meaning of “consumer confidence”

2009-08-02T10:23:00.001-04:00

Beyonce has a song about how she loves men with "big egos." This might imply that she likes men with confidence. Confidence matters a great deal in terms of male/female attraction, but believe it or not, it actually impacts our economy. Every month, the University of Michigan measures consumer confidence, to determine if Americans are willing to spend money and how they feel about their current and future economic security.

But you might ask, "Why would I care about confidence, since it's only psychological and imaginary?" Good question. Actually, confidence is a psychological phenomenon which leads to very real impacts on our choices and behavior. A confident man who asks out every girl he meets will probably have more mating opportunities than a good looking guy who doesn't open his mouth. A confident consumer is someone who feels good about his/her economic situation and therefore decides to spend money, which is always good for the economy. Confident companies make investments and hire new employees, but insecure companies put projects on hold and don't hire anyone. Confident banks make loans, but nervous banks hold onto their capital, thus slowing down economic growth for the nation.

Click to read.

Illinois Files Bias suit Against Wells Fargo

2009-08-01T16:25:00.001-04:00

CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit Friday against Wells Fargo & Co., accusing the second-largest mortgage lender of steering blacks and Latinos into high-cost subprime loans.

"As a result of its discriminatory and illegal mortgage lending practices, Wells Fargo transformed our cities' predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhoods into ground zero for subprime lending," Madigan said in a statement.

High foreclosure rates resulted from the illegal sales practices, the state's attorney general said.

click to read more

Roland Martin, Boyce Watkins Talk Gates

2009-07-26T10:10:00.001-04:00

COOPER: Professor Watkins, do you believe this is an issue about race, or do you think this is an issue of two people with -- with big egos or clashing egos?

WATKINS: I think that the answer is that we don't know.

And that is the problem, that we were making bandwagon assumptions based on things we didn't know. Look, either Sergeant Crowley violated procedure or he didn't. If he did violate procedure, he either violated it because Skip Gates was black or for some other reason.

But the truth is that we can't read this man's mind. And, so, the truth -- the reality is that this could have happened to someone of another ethnicity, potentially, particularly when you look throughout Sergeant Crowley's record.

And I assume that he wouldn't be teaching classes on racial sensitivity if he had a record of arresting black men for no reason. Now, I'm not trying to say that this did not happen in this case. I'm not anybody is a liar.

But what I'm saying is that we can't use this case as a -- some sort of poster child for racial-profiling issues across America, because there is real racial profiling that goes on, on places other than Harvard University, because I guarantee you this much.

MARTIN: Anderson...

WATKINS: Skip Gates is a guy who knows he is Skip Gates.

And being a black professor at Harvard, with all the money that Skip has, I guarantee you he has probably got more privilege than most white Americans have anyway.

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: Anderson, race -- race is involved, because you all -- look, when you step back and say, here, you have an African-American professor in his home. The cop comes there.

The black officer said, I think it may have been -- differently if it was an African-American cop with this actual black male here. What we have to learn here is, what is going through a black man's mind when this kind of thing is happening?

Again, people say, well, it needs to be overt. Well, people all self-perceive things differently. What is implied? What is inferred? And, so, here, he is standing here saying, this is how I am interpreting this.

We cannot dismiss that and say, well, that is not relevant. It is relevant, because it happens every day. People make assumptions. Women make assumptions based upon, well, is this happening to me because I am a woman? Is this happening to me because I am Hispanic? COOPER: But some assumptions are correct and some assumptions are not.

MARTIN: Absolutely. But that's why we can't...

WATKINS: Right. Absolutely.

Government Raising the Minimum Wage: A Generally Good Idea

2009-07-25T07:38:00.001-04:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Syracuse University

I am a curious professor, a compassionate capitalist and the owner of a small business. All of these hats create a complex perspective on whether or not it is a good idea to increase the minimum wage. After all, we are in a recession, and one might be tempted to argue that any sort of pay increase would slow down our nation's economic recovery, eliminate jobs, and significantly reduce corporate profitability.

Sorry to burst those bubbles, but the data don't validate most of the above concerns.
First of all, the minimum wage was introduced during the Great Depression, the mother of all economic downturns. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was designed to ensure that the most vulnerable Americans were no longer going to be exploited by the power of big business. The Great Depression came to an end shortly thereafter, and there is no evidence that it slowed down the economic recovery in any significant way.

Secondly, the budgetary implications of minimum wage increases are not very large. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 2 percent of all men and 3.6 percent of all women currently earn the minimum wage. But while the impact on our national budget is small, the gains for those affected are tremendous: there are nearly 5 million children in families who earn the minimum wage, and nearly all of these children are going to have better lives in the advent of an increase.

Click to read.

Making Financial Love

2009-07-23T01:31:00.000-04:00

Dr. Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University speaks with Free on Power 105.1 about Financial Lovemaking. Click here to listen to the interview!

Michael’s Kids and Their Financial Plan

2009-06-30T09:18:00.001-04:00

by Dr Boyce Watkins

"Stuntin like my daddy" was the first song on the album, "Like Father, Like Son," issued by Lil Wayne and Birdman in 2006. "Stuntin" is a hip hop term synonymous with "flossing," blinging," and "balling." It means that you've engaged in excessive spending to ensure that you have the finest of everything and are even willing to live at the edge of your means in order to present appropriate status symbols to the world. Anyone who follows hip hop knows that you should never take financial advice from a rapper. In light of the recent passing of their father, I sincerely hope that the children of Michael Jackson didn't hear the Lil Wayne song, since their daddy's financial "stuntin" before his death has left the children with a conflicted economic legacy.

On one hand, we shouldn't feel sorry for Michael Jackson's kids, at least not financially. Their father's amazing talent gives them a brand that is literally worth well over a billion dollars in future royalties and licensing fees. Michael Jackson may have died physically. But financially, he is still a viable and overwhelmingly powerful corporate entity.

Click to read.

Dr Boyce Money: Learning from Michael Jackson’s Debt

2009-06-29T09:38:00.001-04:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Janet Jackson honors Michael at BET Awards

Doctor talks to police about Jackson's final moments

Let's remember what Michael did for us

Michael Jackson is not dead. No, he's not on a deserted island chilling with Tupac and Elvis (who some believe faked their deaths), but he is certainly alive in corporate and social spirit, impacting millions of people.

Michael will make 1000 times more money in death than most people make when they are alive. But similar to when he was alive, massive amounts of cash will have to be generated in order to counter the enormous debt that Michael created while he was doing his thing.

Reports have stated Michael Jackson's debt to be as high as half a billion dollars, enough to make some major corporations blush. What's worse is that this debt was not created via a series of sound financial investments: it was conceived by building personal amusement parks, buying rare monkey statues, and rocking his way from one expensive store to the other.

Michael's spending became his addiction. Financial needs could have been what led to him agreeing to do 50 concerts in London this year (a tour he was preparing for just before his death), when he may have not been able to handle one. It was starting to get sad watching Michael perform, similar to watching Muhammad Ali after he'd spent 10 years dealing with Don King. While the 50-year old Michael Jackson may have given a great performance, it would probably be something less than what we've come to expect.

Click to read.

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Why I support Obama’s Financial Overhaul

2009-06-22T11:21:00.001-04:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Finance Professor Syracuse University

I have a friend who broke both of his legs climbing a dangerous mountain in Southeast Asia. This friend has nearly died 8 times, been chased by bears, and has had food poisoning too many times to count. After his latest injury, we presumed that he would understand that taking such risk simply doesn't pay. But he rebuffed our intervention, stating that the risk is what makes his life worth living. My friend seems to believe that pursuing and living the dream might be worth enduring the occasional nightmare.

The current financial crisis is certainly the worst of economic nightmares. Job losses have been enormous and the stock market has shrunk faster than Lindsay Lohan's dress size. A report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week reported that in May jobless rates were higher in all 50 states and in the District of Columbiathan they were a year ago.

The Black community has had a double dose of economic drama, as our unemployment rate is nearly double that of White Americans, standing at 14.9% according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Black urban centers such as Detroit have been hit especially hard.

Click to read.

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www.blackmeninamerica.blogspot.com

Dr Boyce Money: The Great American Retirement Crisis

2009-06-15T14:01:00.001-04:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Finance Professor at Syracuse University

www.TheGrio.com

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But then again, it must not bother me very much, since I am going to give you a big pile of bad news right now. Given that I earned a Masters Degree in the "morbid science" of statistics, I figured I would start the day by fulfilling my occupational expectation.

The first piece of bad news is that you are going to die. One day, your heart will stop beating and the 2.5 billion breaths you'll take during your lifetime will come to an end. Hopefully, it won't be painful, but I can't guarantee that. The truth is, however, that death might not be the worst part of it all.

The toughest news is that before you die, you are likely going to experience a long, slow period of physical and psychological decline called "old age". In conjunction with this decline, you are going to see your financial resources dwindle as quickly as the muscles in your body. Not only will the scale of your resources decline, but your expenses will likely mount as you go to one doctor's visit after another, all with the hope of delaying the inevitable. That period of life is called "retirement", and most Americans are not financially prepared for it.

Now that you are sufficiently depressed (there's no point in lying to you, I'm not very good at that), I will give you some facts to chew on. I also hope that in light of these realities, you will engage in something that the rest of America is not doing: preparing for retirement. While retirement planning has always been important in the past, it has never been more important than it is for you right now. The Perfect Economic Storm is coming, one in which all the scary clouds merge together into one big ball of fiscal devastation that can only be created by God himself. When your financial meteorologist (me) gives you that information, it's your decision to get your family prepared. Let's break down the components of the storm, shall we?

Click to read more.

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Ryan Mack Explains How to keep your home

2009-06-13T16:45:00.000-04:00

Black finance expert Ryan Mack brings us advice from a place of real heart to help hard-working Americans deal with the mortgage mess. With his warm brand of personal finance advice, Mack's strongest words to the community are: "If you are having problems paying your mortgage DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM YOUR HOME!" In part one of our two-part interview, learn more about how we got into this housing crisis, how it has affected the general economy and what you should do now to protect your home.
How did you become a finance expert? What inspired you to pursue this goal?
When I was on Wall Street making great money I felt empty, because I was not an effective contributor to my community. I knew that finance was my passion, but I also knew that sitting in a cubicle making money only for the sake of self-empowerment was not my purpose.
Like too many families in America, many people in my family were not financially literate. My passion was to change that. In addition, I was always getting asked personal finance questions from peers who knew I was a stock trader. But trading is different from personal finance. To address these questions, I began to study personal finance and started a Yahoo group called MakingMoneyWork, which provided tips and strategies to over 200 members through weekly newsletters.

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Wells Fargo Getting Sued by City Governments for Discrimination

2009-06-11T20:50:00.001-04:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

Tavis Smiley needs to have a conversation with one of his primary sponsors, Wells Fargo. This week, it was announced that Wells Fargo is being sued by the city of Baltimore for egregiously racist predatory lending practices in the black community. The company has been accused by some former loan officers of targeting subprime, low quality loans to black neighborhoods, leading to a dramatic economic collapse for the black community of Baltimore.

The statistical evidence is daunting. Half of all the properties foreclosed by Wells Fargo are vacant and 71% of those properties are in black neighborhoods. Wells Fargo's African American borrowers with incomes greater than $68,000 per year were 8 times more likely to hold subprime loans than white borrowers with the same income.

Click to read.

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Dr. Christopher Richardson Explains Wells Fargo Alleged Discrimination

2009-06-11T10:48:00.001-04:00

Dr. Christopher Richardson

Dr. Christopher Richardson, one of the world’s leading experts on predatory lending and banking, comments on a recent report that Wells Fargo, one of the sponsors of the State of the Black Union event held every year, is being sued by several government agencies due to accusations of financially exploiting and deliberately misleading the Black community. Dr. Richardson’s comments are below:

Click to read on African American Money.

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Great Athlete Transitions to Successful Entrepreneur

2009-06-11T09:45:00.000-04:00

Jason Robertson is a man of many gifts. As an young man, he was an All-American baseball player, drafted by the New York Yankees straight out of high school. He was also listed by Essence Magazine as one of the most eligible bachelors in America for his good looks and success. If that were not enough, Jason retired from baseball and re-invented himself as a leading, award-winning entrepeneur.

Besides being a model of success for his 3 sons and celebrating his engagement to fiance Marshawn Evans, Jason is on a mission to teach other young men how to make the transition from successful athlete to outstanding businessman. Black Voices got a chance to catch up with Jason.

1) What do you do for a living?

I own an industrial packaging company. We sell corrugated boxes, bags, films, pallets, and we also provide warehousing and storage.

Click to read.

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21 Kids, 11 Mothers: What Gives?

2009-06-08T22:20:00.001-04:00

Desmond Hatchett is 29 years old and has 21 children with 11 different women. The Knoxville, TN native also works for minimum wage and can't support all of his kids. The state is only allowed to take 50% of his paycheck, which doesn't amount to very much for each child.

What do we make of Hatchett's decision? This is clearly a question for Financial Lovemaking.

Click to read.

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Dr Boyce Talks to Free from 106 & Park about Money

2009-06-07T16:34:00.001-04:00

Dr Boyce gives advice to DJ Free (formerly on BET's 106 & Park) about financial fitness and how to get your financial life together. How do you change your life when you've made financial mistakes? How do you get rid of toxic people in your life who are draining your financial resources? Dr Boyce and Free discuss how to have good financial health, R. Kelly and how to get your money right.

Click to read.

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Black Money: Is the American Dream Dead for Autoworkers?

2009-05-29T09:39:00.001-04:00

There was a time, not very long ago, when getting a job on the production line at a big automaker meant an instant ticket to the American dream, even for someone with little formal education. Not anymore.

"The minute you signed the paper, you were instantly vaulted into the middle class," said Mike Smith, director of Wayne State University's Walter P. Reuther Library in Detroit, named for the founder of the United Auto Workers, the union that represents auto workers.

A shrinking paycheck. As the auto industry undergoes a sea change, the government has demanded that Chrysler and General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) bring their labor costs in line with foreign competitors operating non-unionfactories in the U.S.

Today, an entry-level auto-worker will be making $14 an hour, compared to the $28 "base rate" the job had earned before, according to a summary of Chrysler's contract agreement.

Click to read.

Technorati Tags: black money,african american money,black wealth,african american wealth

Xerox Puts a Black Woman in Charge – a Corporate First

2009-05-26T10:00:00.001-04:00

Xerox named Ursula Burns to succeed Chief Executive Anne Mulcahy, in a move that makes Burns one of the most prominent African-Americans to head a Fortune 500 company.

Mulcahy, 56, an economic advisor to Barack Obama during the U.S. presidential transition, will retire as CEO on July 1. She is a 33-year veteran of Xerox, where she became CEO in 2001.

An avid biker, Burns, 50, will join a list about 15 women CEOs of a Fortune 500 company and become one of only a handful of African American CEOs. She joined Xerox in 1980 as an engineering intern, was named president in 2007, and had been groomed as the next CEO by Mulcahy. [ID:nN19438536]

Mulcahy, who has been credited with revitalizing the world's top supplier of digital printers and document management services, and also serves on Citibank's (C.N) board of directors, will remain as the company's chairman.

Click to read.

Technorati Tags: ursula burns,xerox,ceo,black women,african american woman,black woman

Dr Boyce Money: Do Your Kids Have a Plan for Your Death?

2009-05-23T18:56:00.001-04:00

For more financial advice, visit www.DrBoyceMoney.com.

It may shock you to read this, but you are going to die. Young people don't seem to believe they are ever going to leave the earth and even old folks aren't ready to accept it. Many of us become sole providers for our families under the assumption that we are going to be around forever. Well, there comes a time when we must realize that if we get into our car and head out to work one morning, we may never come back.

What happens to those we leave behind? They are left to clean up the messes that we've left, and you probably know at least one person who has gone to a funeral and watched their daddy's dirty laundry pour itself out all over the front row. The funeral is a day of reckoning, from both a personal and financial standpoint. The point of death is when the Grim Reaper makes us reap what we have sewn throughout our lives.

How do you determine whether or not you have enough life insurance? Let me break it down for you.

Continue reading Do Your Children Have a Plan for your Death? You Might Want to Think Again

Technorati Tags: black money,black wealth,african american money,african american wealth,black professors,african american professors

Dr Boyce and Tia Talk Love, Money and Gotti’s Way

2009-05-21T23:21:00.000-04:00

Hip-hop "mogul" Irv Gotti has gotten tremendous criticism for mistreating his estranged wife, Deb. Let's be real, Irv is mean and appears to be highly inconsiderate. He cheats on Deb openly, disrespects her and doesn't seem to care if she stays or goes.

"Irv Gotti treats his wife worse than an abandoned dog in a pound," says black celebrity gossip columnist, Lady Drama. "Any man who treats his wife like that should walk through hell with gasoline soaked pants."

But while Irv does his thing and does it wherever and with whomever he likes, his wife may not necessarily be an innocent victim. She has the opportunity to leave him and be with another man. She can draw boundaries on the relationship and not deal with his behavior. But she does not. Why is that?

In this episode of Financial Lovemaking with Dr. Boyce, we talk about Gotti and what he and his wife can do to make things right. We also answer some critical and important questions.

Continue reading Financial Lovemaking with Dr. Boyce: Is Irv Gotti's Way the Right Way?

Technorati Tags: black love,african american love,irv gotti,black celebrity gossip,black celebrities,black relationships,african american relationships,black women,african american women

Dr Boyce and Tia Analyze Money and Love

2009-05-01T11:19:00.000-04:00

Are wealthy men allowed to cheat and get away with it? Dr. Boyce and Tia analyze this in the latest episode of Financial Lovemaking.

Click the image to listen!

Technorati Tags: financial lovemaking,couples and money,black couples and money,black women,black relationships,african american money,black money

Financial News: Dr Boyce joins AOL Black Voices

2009-04-28T10:40:00.001-04:00

Syracuse, NY – Dr. Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University has recently joined America Online as a financial writer and expert commentator. He will be the resident Financial Expert for AOL Black Voices, the premier Black news website in America, with over 100,000 readers per day. Dr. Watkins has been on the faculty at Syracuse University for 8 years and has worked with many major media outlets, including CNN, BET, ESPN and CBS Sports. He is also the author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good”.

In his role with AOL Black Voices, Dr. Watkins will provide analysis on the economy, employment issues, celebrity finances, and money management. He will use his unique style of informative, compelling, yet down to earth financial analysis to promote financial literacy within the Black community. The site will syndicate his popular financial series' "Financial Lovemaking", co-hosted with S. Tia Brown (formerly a Senior Editor with "In Touch Weekly" Magazine) and "Get Your Paper Straight", a radio segment hosted with George Kilpatrick of Power 106.5 and WSYR radio.

Click to read.

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Your Black News: New York Pastor Gets $600K Pay Package

2009-04-23T08:18:00.000-04:00

Dr Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

I read today about the financial compensation package of pastor Brad Braxton of the New Riverside Church in Manhattan. Here is the breakdown of Braxton’s compensation:

$250,000 in salary.

$11,500 monthly housing allowance.

Private school tuition for his child.

A full-time maid.

Entertainment, travel and "professional development" allowances.

Pension and life insurance benefits.

An equity allowance for Braxton to save up to buy a home.

On top of that, Braxton immediately hired a new second in command at more than $300,000 a year.

The total value of the package is estimated to be $600,000 per year.

All I can say is “wow”. No disrespect to this man or his congregation, but he would NOT be preaching at my church. What was most problematic about the church’s decision to give Braxton such a ridiculous compensation package was that they didn’t seem to clear it with the membership, many of whom are filing suit over Braxton’s pay. As a Finance Professor, I must admit that I personally become uncomfortable hearing men and women of God talking about money more than I do. I must disagree with Rev. TD Jakes, who said that “Jesus is a product”. Sorry brother, Nikes are a product. Cheeseburgers are a product. Jesus is a spirit that should lead us to pursue a good that is greater than our bank accounts. I am not sure how many pastors agree with that assessment.

Dr Boyce in the NY Times: Is The Rushcard a good thing or Predatory?

2009-04-18T11:13:00.001-04:00

In a speech today, the Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke talked about the need to “strike the right balance: to strive for the highest standards of consumer protection without eliminating the beneficial effects of responsible innovation on consumer choice and access to credit.”

Where exactly regulators think that “balance” lies has varied greatly over time. Throughout American history, politicians and their constituents have viewed access to credit as alternatively empowering and exploitative. We can’t seem to decide: Is making credit available to “subprime” borrowers helping them, or taking advantage of their ignorance?

In the 1970s, efforts to deregulate the financial industry began in earnest. Regulators began repealing or amending laws that restricted banks’ activities (such as the rates of interest they could charge on a loan or pay on a bank deposit). With more freedom to tailor their financial products to the risks potential borrowers presented, banks experimented with new credit terms for different types of customers. This led to much greater access to credit across the board.

Click to read.

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Study Finds that Black Male Unemployment is out of control

2009-04-17T15:27:00.001-04:00

A recent study indicates that of the major ethnic groups impacted by unemployment during the current U.S. recession, Black men have experienced the greatest job losses since the crisis officially began in November 2007.

"What's missing from national media coverage of this recession is plainly a great deal of [honesty] about who's losing their jobs. This is overwhelmingly a blue-collar, retail sales, low-level recession," said Andrew Sum, professor of economics and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., which published the study.

"The Impacts of the 2007-2009 National Recession on Male Employment in the U.S. through January 2009; The Massive Concentration of Job Losses Among Males Especially Black Men and Blue Collar Workers" tracked employment losses in the recession across gender groups of workers overall, and in the four major ethnicities— Asian, Black, Hispanic and White. Thestudy found that:

Click to read.

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Predatory Lending in the Black Community: Is Russell Simmons a Perpetrator?

2009-04-16T00:02:00.001-04:00

Dr. Boyce Watkins, one of the world’s leading Financial experts and Black Social commentators, spoke with BBC World news about the RushCard, which has been heavily adopted in Black communities.

Watkins wrote this commentary about the Rushcard and you can click the image below to listen in on the interview. Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and Financial Writer for America Online. He asks whether or not Russell Simmons is a pimp or if he is helping the Black community.

Technorati Tags: black money,black wealth,african american money,african american wealth,the rushcard,russell simmons,black news headlines,african american news,black scholars,african american scholars

Tax Mistakes You Want to Avoid

2009-04-12T10:41:00.001-04:00

Gentlemen (and ladies), start your engines. Tax Day is less than a week away.

But as you race toward the finish line, be mindful of common tax-filing errors. Some mistakes could cost you money. Others could raise red flags at the IRS. Tax software will do math and point out tax breaks you might overlook, but these programs are only as good as the information you enter.

Here are some common last-minute blunders, and how to avoid them:

Automatically not itemizing.

A 2002 study by the Government Accountability Office found that more than 2 million taxpayers who claimed the standard deduction could have lowered their tax bills by itemizing.

Deductible expenses include interest on your mortgage, property taxes, charitable contributions and unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjustable gross income.

Ordinarily, that threshold puts the medical-expense deduction out of reach for most taxpayers who have employer-provided health care.

But the economic downturn has led employers to shift more of the cost of health care to their workers in the form of higher deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance. That means more taxpayers could rack up enough unreimbursed expenses to claim the deduction, says Mary Canning, dean of the schools of taxation and accounting at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Automatically itemizing.

Click to read.

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The Cost of Raising Children

2009-04-11T18:56:00.001-04:00

By: Sarah Horner
April 8, 2009
An article from MSNBC.com entitled, "Budgeting for Baby: What does it really cost?" outlines exactly how much having and raising a child will cost you.
"If you've never been a budgeter, now's the time for a financial reckoning. Experts recommend that parents-to-be and new parents dedicate themselves to whittling down their credit-card debt (ideally — and here's some tough love — to zero), while at the same time, building an emergencies-only savings account of six to nine months' worth of expenses. Do whatever it takes to meet this goal: Spend on a cash-only basis and write down every expense — or use a free online spending tracker like Quicken.Intuit.com or Wesabe.com — so you have a visceral idea of where your money goes. And be prepared to sacrifice. "If you want to prioritize the expense of a child, well, you may not need as many minutes on your cell phone and you may not need as many meals in a restaurant," says Chatzky. "And by the way, you're not going to be going to restaurants much once you have a child, anyway!""
To read the entire article, Click here

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Dr Boyce Explains to NPR How Madoff Got Rich

2009-04-11T13:19:00.000-04:00

Dr. Boyce Watkins explains to Farai Chideyah how Madoff got away with stealing $50 Billion dollars in the largest Ponzi Scheme in American history. Click the image to listen!

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Black Money: Obama’s Team is Very Wealthy

2009-04-10T21:14:00.000-04:00

When President Barack Obama moved into the White House earlier this year, he took several of his fellow Chicago millionaires with him.
Newly released disclosure reports show virtually all of the top Chicagoans serving in the West Wing had assets valued at a million dollars or more at the end of 2008.
In several cases, the reports provide the first detailed look at the finances of some of the president's top aides and friends from Chicago who have risen with him. They also show the salary haircut many have taken to be in the White House, at least until they return to the private sector.
Some of the wealth can be attributed to the fact that the top staff members surrounding Obama — such as Chicagoans Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett — are from a big city where salaries tend to be higher. Many of the comparable senior staffers with the previous two presidents came from Austin, Texas, and Little Rock, Ark., where salaries for top professionals tend to be the lower than in Chicago.

Click to read.

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Some Cash Strapped Cities Printing their Own Currency

2009-04-06T12:55:00.001-04:00

A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.

Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.

Workers with dwindling wages are paying for groceries, yoga classes and fuel with Detroit Cheers, Ithaca Hours in New York, Plenty in North Carolina or BerkShares in Massachusetts.

Ed Collom, a University of Southern Maine sociologist who has studied local currencies, says they encourage people to buy locally. Merchants, hurting because customers have cut back on spending, benefit as consumers spend the local cash.

Click to read.

Technorati Tags: black money,black wealth,african american money,african american wealth

Your Black Money: Why Do Athletes Go Broke?

2009-04-05T20:17:00.001-04:00

From Sports Illustrated

What the hell happened here? Seven floors above the iced-over Dallas North Tollway, Raghib (Rocket) Ismail is revisiting the question. It's December, and Ismail is sitting in the boardroom of Chapwood Investments, a wealth management firm, his white Notre Dame snow hat pulled down to his furrowed brow.

In 1991 Ismail, a junior wide receiver for the Fighting Irish, was the presumptive No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Instead he signed with the CFL's Toronto Argonauts for a guaranteed $18.2 million over four years, then the richest contract in football history. But today, at a private session on financial planning attended by eight other current or onetime pro athletes, Ismail, 39, indulges in a luxury he didn't enjoy as a young VIP: hindsight.

"I once had a meeting with J.P. Morgan," he tells the group, "and it was literally like listening to Charlie Brown's teacher." The men surrounding Ismail at the conference table include Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, Cowboys wideout Isaiah Stanback and six former pros: NFL cornerback Ray Mickens and fullback Jerald Sowell (both of whom retired in 2006), major league outfielder Ben Grieve and NBA guard Erick Strickland ('05), and linebackers Winfred Tubbs ('00) and Eugene Lockhart ('92). Ismail ('02) cackles ruefully. "I was so busy focusing on football that the first year was suddenly over," he says. "I'd started with this $4 million base salary, but then I looked at my bank statement, and I just went, What the...?"

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Baltimore Sun Times – Dr. Boyce argues for NCAA Reform

2009-03-28T14:52:00.000-04:00

The voice on the other end of the phone is passionate, and he’s becoming more passionate by the second. His words grow louder and they fly out faster.

“I grew up in the streets,” he says. “I’ve seen pimps in action. I look at the NCAA and I say, ’Wow, these guys would make excellent street pimps.' What they say -- and I mean this in all seriousness - is what a street pimp would say to a prostitute.”

This isn’t some radio shock jock speaking. Dr. Boyce Watkins is an assistant professor of finance at Syracuse University. He’s in town tonight, delivering a lecture at Loyola College titled, “The Business of College Sports: Is the NCAA Playing Fairly?”

I ask him to explain tonight’s message a bit.

“The model under which the NCAA currently operates was designed without excessive commercialization in mind,” Watkins explains. “Since that time, you see where this amateur sports organization has become effectively a professional sports league that refuses to pay its employees.”

Ahhh, one of those you’re thinking. Kick sports off campus! Tear down the arenas! Set flames to the football field!

But Watkins insists he isn’t against college sports. In fact, he loves them. So I feel a bit better. See, March always brings about conflicted emotions. I love filling out the brackets and love following the tournaments -- even though there’s an undercurrent of hypocrisy, unfairness and disparity that fuels the whole show.

I admit: For me, there’s a sense of guilt.

The NCAA is in the middle of an 11-year, $6 billion contract with CBS to broadcast tournament games. Coaches on the sidelines make seven figures a year, even though no one’s tuning in because they want to see what color tie John Calipari’s wearing. And shoe companies are pouring money into universities across the country by the truckload -- but the kids who have to wear the shoes don’t see a dime of it.

Click to read.

Genma Holmes Speaks on Roland Martin’s Interview with Ben Jealous

2009-03-26T11:25:00.001-04:00

Roland Martin, political correspondent for CNN and The Tom Joyner Morning Show, interviewed NAACP's CEO Ben Jealous about the law suit against Wells Fargo and several other banks for institutionalized racism. Mr. Jealous addressed the records that banks must make public about their lending ratios. Jealous stated that many of the blacks applicants were put in subprime loans that actually qualified for conventional loans. Jealous also stated that African American were target specifically for this type of discriminatory practices.

I read the lawsuit several times prior to my posting several weeks ago but I thought it would be interesting to pull out several key points of the lawsuit to further expand on my original post.
The suit states:

5. Wells Faro Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc target the African American community by capitalizing on their relative lack of experience in dealing with banking institutions and mortgage loans. Upon information and belief, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc. are aware of the African American Community's susceptibility to predatory lending practices, but nonetheless engage in policies and procedures that they know will result in African Americans being steered toward less favorable loans.
6. Indeed, in 2006, the Center for Responsible Lending, a non-profit research organization, found that even when income and credit risk were accounted for, African American were still 31% to 34% more likely to receive higher rate subprime loans, and that the disparities between them and Caucasians with the same risk factors were "large and statistically significant."

These particular points intrigued me more so than others in light of recent charge to hold folks Accountable by Tavis Smiley. Again this is not a personal attack of Tavis, only a charge to him to do his research and get back to the community that he often admonishes to educate ourselves on the issues, to know all the facts, and to dig deeper in our pursuit of being empowered.
Section 11. states The NAACP brings this class action lawsuit seeking declaratory and injuctive relief based upon the Fair Housing Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Civil Rights Act.

Click to read.

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Pres. Obama Blasts AIG Over Bonuses

2009-03-17T10:27:00.001-04:00

President Obama latched on to the latest round of populist anger over corporate greed Monday, ordering his Treasury secretary to "pursue every legal avenue" to stop insurance giant AIG from giving $165 million in bonuses to some of the executives who drove the company into financial ruin before it was rescued by a government bailout.

"How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" Obama demanded of the company that last month posted the largest corporate quarterly loss in history, $61.7 billion.

Obama's scolding of American International Group came after his top economic advisers — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, White House chief economist Christina Romer and Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council — also blasted AIG over its doling out bonus checks ranging from $1,000 to $6.5 million to executives after accepting up to $180 billion in government bailout money.

Click to read.

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Dr Boyce Watkins Talks Economy on NPR

2009-03-11T02:34:00.000-04:00

Dr Boyce Watkins, Finance Professor at Syracuse University, discusses foreign policy, The Obama Administration and the Economy. Click the image to listen!

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Dr Boyce talks Finance in Essence Magazine

2009-03-10T08:38:00.000-04:00

Dr Boyce Watkins, Finance Professor at Syracuse University, appears in the March issue of Essence Magazine to discuss money and investing in light of the 2009 Financial Crisis.

Dr. Watkins is one of the world’s leading experts in Finance and was the only African American in the world to earn a PhD in Finance during the year 2002. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

Dr Watkins has been in Essence Magazine many times in the past, particularly due to his popular book, “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good.” To get financial advice from Dr. Watkins, please visit www.DrBoyceMoney.com.

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President Obama’s Mistake on the Recession

2009-03-09T11:37:00.001-04:00

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.DrBoyceMoney.com

Let’s be clear: This recession has become President Barack Obama’s personal War on Terror. Like the War on Terror, the enemy is evasive, the challenge is global, international cooperation is necessary, and the battle is unlike any other in our nation’s history. Wars are good for political business: when people get scared, politicians get a blank check to fulfill their legislative agenda. After 9/11, President Bush used fear to get the entire nation to sign onto the Patriot Act, and years later, we are wondering if someone is going to tap our cell phones and illegally imprison us for not eating our Freedom Fries. Bad legislation is like an STD: you can pick it up with a snap decision, but you pay the price for the next 20 years.

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Report: Unemployment Rate Jumps to 8.1%

2009-03-06T08:49:00.001-05:00

Employers axed 651,000 jobs in February, pushing the unemployment rate to its highest in 25 years, as companies buckled under the strain of a recession that is showing no signs of ending, according to a government report.

While that figure was near economists' expectations for a 648,000 drop in non-farm payrolls, January and December job losses were revised sharply higher.

The Labor Department on Friday said the unemployment rate surged to 8.1% in February, the highest level since December 1983. That was above market forecasts for a rise to 7.9 from January's 7.6%.

Cost-cutting employers are resorting to even bigger layoffs as they scramble to survive the recession, feeding insecurities among those who still have jobs and those who desperately want them.

"The pace of layoffs is fast and furious," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group, before the report. "We're still in the teeth of this recession and the bite has not let up at all."

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The President’s New Budget Gets Slammed

2009-03-03T17:17:00.001-05:00

Republicans attacked President Obama's proposed $3.6 trillion budget Tuesday as offering "red ink as far as the eye can see," and Democrats even suggested that the president might be trying to solve too many problems at once.

As administration officials trekked to Capitol Hill to defend Obama's budget, they were met with skepticism from both sides of the aisle because of the huge changes the president has promised to make in taxes, health care, energy and education.

THE OVAL: Proposals and analysis

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Budget Director Peter Orszag, in separate appearances, stuck to the administration line that the president's budget would benefit 95% of working Americans.

Higher taxes for affluent Americans would not come until 2011 once "we are safely into recovery," Geithner told the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

"I'm confident this is the right path for the country," he said.

But Republicans disagreed.

"The president's budget increases taxes on every American, and does so during a recession," Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., told Geithner.

Camp also complained about provisions that would limit the size of charitable deductions that could be taken by families earning more than $250,000 a year.

Orszag faced similar questioning before the House Budget Committee.

Click to read.

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Lawrence Watkins and George Kilpatrick Talk about Entrepreneurial Success

2009-02-24T04:07:00.000-05:00

Lawrence Watkins and George Kilpatrick Break down the secrets to success. Click the image to listen!

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President Barack Obama Deals with Auto Industry Problems

2009-02-16T11:20:00.001-05:00

President Obama has dropped the idea of appointing a single, powerful “car czar” to oversee the revamping of General Motors and Chrysler and will instead keep the politically delicate task in the hands of his most senior economic advisers, a top administration official said Sunday night.

Mr. Obama is designating the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and the chairman of the National Economic Council, Lawrence H. Summers, to oversee a presidential panel on the auto industry. Mr. Geithner will also supervise the $17.4 billion in loan agreements already in place with G.M. and Chrysler, said the official, who insisted on anonymity.

The official also said that Ron Bloom, a restructuring expert who has advised the labor unions in the troubled steel and airline industries, would be named a senior adviser to Treasury on the auto crisis.

The unexpected shift comes as G.M. and Chrysler race to complete broad restructuring plans they must file with the Treasury by Tuesday. The companies’ plans are required to show progress in cutting long-term costs as a condition for keeping their loans.

The administration official said the president was reserving for himself any decision on the viability of G.M. and Chrysler, both of which came close to bankruptcy before receiving federal aid two months ago.

One of President Obama’s top advisers said Sunday that the administration had not ruled out a government-backed bankruptcy as a means to overhaul the automakers.

“We’re going to need a restructuring of these companies,” the adviser, David Axelrod, said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. He added that a turnaround of the companies would “require sacrifice not just from the auto workers but also from creditors, from shareholders and the executives who run the company.”

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Alert: Watch Out for Changes with Credit Card Companies

2009-02-14T09:15:00.001-05:00

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.DrBoyceMoney.com

In case you weren’t sure, credit card companies are not out to help you. If you are financially illiterate and uninformed, they are going to exploit you. If you are worried about the financial crisis, they are going to prey on your fear to get money out of you. They are also doing exactly what the rest of us are doing: trying to remain protected in a fragile economy.

The stimulus is stymied. The bailout is a failout. The stock market has consistently given a “thumbs down” to every piece of legislation passed in response to this crisis. Our economy is like the sick man who won’t respond to antibiotics. While the results of the latest package are yet to be seen, the truth is that no one is sure what will work. Every company is out to protect their assets and hold on to their cash, which means they no longer have much interest in loaning money to you.

Yes, this is true even if you have a good credit score, which is the ironic part.

Customers are opening their monthly statements to find that credit card companies have started to either ration credit (give less of it) or raise the interest rate being paid on outstanding debt. This doesn’t even count all the dirty tactics used, like using your payments to pay off low interest debt first, quietly getting rid of the grace period or charging interest on your balance from the prior two months vs. the current one. Even when you’ve been making payments on time for years, banks keep raising the bar to maximize shareholder wealth. When liquidity is scarce, those giving out water demand a higher cost per bottle. Additionally, higher default rates have justified the increase in interest rates, but higher interest rates increase the likelihood of default. It’s a nasty cycle, really.

Lawmakers are trying to intervene. Congressional hearings have taken place. Banks are being scolded by senators who keep telling them that this form of business practice is unethical and that they are gouging the American consumer. All this might be true, but what is also true is that you can’t force banks to loan you money. Also, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to legislate a strong economy.

If you have a less than stellar financial history, there is an even greater opportunity for your credit card company to raise your interest rates. If you have defaulted on other loans or are a slow payer in other areas, then they have no problem telling you to pay up or ship out. The days of easy money are long behind us, and companies are dramatically shifting their business practices.

The bottom line is that THEY’VE GOT YOU. They know that you’ve become addicted to the debt they so readily offered in the past, and this debt has become the lifeblood for the lifestyle to which you’ve chosen to become accustomed. They know that they can charge you a higher interest rate because you can’t do anything about it. Like a drug addict who is angry about paying more for his product, you really don’t have any other choice.

Well, maybe you do.

Here is one solution: tighten your economic belt. That means putting together a financial fitness plan today that consists of getting rid of as much debt as possible. I’ve mentioned in prior articles and on our website that paying off debt can be one of the best investments you make with your money. This is especially true if you have a stable job and are paying a high rate of interest to your credit card company.

So, the Dr. Boyce Challenge for this month is simple: Create a budget which includes the steady elimination of credit card debt. That means you should list every single expense you have for the entire month on one piece of paper or a spreadsheet. Don’t leave anything out. Count the money you want to use for getting your hair done, your nails, paying your mortgage, car note, whatever. Count everything. That will be your first step toward obtaining financial fitness.

As you create the budget, allocate at least 10% of your monthly after tax income toward reducing credit card debt. So, if you earn $3,000 per month after taxes,$300 per month should be allocated toward removing credit card debt, not including interest. So, if you owe $5,000 in credit card debt, you can remove this debt in roughly a year and a half. While $300 may seem like a lot of money to find in your budget, it’s there if you look hard enough. In fact, if you spend $10 per day on lunch and/or coffee, you can find the bulk of the money by taking your lunch to work. Make this one of the first bills you pay, not the last. The last bill is the one that only gets paid half the time. It’s easier to negotiate with creditors if you don’t need them so much. Take small steps toward finding your financial freedom.

Next month, we will move to step 2 of the Dr. Boyce Financial Challenge. While I confess that this change won’t be easy, I can promise that it will be worth it in the end. Be strong and remain focused, this is your opportunity to shine.

Dr Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lipo 101: From financial fat to fitness”, to be released in April, 2009. For more information, please visit www.DrBoyceMoney.com.

Technorati Tags: black money,black wealth,african american money,african american wealth

Stimulus Battle Was Not Expected by Obama Administration

2009-02-12T08:54:00.001-05:00

It is a quick, sweet victory for the new president, and potentially a historic one. The question now is whether the $789 billion economic stimulus plan agreed to by Congressional leaders on Wednesday is the opening act for a more ambitious domestic agenda from President Obama or a harbinger of reduced expectations.

Deal Reached in Congress on $789 Billion Stimulus Plan(February 12, 2009)

President Obama and Gov. Tim Kaine on Wednesday at a parkway project in Springfield, Va., that could get stimulus money.Both the substance of his first big legislative accomplishment and the way he achieved it underscored the scale of the challenges facing the nation and how different a political climate this is from the early stages of recent administrations.

While it hammered home the reality of bigger, more activist government, the economic package was not the culmination of a hard-fought ideological drive, like Lyndon B. Johnson’s civil rights and Great Society programs, orRonald Reagan’s tax cuts, but rather a necessary and hastily patched-together response to an immediate and increasingly dire situation. On the domestic issues Mr. Obama ran and won on — health care, education, climate change, rebalancing the distribution of wealth — the legislation does little more than promise there will be more to come.

In cobbling together a plan that could get through both the House and the Senate, Mr. Obama prevailed, but not in the way he had hoped. His inability to win over more than a handful of Republicans amounted to a loss of innocence, a reminder that his high-minded calls for change in the practice of governance had been ground up in a matter of weeks by entrenched forces of partisanship and deep, principled differences between left and right.

In the end, Congress did not come together to address what Mr. Obama has regularly suggested is a crisis that could rival the Great Depression. What consensus has been forged so far is likely to be tested in the months to come as he faces scrutiny over the effectiveness of the stimulus package and the likelihood that he will have to ask Congress for substantially more money to heal the fractures in the financial system.

So this was hardly a moment for cigars.

If this is the 21st-century version of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 100 Days, Mr. Obama seems to be pursuing it more as an urgent but imposed necessity than as a self-selected mission.

While he has deployed his political capital freely to win approval of the package and to begin pushing his version of a financial-system rescue, he has left little doubt that he is eager to move on to the rest of his domestic agenda. At his news conference on Monday night, Mr. Obama said with a hint of exasperation that a costly economic rescue package “wasn’t how I envisioned my presidency beginning.” Regardless of the government’s budgetary straits, Mr. Obama has signaled that he sees his other signature initiatives not just as salvageable but as more urgent than ever.

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Stimulus Update: Obama’s Package Gets Items Sliced

2009-02-08T10:20:00.001-05:00

A coalition of Democrats and some Republicans reached a compromise that trimmed billions in spending from an earlier version of the Senate economic stimulus bill.

Senators worked late into the night to trim billions from the original stimulus bill.

CNN obtained, from a Democratic leadership aide, a list of some programs that have been cut, either entirely or partially:

Partially cut:

• $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill $7 billion)

• $75 million from Smithsonian (original bill $150 million)

• $200 million from Environmental Protection Agency Superfund (original bill $800 million)

• $100 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (original bill $427 million)

• $100 million from law enforcement wireless (original bill $200 million)

• $300 million from federal fleet of hybrid vehicles (original bill $600 million)

• $100 million from FBI construction (original bill $400 million)

Fully eliminated

• $55 million for historic preservation

• $122 million for Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters

• $100 million for Farm Service Agency modernization

Click to read.

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Your Black Politics: Barack Obama Pushes Bush Faith-Based Initiatives

2009-02-06T22:05:00.000-05:00

President Obama established his own faith-based initiatives office Thursday, reversing a Bush administration policy that allowed churches to discriminate in their hiring practices.

"Whatever our differences, there is one law that binds all great religions together . . . It is, of course, the golden rule, the call to love one another, to understand one another, to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth," Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast.

"It is an ancient rule, a simple rule, but also perhaps the most challenging, for it asks each of us to take some measure of responsibility for the well-being of people we may not know or worship with, or agree with on every issue or any issue," he added as he unveiled his faith-based agenda.

Obama signed an executive order creating the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Unlike ex-President Bush, churches with hiring policies that discriminate won't be eligible for federal grants under the executive order.

Click to read.

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“Buy American” Clause Creates Test for President Barack Obama

2009-02-04T11:11:00.001-05:00

A contentious debate over a "Buy American" provision in the economic stimulus package poses an early test for President Obama on both domestic politics and foreign policy.

The Senate this week is considering an $885 billion bill designed to help mend the ailing economy, which requires all "manufactured goods" purchased with stimulus money to be made in the United States. The House already has approved a narrower bill mandating the use of domestic iron and steel.

To supporters, including labor unions that helped the Democrats retake the White House last year, a "Buy American" requirement is just common sense at a time of economic crisis and rising unemployment. Factories have been hemorrhaging jobs for years; manufacturing employment is now 12.9 million, down from 17.2 million at the end of 2000. If Congress doesn't insist upon the use of U.S.-made materials, taxpayer funds could line the pockets of European or Chinese workers rather than hard-hit Americans.

Click to read.

Technorati Tags: african american money,african american wealth,black money,black wealth,barack obama

Could the Economic Downturn possibly be a GOOD thing?

2009-02-01T17:30:00.001-05:00

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

I hate being the doctor who has to tell the patient he has cancer, but the truth usually sets you free (or so my mother told me): We are in the midst of an economic bloodbath. It’s tough to argue that an economy which shrinks by an annualized rate of 5% is still healthy. It’s hard to tell someone that 7.2% unemployment, with the most job losses since 1945, is a good thing. A 4,000 point drop in the Dow is nothing to sneeze at, even if you have plenty of tissue. Times are tough, we know that.

But if we focus hard enough, we might be able to find a few bright sides to all this. With hopes that no one chooses to kill the messenger, I am going to give it a shot.

1) It could always be much worse.

The United States has, according to some, the strongest economy in the world. Our economy could shrink like Rush Limbaugh’s body on drugs and still be disgustingly rich compared to the rest of the world. Don’t believe me? Consider the “fast-growing” Chinese economy, the one that everyone thinks is going to outpace the United States in the next few years. Our annual tax revenues are nearly 4 times greater than China’s ($2.5 Trillion vs. $670 Billion) and they have over 4 times more people than we do (300 million vs. 1.3 Billion). In other words, our per capita tax receipts are over 16 times greater than China’s. So, we’re far better off than most of the world, even when we’re broke.

2) If there were ever an argument for getting out of Iraq, this might be it.

It’s hard to declare war on random countries if you don’t have the money to do it. War is big business and attacking other countries is a huge financial investment. If you don’t think war is about money, then you may want to take a couple of Political Science and History classes. Perhaps these troubles at home will keep us from creating trouble abroad, since Americans have lost patience with irresponsible, arrogant war-mongering. The Obama stimulus plan is asking for over $800 Billion dollars to boost our economy. We’ve already spent nearly $600 Billion in Iraq. Rather than declaring War on Terror, President Obama has declared War on the Recession, which seems to be a far better investment.

3) If you want to buy cheap stocks or real estate, this is the time to do it.

When the market rises, everyone wants to buy stocks. People forget that you shouldn’t buy stocks when prices are high, you buy when the prices are low. Companies with plenty of cash are grabbing investment and real estate bargains that were hardly available a year ago. You should be doing the same if you can afford to do it. Investors who purchase stocks after major market declines tend to do much better than those who buy during booms. You hear me Warren Buffet?

4) Struggle makes us FOCUSED.

Although I tend to be a hardcore capitalist, a part of me misses the activism of the 1960s, when people cared about more than making a dollar. OK, I wasn’t around in the 1960s, but I’ve watched enough old movies. Going through tough times not only teaches one to pursue a higher purpose in life, it also leads individuals to more carefully scrutinize the state of affairs in our government. In fact, I dare to argue that the financial crisis was just what Barack Obama needed to secure his election over John McCain. Economic prosperity allows us the luxury of choosing our politicians based on silly issues, like gay marriage (as we did in 2004). When we are worried about putting food on the table, we look beyond the silliness and choose the most qualified and most intelligent person for the job (after ensuring that he knows Africa really is a continent). Finally, tough economic times make you more responsible in your own money management, as the threat of financial insecurity keeps us all on high alert.

Those are my points, so again, please don’t kill the messenger. I certainly do not celebrate a weak economy, but I am a firm believer that focusing too much on the door that shuts keeps us from appreciating the ones that just opened. There’s always light at the end of the tunnel, a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, and….well, you get the point. It’s the toughness of tough times that make the good times good. Keep hanging in there, it’ll be ok.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com. To join the Dr. Boyce Money Advice List, please click here.

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Bailed Out Banks Take Heat for Using Funds to Hire Foreign Workers

2009-02-01T10:26:00.001-05:00

Banks collecting billions of dollars in federal bailout money sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers to the U.S. for high-paying jobs, according to an Associated Press review of visa applications.

The dozen banks receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for positions that included senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. The average annual salary for those jobs was $90,721, nearly twice the median income for all American households.

The figures are significant because they show that the bailed-out banks, being kept afloat with U.S. taxpayer money, actively sought to hire foreign workers instead of American workers. As the economic collapse worsened last year — with huge numbers of bank employees laid off — the numbers of visas sought by the dozen banks in AP's analysis increased by nearly one-third, from 3,258 in fiscal 2007 to 4,163 in fiscal 2008.

Click to read.

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Financial Experts Boyce Watkins, Julianne Malveaux Meet with Rev. Jesse Jackson

2009-01-31T20:53:00.001-05:00

Dr. Boyce Watkins, a Finance Professor at Syracuse University is planning to speak with Rev. Jesse Jackson on Keep Hope Alive Radio to discuss the stimulus plan recently released by President Barack Obama. The $819 Billion dollar plan just passed in Congress and is set to be presented to the Senate for final approval.

Dr. Watkins is a Financial expert and prominent Black Speaker, and will also appear with Dr. Julianne Malveaux, President of Bennett College for women, to discuss the plan. Watkins has written extensively about the Obama economic plan and finding ways to ensure that African Americans can get their piece of the economic pie.

"Obama might be a Black President, but he honestly can't say the word "black" within 100 feet of the White House," says Dr. Watkins, who is authoring a book on African American Wealth Building. "The truth of the matter is that Black people and poor people must ensure that they get a piece of this pie."

Technorati Tags: jesse jackson,barack obama,julianne malveaux,african americans,black scholars,african american scholars,black wealth,african american wealth

Finance Professor Scoop: Is there a good side to the Economic Downturn?

2009-01-30T23:46:00.001-05:00

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

But if we focus hard enough, we might be able to find a few bright sides to all this. With hopes that no one chooses to kill the messenger, I am going to give it a shot.

1) It could always be much worse.

2) If there were ever an argument for getting out of Iraq, this might be it.

3) If you want to buy cheap stocks or real estate, this is the time to do it.

When the market rises, everyone wants to buy stocks. People forget that you shouldn’t buy stocks when prices are high, you buy when the prices are low. Companies with plenty of cash are grabbing investment and real estate bargains that were hardly available a year ago. You should be doing the same if you can afford to do it. Investors who purchases stocks after major market declines tend to do much better than those who buy during booms. You hear me Warren Buffet?

4) Struggle makes us FOCUSED.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in ways that Feel Good.” For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

Credit Ratings and Repair - Part 1

2009-01-30T01:29:00.001-05:00

By Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.DrBoyceFinance.com

Where do Credit Scores come from?

Unlike babies, credit scores do not come from a financial stork. There are 3 major credit bureaus in the United States: Experian, Trans Union and Equifax. Companies subscribe to their services to obtain information about you to decide if you are credit worthy or not. Under the old system, the credit scores ranged from 375 to 900. Under the new VantageScore system, they range from 501 to 990. The new system is more consistent among various credit bureaus, so you don’t end up with scores that go all over the place.

How can I get a copy of my report?

I personally go to a site called Myfico.com, where you can order reports from all 3 bureaus or just one. You can also go to freecreditreport.com (you know, the site with the really funny commercials). The law says that you are entitled to at least one free credit report every year. Also, if you are denied credit for any reason, you can write the bureaus, sending along a copy of the rejection letter, and request a copy of your credit report. If you choose to pay for your report, it will likely cost you about $8 dollars.

What factors go into calculating a credit score?

The factors that go into calculating a credit score are a little vague and it’s protected like the recipe for KFC chicken. While the formula is well-guarded, we do have some guidelines on what factors are theoretically used to determine whether or not someone should loan money to you.

The factors are broken into what they call “The Four C’s of Credit”: Character, collateral, capacity, capital and conditions.

Character is their way of trying to decide if you are a good person or not. I don’t agree with this, since having bad credit does not make you a bad person. It just makes you a person who does not have a good track record when it comes to borrowing money.

Capacity is represented mostly by your income level and how much money you’re expected to earn in the future.

Capital is noted by the amount of cash you have in reserves and other liquid assets at your disposal. If you have capital, that means you can withstand a short-term decline in income and still make payments.

Conditions are reflected by the environment in which you live. It might include the state of the economy, your line of work and other external factors that might impact your credit report. For example, during the liquidity crisis in America, conditions for lending are very, very bad.

Now you know where credit scores come from. You probably have more questions, since there is a lot of ground to cover. To get more information, please feel free to learn along with me and my students by visiting www.DrBoyceFinance.com.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, ESPN, BET and CBS. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

Credit Ratings and Repair - Part 2

2009-01-30T01:27:00.000-05:00

Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

As part of our series on understanding credit scores, we can now move into more of the nitty gritty. Understanding credit is an important part of financial planning, and there are even more ways for you to be informed, empowered and financially independent. Below, I continue with my Q&A about credit scores. Hopefully, empowered with this new information, you can work your way to the wealth and financial security you deserve.

How are all of the factors weighted when determining your credit score?

As I mentioned in the prior article, there is no publicly released, verifiable formula for how the various factors in your profile go into defining your credit score. However, there are researchers like myself who spend all of our time learning how these things work. So, based on the existing data, here is one estimate of how aspects of your credit history go into determining your credit score.

35% - Your history of payment on debts from the past
30% - The amount of debt you have
15% - Length and depth of your credit history
10% - The amount of new credit you’ve applied for recently
10% - The type of credit you use (credit cards, student loans, etc.)

Again, while these numbers are not precise, the truth of the matter is that they are probably accurate in a general sense. Reducing your current debt and paying bills on time have been shown to be an important way to improve your credit score.

How do I correct an error on my credit report?

The law protects consumers who feel that their credit report has errors on it. Anything you believe to be inaccurate on your credit report can and should be disputed. You should dispute the information in a formal letter to the credit bureau, not in a phone call or even email. You want formal documentation of your challenge.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act states that any information disputed on your credit report must be verified by the credit bureau within 30 days. If they reach out to the company that claims you owe them money and don’t hear anything back, they must by law remove the negative information from your credit report. Use this vehicle to carefully check on any information in your credit report that you do not believe to be accurate.

When you write the letter, make sure you include the following information:

- Your full name
- Your social security number
- Your date of birth
- Your mailing address
- The name and account number for the debt you are disputing
- The reason you feel the debt is not accurate
- Your signature

Be sure to include all relevant information, because the law says that the bureaus do not have to respond to any disputes they consider to be frivolous (not without merit). You want them to take your dispute seriously.
Here are the addresses to the various credit bureaus:
Experian (formerly TRW)
http://www.experian.com
PO Box 2002
Allen, TX 75013-2002
888-397-3742

Equifax Credit Information Services
http://www.equifax.com
PO Box 105873
Atlanta, GA 30348
800-685-1111

Trans Union
http://www.transunion.com
Consumer Relations Center
PO Box 1000
Chester, PA 19022
800-888-4213 OR 440-779-7200

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, CBS Sports, BET and USA Today. For more information, please visit www.DrBoyceFinance.com

Credit Ratings and Repair - Part 3

2009-01-30T01:23:00.004-05:00

Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

According to the Consumer Credit Counseling Service, 1 in 5 college freshmen owes more than $10,000 in credit card debt. This makes the clear case that financial literacy and education is critical for our young people.

This article is part 3 in our series of articles on credit reports and understanding the basics of credit. For more on this topic, please visit www.DrBoyceFinance.com. We have covered the basics of what credit reports are, how they work, and how to obtain your report. We can now dig deeper into your rights as a consumer when it comes to your credit. Remember: knowledge is power!

Do I have any rights as a consumer when it comes to my credit reports?

To determine your rights as a consumer, you should consult the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You would be surprised at the number of rights you have when it comes to protecting your credit. But you will likely not be surprised when I tell you that credit card companies and other firms don’t always want you to know your rights. But in your quest toward financial literacy, it is our goal to ensure that you know what you need to know.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you have a right to do the following:

- Receive one free copy of your credit report every year. You can contact one of the 3 major reporting agencies to get your copy.

• You are entitled to a free report is adverse action is taken against you by a company (denying you insurance, credit or employment). You must ask for your report within 60 days of this action in order to get one. In the notice, you will receive the name, address and phone number of the consumer reporting company that sent the derogatory information.

• You are entitled to one free report per year if you are unemployed and plan to look for a job within 60 days, are on welfare, or if your report is inaccurate because of fraud (like someone stealing your identity).

• If you cannot get a free report, the companies are allowed to charge you up to $9.50 for a second copy.

• You are given the legal right to know what has been asked on your report within the past year – two years for employment related requests.

• If a company denies your application, you have the right to the name and address of the consumer reporting company they contacted, assuming that they contacted a reporting agency to get the information

• If you question the accuracy or completeness of information in your report, you have the right to file a dispute with the consumer reporting company and the information provider (that is, the person, company, or organization that provided information about you to the consumer reporting company). The consumer reporting company and the company that provided the information are obligated to investigate and get back to you about the matter in dispute

• For a small fee, you are allowed to add summary explanatory information for potential lenders to consider when evaluating your credit report.

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act

• This act prohibits credit discrimination on the basis of sex, race, marital status, religion, national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance. Creditors may ask for this information (except religion) in certain situations, but they may not use it to discriminate against you when deciding whether to grant you credit.

• You cannot be denied credit based on your race, sex, marital status, religion, age, national origin, or receipt of public assistance.

• You have the right to have reliable public assistance considered in the same manner as other income. That means that if you are on welfare or social security, your source of income cannot be used to make a character judgment against you.

• If you are denied credit, you have a legal right to know why.

The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) and Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA)

These acts describe the law in terms of how to deal with mistakes on billing for credit and electronic funds transfers. Details are below:

• charges or electronic fund transfers that you – or anyone you have authorized to use your account – have not made;

• charges or electronic fund transfers that are incorrectly identified or show the wrong date or amount;

• math errors;

• failure to post payments, credits, or electronic fund transfers properly;

• failure to send bills to your current address – provided the creditor receives your change of address, in writing, at least 20 days before the billing period ends;

• charges or electronic fund transfers for which you ask for an explanation or written proof of purchase along with a claimed error or request for clarification.

The FCBA usually applies to accounts that are “open-ended”, such as credit cards and revolving charge accounts, such as those you get with department stores. It does not apply to loans that are made with fixed payments until the balance is paid off, such as auto loans. The EFTA applies to electronic transfers, such as those done through ATMs, point of sale purchases, etc.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

This act protects you if you owe money and others are trying to collect from you. It can be money owed for the purchase of a car, credit cards, etc. Basically, personal, family and household debts are included here. This act basically protects you from unfair, abusive or deceptive practices on the part of bill collectors. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act:

• Debt collectors may contact you only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

• Debt collectors may not contact you at work if they know your employer disapproves.

• Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you.

• Debt collectors may not lie when collecting debts, such as falsely implying that you have committed a crime.

• Debt collectors must identify themselves to you on the phone.

• Debt collectors must stop contacting you if you ask them to do so in writing.

Finding ways to fix your credit score

A poor credit report will haunt you like a ghost in the night. It can affect your ability to get a job, get a loan, or even get insurance. If the information in your report is accurate, it can only be removed through patience and persistence.

A consumer reporting company can report most accurate negative information for seven years and bankruptcy information for 10 years. Information about an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever is longer.

Quickest ways to repair your credit score

1) Pay down your debt
2) Stop or significantly reduce credit card use
3) Dispute the negative items on your report if they appear inaccurate at all (more details on these steps is presented below)

If you are having problems paying your bills, contact your creditors immediately. Try to work out a modified payment plan with them that reduces your payments to a more manageable level. Don’t wait until your account has been turned over to a debt collector.

Here are some additional tips for solving credit problems:

• If you want to dispute a credit report, bill or credit denial, write a letter to the company, sending the letter “return receipt requested.”

• When you dispute a billing error, include your name, account number, the dollar amount in question, and explain why you believe the amount of the debt is wrong.

• If in doubt, request written verification of a debt.

• Keep all your original documents, especially receipts, sales slips, and billing statements. You will need them if you dispute a credit bill or report. Send copies only. It may take more than one letter to correct a problem.

• Be skeptical of businesses that offer instant solutions to credit problems: There aren’t any.

• Be persistent. There is substitute for time and patience when it comes to fixing your credit.

• Most of what these credit repair companies can do for you are things that you can do for yourself without paying them. For example, many of them will send letters to the credit bureaus questioning debts on your report, but you can do this WITHOUT having to pay a fee to anyone.

• You may want to consider contacting a credit counseling organization. These organizations work if you feel comfortable sticking with a budget, and are serious about repaying your debts. But be careful. Many of these companies are a bit sneaky. For example, they call themselves “nonprofit” to make you think that they are part of the government or that they work for charity. Let’s be clear: many of them are trying to make money from you! Ensure that the company is accredited by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), and that there are no complaints about them with the Better Business Bureau.

• Most credit counselors offer services through local offices, the Internet, or on the telephone. If possible, find an organization that offers in-person counseling. Many universities, military bases, credit unions, housing authorities, and branches of the U.S. Cooperative Extension Service operate nonprofit credit counseling programs. Your financial institution, local consumer protection agency, and friends and family also may be good sources of information and referrals.

• Reputable credit counseling organizations can advise you on managing your money and debts, help you develop a budget, and offer free educational materials and workshops. Their counselors are certified and trained in the areas of consumer credit, money and debt management, and budgeting. Counselors discuss your entire financial situation with you, and help you develop a personalized plan to solve your money problems. An initial counseling session typically lasts an hour, with an offer of follow-up sessions.

Things you should NOT do if you want to repair your credit score

1) Make late payments
2) Close your credit accounts
3) Apply for new credit cards
4) Consolidate your debt – this is a tricky one, since debt consolidation may not always be bad, but applying for more debt is almost always a bad thing. This can be especially harmful if you consolidate a number of credit cards into one card, since that will affect your ratio of debt used to debt available.

Dealing With Rogue Bill Collectors

2009-01-30T01:13:00.002-05:00

One of the groups that was not bailed out during the recent financial crisis has been the American consumer. Congress took care of the firms on Wall Street, but they didn’t take care of the millions of Americans forced to confront the realities of bankruptcy, foreclosure and uncomfortable confrontations with menacing bill collectors. It appears, sadly, that every man and woman must find their own way through this financial tragedy.

Bill Collectors really want their money, like the rest of us. Some of them seem to feel that it’s O.K. to resort to flat out thuggish intimidation to get their money back. That might work on The Sopranos, but it shouldn't work in real life.
Part of the reason abusive bill collectors can have their way with the public is because many citizens do not know their rights. Bill collectors prey on the uninformed in a terrible way: They may threaten to have you arrested, harass your relatives, call all hours of the night, and engage in other types of atrocious behavior to get their money out of your hide.

One woman successfully sued a rogue bill collector after he called her repeatedly with threatening language. The woman, a senior citizen, was told by the man to "Stop with the sob stories and pay your god d*m bill!" This kind of behavior is not acceptable, and bill collector harassment doesn’t have to keep you up at night.
The Federal Trade Commission states that complaints against bill collectors are rising, reaching the highest level they've seen in the past 3 years. Most of the complaints focus on vulgar language, trying to collect more than the amount of the true debt, and extra fees, such as court costs.

You have rights that can protect you from bad and malicious bill collectors. You want to keep these in mind as you work yourself out of debt:

1) There is something called "The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act". If you are not familiar with this document, get familiar with it. You can read it by clicking here.

2) A bill collector cannot contact you at work if your employer does not approve of the contact. Let the bill collector know that this is the case and they must legally stop contacting you at your job.

3) Bill collectors cannot call you before 8 am or after 9 pm. The only exception is if you give them permission to do so.

4) A bill collector can only contact your friends and family if they are trying to find a way to get in touch with you. However, some of them may do this in order to harass or embarrass you. If that is the case, you may want to tell your friends to tell the bill collector, "She does not live here and I do not know how to get in touch with her. Please don't call here anymore." Then, get the bill collector's information from your friend and reach out to them when you can.

5) You can get bill collectors to stop contacting you altogether by sending them a letter telling them to stop. You still must pay the debt, but they won't be calling you during dinner.

6) The bill collector cannot curse at you or use foul language and they must tell the truth about how much you owe. They cannot threaten to sue unless they are serious about it, and they can't touch your 401k or IRA.

7) If the bill collectors call you, you can demand that they send you a written notice of the amount you owe and who you owe the money to. If you do not believe that the debt is yours, you can write a letter to them stating that this is not your debt. They must then send you proof that the debt is actually yours.
If you feel that a debt collector has violated any of these rules, you can contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov. Remember that you are not powerless in this situation.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Asset with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, CBS, NBC and BET. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com. This information does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice, please consult your attorney.

3 Myths About Investing - Part 1

2009-01-30T01:11:00.000-05:00

When it comes to money, there is a lot of hoopla. As I witness the financial frenzy that comes with each fad, I am reminded of the days of snake oil salesmen, taking advantage of the hopes and dreams of many to fill the coffers of the immoral. When I watch the late night “Get rich quick” schemes, I wonder if anyone is getting rich other than the professional, perpetrator or pastor selling the book being featured. Some of the advice shown on television isn’t bad, but as a Finance Professor, some of the advice makes me shudder. Not to say that all of the self-proclaimed “financial experts” are immoral or incorrect, but it is not hard to find flaws in their perspective.

Being mislead causes the most pain to those who do not understand money. Many people do not understand the basics, which can make them vulnerable to those who use long words to confuse them. When I teach Finance courses to my students, I enjoy finding simply ways to communicate complicated concepts. The ultimate goal is for the student to be able to discern the good advice from the bad.

I have compiled a list of quick and dirty myths about money and finance that can help you to get started on your path toward financial understanding. While this is just the tip of the iceberg, perhaps the ice will whet your appetite to learn more about the world of financial management.

Myth #1) An investment is only good if it helps you to earn more money

According to quite a few financial advisors, every penny you invest should be put into assets and ventures that are going to give you a financial return. The “gurus” tell stories about how investing your money to make more money implies that you are smarter than the person next to you. By virtue of your being smarter, you are therefore entitled to a happier life. Money is also made into the most important thing on earth, and you end up feeling bad if you are not, as you are sometimes told, hoarding every penny and allowing those pennies to dominate your personal life.

There are quite a few scenarios in which money should be used to make more money, and there is nothing wrong with that. But more money doesn’t always imply you will have a wealthier life. There are times when buying a car or taking a vacation can be much better uses of your money than buying another stock, bond or piece of real estate.

In fact, if the sole objective of money is to make more money, then that means you should just send your children to Dr. Kervorkian (the man who kills people for a living), since kids are expensive and don’t give you any of your money back. Don’t be so hard on yourself when it comes to investing. Investment is like working at the office or having sex: it’s ok, as long as it’s done in moderation.

Myth #2) Only some investors have a portfolio

What is a portfolio? A portfolio is a set of valuable investments that give you something back. When I ask my students “How many of you have a portfolio?”, only a few of them raise their hands. I then explain that making an investment is equivalent to putting a scarce and valuable resource toward the creation of something more valuable over time. Most of the students fail to realize that money is NOT the only scarce resource you can invest. You can also invest your time, your energy, your health and even your love. All of these amount to allocations of scarce resources, and most of us make these investments every single day. The decision to get out of bed is an investment, since you could easily spend your time lying around watching TV. The clothes on your back are part of your portfolio, since you have invested to obtain them, and they do provide you a return (your reward for investing in clothes is that you get the peace of mind of looking good and not having to walk around naked!).

The point here is that you should have a more complete way of thinking about investing. Money is only one type of investment, and it is sometimes the least valuable asset in our life portfolio. You have probably heard people say “time is money”. Well, that’s not exactly true. The truth is that time is MORE VALUABLE than money! If you are 22 years old, and you waste your time, you will never get to be 22 years old again. No amount of money can make up for being, say, falsely incarcerated for 15 or 20 years. However, if you lose money, you can usually get it back later. So, whether we have money or not, we are always investing.

Myth #3) The stock market is one of the best places to make money

The stock market is not a great place to make money, at least not in the short-run. It is a great place to keep the money you’ve already made. Don’t get me wrong. There are many people who’ve made their fortunes trading stocks, but that is not the norm. Additionally, even though there are many who’ve made a fortune trading stocks, more fortunes have been made using other investments. The stock market is what they call an “efficient market”, which means that it is tough to find a good bargain. This is a lot different from some other markets, where you can find a pretty good deal if you look hard enough.

When looking for a place to invest your money first, you should start with the investments that offer the highest return for the lowest risk. In other words, if you find something you are familiar with, you are likely to have a better outcome. One place to start might be with an investment in YOUR SELF. Do you have enough education to have the kind of career you would like? How about going back to school for that college degree or MBA? In my own research, I have determined that the returns to this kind of investing far exceed the returns generated from the stock market or other places.

You might also consider investing in Real Estate or even in the business of a relative. If you have a friend that is going into business, and you have reason to believe that this person is fulfilling an unmet need, has a guaranteed customer base, and is reliably going to give you your money back, then this kind of investment might be better than going right to the stock market. Just make sure that you sign a legal contract so there are no misunderstandings.

You can also make a lot of money by cutting your spending. Consider the following two options. Let’s say you have a credit card that charges 15% interest with a balance of $10,000. You have $10,000 available for investment, and you can either use the money to pay off the credit card or invest in stocks. Let’s also assume that you expect to earn 10% on the stock market (roughly what the US stock market earned during the 1997 – 2001 time period). There are two things you must remember about this investment:

1) The amount you are paying on your credit cards is greater than what you would earn from the stock market.
2) The amount you would earn from the stock market is risky, so it could be higher or lower than the average. The amount you are paying on your credit card is going to be the same, no matter what.

So, you have two choices: You can either a) invest the $10,000 in the stock market, earning an average of 10%, or you can b) Use the money to pay off your credit cards, ridding yourself of the 15% interest expense. If you go with option a) (investing in the stock market) and assume that you are guaranteed 10% on your money, you will earn $1,000 and have to pay $1500 in credit card interest (15% x $10,000). This leads to a net loss of $500.

If you go with option b) (paying off the credit cards and not investing in the stock market), you can save $1500. So, there is a $2,000 ($1500 – (-$500)) difference between these two choices.

The point is simple: “A penny saved is a penny earned”. You can rephrase this statement as “A penny not paid in interest is a penny earned in interest.” By using excess funds to pay off high interest debt, you have found one of the best investments around.

The point of this article is the following: Investing in the stock market is nice and glamorous, but it’s not the way to make money. If you really want to make money, you should start with investments around you: Buying a home, paying off credit cards, or going back to school. These investments give higher returns than the stock market and lead to a wealthier life.

3 Myths About Investing - Part 2

2009-01-30T01:09:00.000-05:00

This is the next step in our series about investing myths and common mistakes that people make. Please read the prior article to catch up if necessary. Investing can be simple if you are in possession of a few key facts, and as your friendly Financial Physician, I can arm you with the tools you need to head down your path of financial understanding. I congratulate you for choosing to expand your financial knowledge base.

Myth #4) If you own a large number of US companies, then you’ve spread your money out well enough

Diversification is one of the most critical dimensions of investing. To make it simple, diversification means that you should not put all your financial eggs in one basket. Your grandmother probably gave you similar advice as a child, so you know where I’m coming from.

When you put your money into financial assets, the simple idea is that you don’t want to be overly exposed to risk and potential loss. Even if you think that an investment is a “can’t miss” opportunity, you are asking for trouble by putting too much of your wealth in one place. You may have seen the play “Raisin in the Sun”, in which one of the characters put the family’s fortune into a liquor store and saw his good friend Willy run away with the money. Whether it’s Willy or Enron, don’t let that happen to you.

Your broker may talk about diversification by stating that you should make sure your money is placed into several stocks at once. He might tell you that investing a percentage of your funds into GM, IBM, Microsoft and a few other US companies will do the trick when it comes to diversification. I hate to say it, but that message is WRONG.

First, investing should be international, not domestic. By only investing in American companies, you are missing a big piece of the global financial puzzle. If the US economy goes south, then so does your money. Also, some of the best opportunities exist in other countries.

Secondly, you should have your money placed in different types of investments. The stock market is just one place to put your money. You can also invest in real estate, a small business or even commodities and collectibles. The key idea is to spread your money around and to not get too excited about one type of financial outlet.

Myth #5) If a stock has done well in the past, it’s going to keep doing well in the future

One of the greatest myths in the financial world is the idea that a stock that has done well in the past is going to keep going up in price. Magazines fill their issues with a collection of stocks or mutual funds that did well the year before, and everyone clamors to buy these assets. The idea that a stock’s past predicts its future could not be further from the truth.

Research shows this is simply not the case. While it might seem logical that the past predicts the future, the truth is that stocks are priced based on a complex theory called “Rational Expectations”. Without going into what that theory implies, the bottom line is that any reasonable expectation that the stock is going to do better in the future has already been taken into account. For example, let’s say that you read the Wall Street Journal to find out that the Nike Corporation just signed a new deal worth an extra $1 Billion dollars. Your instinct might be to go purchase the company’s stock, in hopes that once the billion comes in the door, the price will go up. Sorry, but the truth is that the market immediately adjusts to that new information, so your ability to profit from the info is virtually non-existent. Additionally, all information about a stock’s future performance has been calculated into the current price. The truth is that its past performance can’t be predicted by ANYONE, not even a Finance Professor like me.

Would you like to know my own personal stock investment strategy? I buy a nice, diversified portfolio and then let it grow. I don’t try to pick winners from losers, and I don’t try to buy at the right time. I simply make consistent investments in the market (out of my pay every two weeks) putting those investments into a diversified portfolio. I then allow the thing to grow naturally. I don’t worry about price changes on the evening news, and I don’t sell nearly as much as I buy. What’s the result of this strategy? My money has steadily grown over the past several years.

Myth #6) The goal of money is to make more money

I study money and I have learned a lot about money. I have learned to appreciate and respect the power of money. But I have also learned the importance of keeping money in perspective. Money does not make your life wonderful: it simply enhances the beauty that your life already possesses. It can also be a protective force against some of the tougher choices we must make when our pockets are empty. Money is a tool for the improvement of your life and the lives of those around you, not the ends that one should pursue to find the holy grail of happiness.

At the end of the day, the goal is for you to be happy and fulfilled. The pursuit of wealth can play a role in this fulfillment, but you must be careful not to allow your pursuit of money to ruin the other valuable assets in your life. Money can be a means to happiness, but it is not the ends in itself. Keep that in mind as you go on your quest for riches.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of Financial Lovemaking 101, Merging Assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.net

3 Myths About Investing - Part 3

2009-01-30T01:08:00.000-05:00

As the third installment on our series on money and investing myths, we are going to discuss 3 additional facts that you may want to keep in mind on your quest for riches. If you wish to see the other myths outlined, please visit www.youtube.com/drboycefinance.

Myth #7) Building wealth involves a great deal of “know how” and expertise

Being a financial expert doesn’t necessarily hurt your chances of getting rich. But it doesn’t, by any means, guarantee that you are going to be better off than other people. Many of the greatest lessons I’ve learned about money management came from my grandmother, who never went to college and never earned more than $20,000 per year. She made a very simple statement, “If you are a spender, you will always be broke. If you are saver, you will always have money.” This taught me a great deal, as I found out that from my grandmother that the keys to money management exist within your psyche and your soul, not in the number of college degrees you have.

Understanding your personal relationship with money, as well as the reasons you over spend or under save can go a long way to developing your own personal path to financial fitness. Your financial freedom won’t be granted by a series of bells and whistles granted to you by financial experts. It will be provided by the use of good old fashioned discipline.

Myth #8) Buying stock in a good company means I’ve made a good investment

When I appear on radio shows or receive emails from those who support me, I am consistently asked if I can “recommend a good stock”. This is not a very good question, since a good company does not necessarily make for a good investment. Every financial asset has a price you should pay and the rules are simple: if you pay less than the asset’s value, you made a good investment. If your price is greater than the asset’s value, it’s a bad investment. So, a company with great profitability and solid cashflow can be a terrible investment for your portfolio. In fact, research shows that investors who purchase high flying “glamour” stocks are far worse off than those who purchase “value” stocks in companies that are financially distressed.

Myth #9) Mutual fund managers and stock brokers can predict the future

There is always a mad dash for the top performing mutual funds to get their names in the pages of leading financial publications. This is because they know that most investors tend to be “momentum traders”, meaning that they invest heavily in funds that did well in the past, expecting that these funds are going to do well in the future. While such assumptions certainly make sense, the problem is that they are simply fallacious. Financial research shows that mutual funds that did well the prior year usually have among the worst performance during the following year. At best, they are quite mediocre on average and there is very little connection between past performance and future performance.

Additionally, there an entire industry built around fund managers and stock brokers having the ability to convince investors that they can predict the future performance of a given stock or of the entire stock market itself. One such soothsayer, so good that he has a show on national television, was found to have horrible performance in the portfolios of stocks he recommended to his viewers. At the end of the day, you can’t predict the market and you can’t predict the performance of any particular stock. Even leading academic experts are virtually incapable of such a daunting task.

What we do know is quite simple. If you are a long-term investor with a well-diversified portfolio, then the following two facts remain true: 1) Your average return tends to be higher if you have higher risk. 2) Any losses you make on your portfolio in the short-term are typically recovered in the long term.

It’s really as simple as that.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with your Partner in ways that Feel Good”. For more information, please visit www.DrBoyceFinance.com.

3 Myths About Investing - Part 4

2009-01-30T01:05:00.002-05:00

This is the final installment of our 4 part series about money and investing myths. The goal of this series is to clear the weeds from our minds as we seek truth in our quest for financial independence. Read along and make sure that you go back to prior articles to find anything that you missed the first time around.

Myth #10) You can’t invest if you don’t have any money

We’ve all heard the statement, “You have to have money to make money.” While almost accurate, the statement is not entirely true. You don’t need MONEY to make money, you need CAPITAL to make money. Capital is anything productive asset that can be allocated toward investment in the quest to increase the value of that capital base overtime. For example, a man with $10 million dollars worth of chickens is wealthy, even though he has no cash. He can use those chickens to lay eggs, which can be sold for money on the market.

Any time you invest a scarce resource of value, you’ve become an investor. The less cash you have, the more creative you have to be in finding those assets that will form your highly critical capital base. Your capital might be human capital coming from training your children to do a job for you. It might be your own time, energy and passion invested in achieving your goals. The fundamental reality is that your most valuable assets are non-financial. Your health, your love, your happiness are all assets that you might not share for any trivial amount of money. So, the truth is that you were a billionaire on the day you were born.

Myth #11) Money can’t buy happiness

While it might be debatable whether money can buy happiness, one point is beyond debate: a lack of money can CERTAINLY buy unhappiness. Families can be ripped apart due to financial problems, and most of us spend a large percentage of our time worrying about our financial woes. Additionally, I must agree that money alone certainly can’t buy happiness. It is the creative and intelligent use of money that can buy happiness.

Money can allow a young mother the chance to stay home with her children. It can allow a son to pay for his father’s critical surgery. It can provide the peace of mind that comes from financial security and economic freedom. The truth is that money can certainly be a tool for the enhancement of your life. But while it can enhance your life, it can also destroy your life if you do not know how to keep things in perspective. Families that become obsessed with the acquisition and maintenance of wealth can find themselves losing focus on the things that matter most in our lives: family, love and happiness. So, remember: some of the richest people in the world don’t have any money at all and some of the poorest people in the world have billions.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good”. For more information, please visit www.DrBoyceFinance.com.

AOL Black Voices Interview with Dr. Boyce Watkins

2009-01-29T00:11:00.001-05:00

Smart Money Tips With Dr. Boyce Watkins
Posted Jan 27th 2009 6:34PM by Alexis Stodghill
Filed under: Money Talks

By Alexis Garrett Stodghill, BlackVoices.com

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a renowned scholar and speaker in the area of finance. As an African-American financial expert, Dr. Watkins has made it his personal mission to educate our community through writing books and essays, making media appearances, public speaking and more -- so that we may become more empowered with knowledge when it comes to the all-mighty dollar. BlackVoices.com asked the doctor to share his wisdom and advice for folks seeking tips to successfully navigate the current economic storm. According to Dr. Watkins, it's still possible to get your finances in order -- in fact, it's imperative.

As a black finance expert, what is the most common problem you see in the black community when it comes to personal finance management?

The most common problem is that historically, African Americans have been excluded from the opportunity to build wealth. Money was made from our labor, but we never got much of it. That led to a laborer mentality in African-Americans that taught us how to go out and get jobs rather than learning the art of CREATING jobs. This problem was further exacerbated by the fact that building a company requires capital, which we typically don't have. Most African-Americans have far lower inheritance levels than whites, and this impacts your economic opportunities in life. Also, when you've never had much money, you are usually not very good at managing it, so we are as bad as the rest of America when it comes to our spending, saving, investing and borrowing habits.

How would you suggest that someone with little knowledge of personal finance get started on the road to financial stability?

First, get educated. Empower yourself with financial literacy. The greatest university in the world is called Google.com. You can research any topic you want. Secondly, start small. You don't have to conquer the world in two steps. Just start by saving 10% of your income. You might say you don't have money to save, but you actually do. If your boss came into your office and gave you a 10% paycut, you'd find a way to survive. Find a way to learn to save. Finally, get a "side hustle." Challenge yourself to find small ways to supplement your income. The riskiest thing to do in this economy is to get all of your personal income from one source.

You have two college degrees, a master's degree and a PhD. What would you say is the relationship between level of education and income?

Education not only gives you many opportunities to earn more money, you usually earn more money with less work, doing a job that you might actually like. Personally, education was the difference for me between being financially well off and living a life of poverty. Education also provides job security, which is often overlooked. Autoworkers, for example, were always able to make high wages with little education. But once the Big Three started to buckle, they were stuck with unskilled labor opportunities. Everyone should get as much education as they can get, since education can be a path to both a wealthy bank account and a wealthy life.

Would you share some tips for sound money management in 2009?

Yes.
-First, keep investing, especially in the stock market. When the market is low, that's the best time to find cheap stocks. Then hold on to your investments in a well-diversified portfolio (meaning, keep your money spread out). Before you know it, the downturn will have put money in your pocket.

- Learn to adjust your financial habits. Part of the reason we are in this mess is because Americans were borrowing too much money and working hard to live paycheck to paycheck. Get out of that habit, because the government is not going to be able to save us for much longer.

- Cut the toxins out of your life. If you have any bad habits or bad people draining you of your resources (a relative, a friend, or even yourself), renegotiate that relationship from one that is financially destructive to one that can be productive. For example, you may have to cut the financial umbilical chord from a dependent child, or tell that brother that he can't borrow money from you anymore. Cut the toxic energy out of your life so you can rethink your way of seeing money.

You have written extensively on love and money issues. What is your advice for best blending marriage and finances?

In 'Financial Lovemaking,' I tell couples to "find a rhythm." Merging your money is the same as merging your body (ie. sex): No one can tell you how to do it, since we all enjoy different things. You find out what your partner needs, share your own needs and then find a way to make the process comfortable and fulfilling for both parties. If your partner is a saver, then you need to respect that. Given that there is usually a deeply psychological reason that your partner is a saver, you are in serious trouble if you have habits that create financial instability in your relationship. Also, MAKE SURE you know what you're getting into: Many couples focus solely on love, lust, and physical appearance and spend almost no time observing the financial disposition and habits of their partners before making this major commitment. That is a recipe for disaster.

Before you commit your life, your future, your children and your money to someone, remember that LOVING together means LIVING together. If someone is financially irresponsible or brings a set of (what I call) "financial venereal diseases" into your life, it is going to be hard to live with them. You should check the debt levels, income levels and credit score of anyone to whom you choose to commit. Make sure they don't have any financially destructive habits, like alcoholism, drug abuse, gambling, or even the shopaholic's disease. Make sure that your financial values are in line with your partner's: For example, don't marry a woman who needs a $40,000 engagement ring if you think that a $500 ring should do the trick.

If you don't ask the hard questions, you can be locked into something with someone who literally destroys your life later down the road.

What is your opinion of the current recession? What is the best way to weather it?

The current recession may very well be the tip of the iceberg. There are serious long-term problems with our economy, and the break down of our financial system is merely a symptom of bigger issues. Additionally, this recession has a deeper problem. It is occurring during a time in which our global financial markets are integrated unlike at any other time in world history. That means that we are dealing with a problem of historic proportions on a landscape on which we've never operated.

The best way to cope with the recession is, in part, through what the government is already doing: Utilizing massive fiscal stimulus plans and encouraging global cooperation. Two other things they could have done are a) to have not wasted 700 billion dollars persuading Americans that Wall Street Bankers need to be protected, and b) to have spent more time helping Americans adjust their expectations.

President Obama seems to be trying to manage expectations, but he has already set the bar very high with his long list of campaign promises. The economic problem for Obama is that it will be extremely difficult to boost our economy back to where it was before, particularly since much of our financial gains over the past 7 years were illusions created through easy access to credit and a poorly regulated financial system. It's similar to an athlete on steroids trying to get off the drugs and then regain old form. It's very difficult to do.

On an individual level, I encourage families to remember that the government may not be there to take care of you in retirement. If you are not saving for retirement, it is critical that you do so. You should also find ways to structure care for the elderly in your family so that they are going to be OK. Also, tighten your own belts and get out of the habit of living from paycheck to paycheck. This is not a secure economy, and seemingly financially stable companies are disappearing overnight. The riskiest thing you can do in this economy is to get all of your income from one source. Find a way to make money from multiple avenues.

What has inspired you to come this far with so much self-determination, as a black man who was born to a single teen mom, then becoming a teen parent yourself?

I wake up every single day with a purpose. Dr. King and Malcolm X died young, so I never knew how much time I will have. But I am absolutely determined not to waste a single day and do all I can to help reshape what it means to be a black scholar and black leader in America. When I get emails from young people telling me that I've inspired them to change their thinking, then I know I've done my work. I know that I am not going to be on this earth forever, but I love the idea that I can impact people in such a way that the spiritual influence can last for generations.

I realized that most black professors are scared into being quiet on social issues, due to heavy political ramifications for speaking up. I also realized that many of us would rather sit in the ivory tower than to take our knowledge to the world. I never wanted to do that, and I've always felt that the role of the Black scholar in America is to use his/her knowledge to enlighten the world and uplift his/her people. That is my mission, and it is something I will continue to do until the day I die.

I also learned that it is not enough to be intelligent. You must be courageous and also sure of who you are. If you seek your validation from your historical oppressors, you will always end up chasing your own tail. Additionally, there are a long list of problems that need to be solved within our community, and it's up to all of us to do whatever we can to try and solve them.

Are there any words of encouragement or wisdom that you would like to share with the BlackVoices.com audience?

I realized a few things long ago that carry me to this day:

1) Success doesn't happen by accident. You must be deliberate with your actions and think carefully about where you invest your life, your love, your energy and your time. Everything must be proactive.

2) Extraordinary outcomes only come through extraordinary efforts. In life, you get what you give. So, if you want more, you must sacrifice more. You must be willing to do things no one else is willing to do, if you want to have things that no one else has. Never waste one second choosing to be ordinary.

3) Education is everything. Get as much of it as you can. Don't just become a student, BE AN EXTRAORDINARY STUDENT. Never let anyone tell you what to think. Keep your mind liberated so you can find truth and meaning in your endeavors.

4) The best way to get "pimped" is to spend your life trying to work for somebody else. Even if you are the highest paid slave on the plantation, you're still a slave, and you're still on the plantation. Get off the plantation and find a way to true wealth and prosperity. But don't get into the habit of worshipping money. Your goal is to live a wealthy life instead.

5) Keep BS out of your life so you can focus on achieving your goals. Most of us don't do half of what we plan to do because we spend all our time on silly, wasteful activities. There are 8,760 hours in a year and 168 hours in a week. You should budget your time the way you budget your money and not let anybody waste it.

6) Never allow yourself to be without goals. It's not where you are that matters, it's where you're going that determines where you end up. Always be aware of where you are going, and what you need to do in order to get there.

Keep a life full of purpose, and that will make every day worth living.

Money Expert Dr. Watkins Tells All on How to Balance Your Money with Free on 105.1 Pt.3

2009-01-18T21:33:00.000-05:00

Money Expert Dr. Watkins Tells All on How to Balance Your Money with Free on 105.1 Pt.2

2009-01-18T21:32:00.000-05:00

Money Expert Dr. Watkins Tells All on How to Balance Your Money with Free on 105.1 Pt.1

2009-01-18T21:30:00.001-05:00

Our Money - Can The Goverment Protect It

2008-11-29T15:05:00.000-05:00

By Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

Media reports show that many Americans are not quite sure of what to do with their money. Watching banks fail left and right, people are logically afraid of what might happen to their savings. This fear is justified, as we are seeing our accounts beaten and stomped by the global financial meltdown.

This grave concern is magnified by the fact that those we’ve trusted are the ones who’ve left us vulnerable. Our most cherished financial experts handled our retirement accounts like flashy vehicles on a Nascar speedway. Our elected officials allowed executives in the banking industry to run rampant like 3-year olds with dirty diapers. Then, when the crash came, a massive bailout package was created for those most responsible for the damage, while the rest of us were left holding the tax bill.

This begs the question: Why in the hell should we trust the government?

I recall that during the failure of Enron, one of the most respected companies in America at the time, the firm made several statements designed to create confidence in the company’s financial condition. Like captains of the Titanic, company leaders explained that there was nothing to worry about, even as they themselves were preparing their lifeboats. When the company failed, those who did not protect themselves reminded us of one grim and fundamental truth: when the “you know what” hits the fan, it’s every man for himself….and every woman too, in case you’re wondering.

In response to such sentiment, the American consumer has been working overtime to protect his/her resources: people have (against my advice) moved their money away from the frightening stock market, they are diversifying money into different banks, and some are taking their money out of banks altogether. All of these actions are occurring in spite of government calls for calm in a world on the verge of financial panic.

The honest to goodness truth is that I don’t blame Americans for being afraid. I don’t blame them for not trusting the government right now. Trust must be earned in any relationship, whether it is a tough marriage of the relationship between a government and its citizens. Our government must work to regain that trust through sound and efficient financial management. It will NOT regenerate the public trust through excessive spending on meaningless wars, selfish pork-filled bills being passed through Congress and budget deficits that strain the resources of Americans everywhere.

I can’t tell you if the government is lying to you, but I can tell you this: There was a time when government guarantees such as FDIC insurance were as pure as the driven snow. There was a time when the United States Federal Government had pockets and resources so deep that even God himself could be bailed out with our cash. The sad truth, however, is that no empire lasts forever, and there is destined to be a day in the future when we are no longer the unquestionable economic super power that we once were. A country that can’t even afford its social security obligations is hardly a nation that has risen beyond economic risk.

Another sad truth is that if the financial world really were coming to an end, the citizens would be the last to find out about any such crisis. We would, simultaneously, be the first ones asked to suffer the burden of irresponsible behavior by our leaders. If that doesn’t justify a bit of skepticism, I am not sure what does.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, ESPN, CBS and BET. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

Money Expert Boyce Watkins Tips For Consumer Confidence

2008-11-26T23:43:00.001-05:00

Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.Boycewatkins.com

If you wish to see a video explaining consumer confidence, which is one of the driving issues behind the recent moves in the stock market, please click here.

This has been an interesting week, with auto execs showing up on private jets to request a bailout from the government and the Dow moving to below 8,000 points for the first time in 5 years. I still hold to the fact that this is a great time to get into the stock market if one has never done so before, especially if you are under the age of 50. By the way - please visit our sponsor, GreatBlackSpeakers.com if you are interested in hiring a top notch African American speaker or seeking to become one.

Take care!
Boyce Watkins
http://www.blogger.com/www.boycewatkins.com
Click here to join our money advice list.

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If you listen carefully to the words of Treasury Secretary Henry “Hank” Paulson and Ben “Big Ben” Bernanke (chairman of the Federal Reserve) you might notice a trend in their language. The word “confidence” is used a lot when they speak. Many of their monetary proposals are not necessarily valuable for their financial power, but also for their psychological power.

Some of you may wonder what confidence has to do with anything. After all, if you’re broke, confidence doesn’t exactly put money in your pocket. If you’re 100 pounds overweight, confidence won’t help you win the Olympic 100 meter dash. When you are flying on a crashing plane, confidence doesn’t keep the plane from slamming into the ground. But confidence is important to an economy, and one of the most significant drivers of economic growth. In fact, over confidence has driven US economic growth for the past 10 years. Here are some reasons that confidence matters in the minds of Hank and Big Ben:

1) Confident consumers spend money

If you think you might lose your job next year, are you going to max out your credit cards? I certainly hope not. If you are worried about being able to make ends meet, are you going to buy that big screen TV? Not unless you want your wife to leave you. So, even if it doesn’t hold any truth, the mere forecast of a weak economy is enough to make many Americans hold off on consumer spending, one of the great driving forces of the American financial system.

2) Confident companies invest money and hire workers

Investments involve risk. Your hunch may work out, and it may not. If you don’t believe the economy is getting better, you are not going to consider taking that risk. No one plans to go to the beach if the weather man says that it’s going to rain. When economic rain is in the forecast, companies pull out their umbrellas and hold off on new projects. This reduces the number of jobs in the economy, because nearly every job created in America is the result of someone making an investment.

3) Confident Americans do not take their money out of banks

In case you didn’t know, your bank does not have your money. Your money is part of a large base of financial capital that is loaned out to individuals and consumers seeking to get a good return on their investment. So, without investing, your bank would have no interest in paying you any interest at all. So if, say, 30% of all customers of the same bank decide to get their money out at the same time, the bank would have serious financial problems. It is a lack of confidence that could cause customers to “run” on their bank and take out their money.

4) Confident investors keep their money in the stock market

The stock market is a place where fortunes are made and lost. Some part of that fortune is psychological, given that no asset can have a value which exceeds that which someone is willing to pay for it. When investors lose confidence, they take their money out of the stock market, and reductions in demand for stocks lead to massive paper losses in the market. Additionally, most Americans are “momentum traders”, meaning that when the market goes up, they tend to buy more, and when it goes down, they tend to sell. History shows that it is actually the opposite approach that tends to work best.

5) Confident banks make loans

Banks have to keep a certain portion of their funds on hand at all times to meet federal requirements. If they are fearful that their customers might come and demand their cash, they hold onto their capital to ensure that it is available. If they are afraid that their borrowing customers will not be able to repay loans due to a weak economy, they also hold back on issuing new loans. The truth is that when economic forecasts are grim, conservative bankers become even more fearful than the rest of us.

The bottom line of this article is that confidence matters. So, the next time you hear Ben Bernanke give a speech, you can be confident that he is going to use language that makes you feel more secure. Whether you choose to believe those words is up to you.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, BET, ESPN and CBS. For more information, please visit http://www.blogger.com/www.boycewatkins.com. To join our money list, please click here.

Is The Government Being Honest With People - A Black Scholar's Thoughts

2008-11-19T23:58:00.002-05:00

Remaining Confident During The Financial Crisis

2008-11-19T01:51:00.001-05:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
http://www.boycewatkins.com/

If you listen carefully to the words of Treasury Secretary Henry “Hank” Paulson and Ben “Big Ben” Bernanke (chairman of the Federal Reserve) you might notice a trend in their language. The word “confidence” is used a lot when they speak. Many of their monetary proposals are not necessarily valuable for their financial power, but also for their psychological power.

Some of you may wonder what confidence has to do with anything. After all, if you’re broke, confidence doesn’t exactly put money in your pocket. If you’re 100 pounds overweight, confidence won’t help you win the Olympic 100 meter dash. When you are flying on a crashing plane, confidence doesn’t keep the plane from slamming into the ground. But confidence is important to an economy, and one of the most significant drivers of economic growth. In fact, over confidence has driven US economic growth for the past 10 years. Here are some reasons that confidence matters in the minds of Hank and Big Ben:

1) Confident consumers spend money
If you think you might lose your job next year, are you going to max out your credit cards? I certainly hope not. If you are worried about being able to make ends meet, are you going to buy that big screen TV? Not unless you want your wife to leave you. So, even if it doesn’t hold any truth, the mere forecast of a weak economy is enough to make many Americans hold off on consumer spending, one of the great driving forces of the American financial system.

2) Confident companies invest money and hire workers
Investments involve risk. Your hunch may work out, and it may not. If you don’t believe the economy is getting better, you are not going to consider taking that risk. No one plans to go to the beach if the weather man says that it’s going to rain. When economic rain is in the forecast, companies pull out their umbrellas and hold off on new projects. This reduces the number of jobs in the economy, because nearly every job created in America is the result of someone making an investment.

3) Confident Americans do not take their money out of banks
In case you didn’t know, your bank does not have your money. Your money is part of a large base of financial capital that is loaned out to individuals and consumers seeking to get a good return on their investment. So, without investing, your bank would have no interest in paying you any interest at all. So if, say, 30% of all customers of the same bank decide to get their money out at the same time, the bank would have serious financial problems. It is a lack of confidence that could cause customers to “run” on their bank and take out their money.

4) Confident investors keep their money in the stock market
The stock market is a place where fortunes are made and lost. Some part of that fortune is psychological, given that no asset can have a value which exceeds that which someone is willing to pay for it. When investors lose confidence, they take their money out of the stock market, and reductions in demand for stocks lead to massive paper losses in the market. Additionally, most Americans are “momentum traders”, meaning that when the market goes up, they tend to buy more, and when it goes down, they tend to sell. History shows that it is actually the opposite approach that tends to work best.

5) Confident banks make loans
Banks have to keep a certain portion of their funds on hand at all times to meet federal requirements. If they are fearful that their customers might come and demand their cash, they hold onto their capital to ensure that it is available. If they are afraid that their borrowing customers will not be able to repay loans due to a weak economy, they also hold back on issuing new loans. The truth is that when economic forecasts are grim, conservative bankers become even more fearful than the rest of us.

The bottom line of this article is that confidence matters. So, the next time you hear Ben Bernanke give a speech, you can be confident that he is going to use language that makes you feel more secure. Whether you choose to believe those words is up to you.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good”. For more information, please visit http://boycewatikns.com/

Dr, Boyce Teaches About Surviving During Money Meltdown

2008-11-18T23:24:00.004-05:00

The Real Causes of the Financial Crisis

2008-09-20T19:49:00.001-04:00

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

I am no fan of President Bush. I made fun of the silly man long before it was popular to do so. However, in this case, I have to be one of the first to stand up and say that you can’t put all the blame for this financial crisis on his back. The War in Iraq? Yes. Hurricane Katrina? Absolutely. Damn near everything else? Sure, why not? But this financial mess should not, as our leading presidential candidates want you to believe, be slapped on the political tomb of Mr. Bush. That doesn’t mean he didn’t play a role, but Bush was more of a supporting actor in this horror story, not the star.

The horror story to which I am referring is that little news event surrounding a $700 Billion dollar bailout being sponsored by the Office Underwriting Corporate Hedonism (OUCH), also known as the Federal Reserve. Now, this is a different brand of corporate welfare, as taxpayer dollars are not being given away. At worst, taxpayer resources are being put at risk, as the Federal Reserve is making huge capital allocations to some of the nation’s most troubled financial institutions. As a lender of last resort, the Fed is responsible for investing money where the rest of us certainly would not.

To put it in layman’s terms, this is like using your savings account to loan money to an uncle who was fired for drinking on the job. Sure, he has been responsible in the past, and will likely be re-employed, but his recent behavior leaves you a little concerned. In the same light, taxpayer dollars in a financial crisis are like little soldiers being deployed to provide stability to the deadliest parts of the world. Many soldiers will come back home, while quite a few are going to be killed. Depletion of our government capital is quite likely in this scenario, for solving a global liquidity crisis with available reserves can be like using a kitchen sponge to soak up the ocean.

With that said, let’s discuss what this crisis is really all about. We must first understand the nature of our financial institutions. Banks and other entities providing credit to the consumer are a lot like drug dealers (both legal and illegal drug dealers are included in this example). Drug dealers give you something that you definitely want and even think you need. The drug (cash) is powerful, makes your problems go away and has a long-term consequence if you abuse it. That’s where the government steps in. The role of government is to regulate our financial drug dealers to ensure that they are not encouraging substance abuse from the users (American consumers), and to also ensure that consumers are relatively well-educated about the consequences of using the drugs (that’s where terms like “predatory lending” come from).

In order to make the economy appear strong, our financial drug dealers were allowed to run wild. Loans were being made to people who could not afford to pay them, causing the prices of homes to be bid out of control (it’s easier to bid a higher price on a home when your banker loans you all the money you need). Ultimately, consequences were felt when millions of Americans suddenly realized that they could not repay the amounts listed on the dotted line. This situation is not much different from what we are now seeing in the pharmaceutical industry, in which drug companies are using ads to encourage patients to walk into the doctor’s office and ask for whatever drug they saw on TV the night before (you hear that Rush Limbaugh?).

Now, before you go and burn down the nearest bank in your neighborhood, realize that it takes two to Tango. As Bill Cosby (perhaps naively) believes, “making good decisions makes everything ok.” We must remember that if all people made good decisions, drug dealers would have no customers. The truth of the matter is that in spite of the fact that our institutions and governmental authorities have failed us, one of the greatest culprits in this mess is the financial greed and myopia of the American consumer. We as Americans are among the most gluttonous and short-sighted consumers in the world. We borrow money to go on vacation without thinking twice, we don’t save for retirement, and we tend to do P Diddy/Paris Hilton imitations on every shopping trip. Money is our drug and we all rejoiced when there were more drug dealers in our neighborhoods.

So while Barack Obama and John McCain want to attack the clearly unqualified man in the White House over this mess, the truth is that we mostly have ourselves to blame. This crisis affects us all, and the corporate problems are nothing more than an aggregated manifestation of very bad individual decisions. Simultaneously, our legislators must be held accountable when ensuring that corporations are given incentives to engage in responsible lending. Perhaps a hybrid of the Cosby model is appropriate here: let’s get the drug dealers out of our neighborhoods, but let’s also make our neighborhoods a bad place to sell drugs.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the forthcoming book “Black American Money”. He does regular commentary on CNN, CBS and NBC. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

Lessons from Ed McMahon's Financial Crisis

2008-06-06T10:12:00.001-04:00

Add Ed McMahon from the Tonight Show to the list of celebs getting their homes forclosed upon. I saw this story in CNN Today and it led to a set of thoughts that I wanted to share quickly. These were the thoughts that led me to write Financial Lovemaking 101, since the mistakes of the McMahon family are not uncommon:

1) Making alot of money is the easiest way to trick yourself into thinking you have more than you really do.

2) Celebs are not as wealthy as you think. Many of them are trying to maintain a perception that others expect to see.

3) If you are in an industry that doesn't have much job security, you should go overboard to protect your financial security. Actors have incredibly poor job security, even the really good ones.

4) If you hit retirement age, you should be extra conservative with your spending. If you lose your money at that stage of life, it's hard to get it back.

5) Pay someone you trust to watch the person who is watching your money. Then watch the person you're paying to watch the other person.

Did that make sense?

The article is here, enjoy!

Love, Money and Life: When it's "Cheaper to Keep Her" in Your Marriage

2008-05-23T09:38:00.002-04:00

I am sure some of you have seen the typical “unhappy couple”. You know who they are: they may pretend that their marriage is wonderful on the outside, but there are a pile of scandalous secrets behind closed doors. The secrets may involve hidden bank accounts, secret gay lovers, or perhaps even some nasty abuse. Some even think they are the perfect couple, but every now and then, you get to witness tiny hints of an unfulfilled existence. You then realize that if there ever was a couple that needed to be divorced, it’s this one. So, you continue to witness their agony, wondering deep down why they don’t just call Dr. Kervorkian and have him put their marriage out of its misery. Actually, ending their marriage might end your own misery as well.

When you finally muster up the courage to ask your buddy why he doesn’t go ahead and pull out the marital machete, he gives you the words you’ve heard in so many bar room jokes, “it’s cheaper to keep her”. While these statements are stereotypically from men, you hear more and more women saying the same thing these days. You may also hear your friend tell you that he/she can’t afford to lose the financial support provided by their spouse. Either way, you feel sorry for the couple, because they’ve made one clear admission: “Whatever I have in my bank account is worth far more than my personal happiness.” That is what I would call bad Financial Lovemaking.

If our emotional fulfillment was suddenly converted into money, many of us would be bankrupt. However, there are many people in third world countries who are filthy rich with life satisfaction. This doesn’t understate the significance of their financial hurdles, but it does remind us that money, if not used as a tool to pursue happiness, can ultimately become a barrier to personal joy.

One of the trappings of a capitalist society is that we are taught that money is the ends, rather than the means. Money is a tool to enhance your life and your relationships, it should not be the reason you are in the relationship in the first place. That’s like buying a new car just so you can get the radio.

If I were given a choice between being dirt poor and happy vs. filthy rich and miserable, I would surely choose the dirt. You see, a person who endures unhappiness in order to protect his wealth is missing the point. The goal of money is to make you happy. So, using money as an excuse to not pursue happiness in your life is like saying “I am going to starve to death because I really want to stay in this restaurant.” If the restaurant isn’t feeding you, you might want to consider eating someplace else. That might be an example of good Financial Lovemaking, since part of the Financial Lovemaking process is getting comfortable with your own relationship with money.

I am not an advocate of divorce, nor do I judge those who’ve made the decision to split. But I can say that if you have no ideological problems with divorce, and money is your only reason for not going through with it, it might make sense to reconsider your priorities. If happiness and money were put on a scale next to one another, love would be the 3,000 pound elephant and money would be the 2 ounce cricket. All choices in the love and money balance should lead to short or long-term satisfaction, there really is no other way to say it.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good.” For more information, please visit www.financiallovemaking.net.

Details of the Stimulus Package: How it will affect you

2008-02-12T11:08:00.000-05:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

Many Americans have heard about the new stimulus package signed by President Bush. The package is designed to do one thing: Get consumers to spend more so they can continue to strengthen the economy. Sounds good in theory, but in practice, it is simply asking us to keep spending, which is what got us into this economic mess in the first place. What is also true about all this is that much of our excessive consumer spending has been built on the economic backs of our children, as it has largely been financed by debt. Americans have had 16 straight years of increased consumer spending and the government doesn't want the party to end.

Here's some info on the stimulus package and how it will affect your life:

If you pay taxes and your income is below $75,000, you will get a check for $600. Couples who earn less than $150,000 per year will receive $1200.

There is a child tax credit of $300 per child. Add that to the $600 per person you receive above. Finally, producing children is considered a good thing.

If you are a worker who earned at least $3,000 per year, but your income was too low to require that you file a tax return, you will receive $300.

Those with big money (incomes above the max) will still be eligible for the tax rebates. The rebate you receive will be reduced by a nickel for every dollar you earn above the cap. So, an individual earning $85,000 per year would receive $100 ($600 - $10,000 x .05).

There are other details of the package, but the meat of the package lies in the rebates. My advice to you: save the money or invest it. Even if you don't spend, the recession is going to end soon anyway.

The Coming American Retirement Crisis

2008-01-21T07:49:00.001-05:00

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Department of Finance, Syracuse University
www.YourBlackWorld.com

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Americans are really stinking rich. Compared to the rest of the world, our financial problems are essentially non-existent. We don’t worry about having food on the table. We worry about keeping up the payments on our two cars, expensive mortgage and maybe even the rent for our 28 year old son. Relatively speaking, we are doing OK.

The bad news is that there is going to be less good news in the future. America is on its way to one of the greatest retirement crises of our time. There, I said it. I am a Finance Professor, so I think about this kind of thing all day. The baby boomers have hit the boom and they are on their way to the bust. Americans might be loaded compared to the rest of the world, but to have something and lose it can be worse than never having it at all. So, relatively speaking, we are not OK.

The baby boomers are on their way out the door of the work world, and headed for that blissful place called retirement. They had a big financial party in the 1980s and 1990s, and it’s always after the party lights go out that you find out who drank too much beer, who broke the lamp and who is waking up in jail. Let me explain the recipe for the pending retirement crisis. The ingredients should be cooked up and ready to go over the next 10 – 15 years, and you can probably smell the aroma right now, with the subprime lending crisis yanking on the purse strings of many seemingly well-off families:

1) Social security is getting very insecure: Statistics show that the average American family owes about $500,000 per household necessary to pay the government's future retirement obligations. The population is aging and the young workforce is declining in size. In most societies, young people take care of the old with their productivity. The problem is that there are going to be far more old people than before, and the dwindling youth population is going to be carrying them (and their old deficits) on their backs.

2) Pension plans are disappearing: Globalization has reduced the need for companies to have great pension plans. Why pay a huge American pension when you can buy out the American worker and hire someone in China for $2/day? Since Americans don’t save, you can easily give $100k to buy out a worker who would have earned a million dollars more over time by keeping his/her job. Many great American companies are no longer following the rules of your parents when it comes to providing long-term security.

3) Americans are pathetic savers: The net US savings rate is negative. That means that we save less than we spend. Debt is the boat keeping us afloat, and as the lending crisis taught us, the raft eventually runs out of air. We send our kids to expensive universities, mortgage our homes as many times as we can and pamper ourselves into the ground. After a while, it’s time to pay the piper for the pampers, and that time is coming soon.

4) The fountain of youth has been sprinkling on us: We are living longer, which means that there has been a dramatic shift in the retirement planning paradigm. You once expected to kick the bucket just a few years after you retire, but now you get to extend your financial challenges by another decade or so. The idea of not getting a solid paycheck for 20 years can be a frightening thing.

5) The cost of healthcare is rising like a rocket: If I were a healthcare company, I would find the nearest politician and give her a big kiss. The truth is that political “leaders” have been getting hooked up by politicians for years, and are now allowed to financially pillage American citizens. Our privatized healthcare system is unlike any other in the world and the pharmaceutical companies are working overtime to convince you that you have illnesses you’ve never thought about. Regular drug dealers are scary, but corporate, government sanctioned drug dealers are the absolute worst. Perhaps you might be turning toward some of those drugs to get through the rest of this article. I’m sure the pharmaceutical companies would be glad to recommend something.

America is not going to get it together anytime soon. We’ve overdosed on Vh-1, MTV Cribs and Lifestyles of the Blingingly Fabulous. But the fact that America has fallen asleep at the wheel doesn’t imply that you’ve got to crash along with it. Be smart, have fun and have some degree of moderation. Go see your retirement advisor right now to find out what you can do to prepare for the future.

Plan ahead and your golden years can be shiny…..and that’s without all the drugs.

Finding Quick Ways to Save Cash

2008-01-08T01:29:00.001-05:00

Saving Money can be tough, but it's not impossible. So, I figured that, in order to help us get our January started off right, I would give you some quick tips to save cash. The motto for today is "You have to have your mind right to keep your money tight", so think of this as every bit of a psychological exercise as much as it is a financial one:

1) Keep a budget - if you don't know where your money went, it's hard to know where it's going. Plan your spending and make sure that you are aware of just how much is coming in, going out and expected to be made in the future. This can help you plan cut backs or extra spending.

2) Take your lunch - did you know that by spending $7 per day for lunch, 5 days per week, you are spending $1,820 per year? If someone were to take that money and invest it in a portfolio earning 8% per year for 30 years, they would have $206,175.44. Now go snack on THAT.

3) Cut 10% out of your spending right now. Find that bill that you don't need or whatever else, and force yourself to make it happen. Pretend that your boss just gave you a 10% paycut and you have to take things out of your budget. Come on, you can do it!

4) Slice up a credit card or two - credit cards are America's financial poison and we are all addicted on some level. Get off the credit card crack pipe and start making healthy financial decisions.

5) Use a grocery list - don't shop without a list, so that your spending can be focused. Overspending at the grocery store gets me in trouble, which is why I have been getting fat. But not anymore, I am going to keep that list in my pocket. So, you see? We all have our vices, but it is up to each of us to work through our personal demons.

Keeping Debt in Perspective

2007-12-15T07:34:00.000-05:00

I thought this story was a reminder of the psychological toll of debt. A man who was over $200,000 in debt killed his ex-wife and their two children. Friends of the man claim that he was not capable of such violence, or didn't appear to be. The event ended with the man killing himself.

He was a school teacher and PhD candidate. On his Myspace page, he described his children as "two amazing little human beings".

Obviously, the man had some mental problems to work through. Additionally, I am sure that the stress of debt is part of what pulled those mental problems to the surface.

But my advice to you is to keep your debt and financial challenges in perspective. Not that anyone would do something as terrible as what this man did, but the stress of debt can be very real for all of us. I recommend that you understand one important principle of money management: Your most valuable assets are not financial. Your love, life, health and family mean a great deal more. So, it was this man's focus on his financial assets that led him to destroy his most precious assets. That's very sad to me.

Click Here to read the story.

The Latest News in the world of Money

2007-12-11T12:48:00.000-05:00

MyFinanceProfessor - What we're all about

2007-12-07T17:34:00.000-05:00

MyFinanceProfessor was a blog I created to help those who really want to improve their understanding of money. One thing I can tell you right now is that I am not a person who worships money. I respect it and I see the power of money, but I do not consider it to be the end-all and be-all of our existence. I consider money to be a tool for the enhancement of life, and not the reason you live it.

I have studied finance for 18 years now, and taught it for 13. I have taught Finance at 5 major universities, and done Visiting Fellowships in China and Europe. I have published 9 scholarly articles on various topics and written several books. Thousands of my students have gone on to Wall Street and some have become financial experts in their own right. I am very proud of them.

Now that we have gotten credentials out of the way, let's get it started!

My Finance Professor

Black CEO Lays Out a New Way to Innovate

Black Money News from AOL – 8/21/09

Dr Boyce Watkins: Is our Economy Turning Around?

Four Ways to get Fired for Lying

Dr Boyce Watkins: Wells Fargo Accused of Predatory Lending….Again

News: Dr Boyce Watkins explains the meaning of “consumer confidence”

Illinois Files Bias suit Against Wells Fargo

Roland Martin, Boyce Watkins Talk Gates

Government Raising the Minimum Wage: A Generally Good Idea

Making Financial Love

Michael’s Kids and Their Financial Plan

Dr Boyce Money: Learning from Michael Jackson’s Debt

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Why I support Obama’s Financial Overhaul

Dr Boyce Money: The Great American Retirement Crisis

Ryan Mack Explains How to keep your home

Wells Fargo Getting Sued by City Governments for Discrimination

Dr. Christopher Richardson Explains Wells Fargo Alleged Discrimination

Great Athlete Transitions to Successful Entrepreneur

21 Kids, 11 Mothers: What Gives?

Dr Boyce Talks to Free from 106 & Park about Money

Black Money: Is the American Dream Dead for Autoworkers?

Xerox Puts a Black Woman in Charge – a Corporate First

Dr Boyce Money: Do Your Kids Have a Plan for Your Death?

Dr Boyce and Tia Talk Love, Money and Gotti’s Way

Dr Boyce and Tia Analyze Money and Love

Financial News: Dr Boyce joins AOL Black Voices

Your Black News: New York Pastor Gets $600K Pay Package

Dr Boyce in the NY Times: Is The Rushcard a good thing or Predatory?

Study Finds that Black Male Unemployment is out of control

Predatory Lending in the Black Community: Is Russell Simmons a Perpetrator?

Tax Mistakes You Want to Avoid

The Cost of Raising Children

Dr Boyce Explains to NPR How Madoff Got Rich

Black Money: Obama’s Team is Very Wealthy

Some Cash Strapped Cities Printing their Own Currency

Your Black Money: Why Do Athletes Go Broke?

Baltimore Sun Times – Dr. Boyce argues for NCAA Reform

Genma Holmes Speaks on Roland Martin’s Interview with Ben Jealous

Pres. Obama Blasts AIG Over Bonuses

Dr Boyce Watkins Talks Economy on NPR

Dr Boyce talks Finance in Essence Magazine

President Obama’s Mistake on the Recession

Report: Unemployment Rate Jumps to 8.1%

The President’s New Budget Gets Slammed

Lawrence Watkins and George Kilpatrick Talk about Entrepreneurial Success

President Barack Obama Deals with Auto Industry Problems

Alert: Watch Out for Changes with Credit Card Companies

Stimulus Battle Was Not Expected by Obama Administration

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Credit Ratings and Repair - Part 1

Credit Ratings and Repair - Part 2

Credit Ratings and Repair - Part 3

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3 Myths About Investing - Part 1

3 Myths About Investing - Part 2

3 Myths About Investing - Part 3

3 Myths About Investing - Part 4

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Money Expert Dr. Watkins Tells All on How to Balance Your Money with Free on 105.1 Pt.2

Money Expert Dr. Watkins Tells All on How to Balance Your Money with Free on 105.1 Pt.1

Our Money - Can The Goverment Protect It

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Remaining Confident During The Financial Crisis

Dr, Boyce Teaches About Surviving During Money Meltdown

The Real Causes of the Financial Crisis

Lessons from Ed McMahon's Financial Crisis

Love, Money and Life: When it's "Cheaper to Keep Her" in Your Marriage

Details of the Stimulus Package: How it will affect you