Life is Life!

Bring on 2021! We kick off the new year with the importance of family at the forefront of our minds. We have just come off the holidays and let's face it the oddest of holidays it was for many families as traditions took a back seat to a virus. But the realities of the the holidays and a new year come to attention as credit card bills start coming in and the anxieties and frustrations that can come with it. Everyone has heard of #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday and hopefully #GivingTuesday but #BlueMonday has come and gone and most may not even know it exists. But many may be feeling it. We discuss how emotional finances can be on both sides of the equation and how important it is to put it all in perspective and the tools to creating a healthy financial future.

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Whether it's a stigma or just uncomfortable a lot of women are not comfortable with money. This week the Talk Wealth to Me crew talk to Ilene Slatko https://www.linkedin.com/in/ileneslatko/ the principle and founder of DSS Consulting in the Washington D.C. area. She talks candidly about her journey and how women's brains work when it comes to money, Her Women and Their Money program and much, much more.

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Following the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department in May 2020, national attention has turned to systemic racism within the United States, specifically for Black people.
Some may wonder what racism has to do with finances, but the answer is everything.
Systemic racism is still rooted in all aspects of our society today, and progress is still needed for Black Americans to have true equality.

Take employment for example:

• Studies show that companies are more likely to call back a candidate who has a name that's more commonly associated with White people.
• Black Americans are more likely to be unemployed or have low-paying jobs compared to White Americans. That's in part due to education disparities. But studies show Black workers earn less than White workers even when they have the same education.
• There's also the racial wage gap: the Economic Policy Institute says that in 2017, Black men made about 70 cents for every $1 their White counterpart made.
• The gap is especially large when it comes to Black women, who make 62 cents for every $1 a White man makes, according to the National Women's Law Center.

This is just one example. Systemic racism has impacted housing, education, wealth, health care, criminal justice, policing, and voting. There's no simple fix to reversing centuries of discrimination. But understanding how pervasive it is, is step one.

George Floyd's murder may not have ever occurred if systemic racism didn't also affect finances. As Katie mentions during the show, the Minneapolis police were originally called because a counterfeit $20 had been used, and as the owner of Cup Foods has told numerous news outlets, he was not sure George Floyd knew the money was fake and that law enforcement normally would stop by the supermarket and pick up the counterfeit currency.
Regardless of whether George Floyd knew the money was counterfeit, it should have never been a death sentence. As Mark McCoy, a 44-year-old white archaeology professor at Southern Methodist University wrote:
“George Floyd and I were both arrested for allegedly spending a counterfeit $20 bill. For George Floyd, a man my age, with two kids, it was a death sentence. For me, it is a story I sometimes tell at parties. That, my friends, is White privilege.”
Joining us on the show to delve deeper into the very-large topic of Racism + Finances is Michelle Jackson, host of the "Michelle is Money Hungry" podcast and author of a blog and website of the same name.
Income
White: $71,000
Black: $41,000
Median Net Worth
White: $171,000 (10x higher than the average Black person's net worth)
Black: $17,600
Poverty
White: 8.1%
Black: 20.8%
Unemployment
White: 14.2%
Black: 16.7%
No Access to Health Care
White: 5.4%
Black: 9.7%
COVID-19 Deaths
Black people represent 13% population
Black people represent 23% COVID-19 deaths
About Michelle Jackson
Michelle accrued more than $60,000 in unsecured debt and paid off that debt while supporting her mom financially while working as a Starbuck's barista. Michelle shares her struggles and triumphs, as well as those of other personal finance bloggers, on her podcast and blog, Michelle is Money Hungry. She also created a financial retreat for financially single women Money on the Mountain.

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We may forget we’re not born inherently knowing how to earn, spend, save, or give money. And may not even know how to even go about beginning to have these conversations with our kids.
Many parents expect their kids will learn how to properly manage their money at school. But the reality is most kids are not learning how to spend, save, invest, or donate their money at all let alone in a healthy way.
This is concerning given that a report by researchers at the University of Cambridge commissioned by the United Kingdom’s Money Advice Service revealed that kids’ money habits are formed by age 7. Age 7!

Additionally, a 2017 Parents, Kids, & Money Survey conducted by T. Rowe Price found that parents who discussed financial topics with their kids were more likely (61% vs 41%) to have kids who say they are smart about money.
Joining us on the show is Bill Dwight, CEO and founder of FamZoo, a private family banking system designed to help parents teach kids to earn, save, spend, and donate money wisely in a safe, friendly environment.

Bill joins us to share how parents can use a variety of tools to not only educate their children when it comes to money habits, he shares how parents can use technology to not only expose your children to real-life experience with money but to spark those crucial money conversations.

About FamZoo
FamZoo isn’t just a convenient prepaid card for families. It’s a hands-on financial education for kids of all ages — preschool through college. Learn more here.
About The Show
To learn more about DebtWave Credit Counseling, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

To learn more about the San Diego Financial Literacy Center, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Building wealth is a tricky business, especially for those whose faith teaches them that money is intrinsically evil, financial planning is only for the wealthy, and that you're stuck FOR-EV-ER with consequences of past financial mistakes.
Deborah L. Meyer, CPA/PFS, CFP®, is the author of Redefining Family Wealth: A Parent’s Guide to Purposeful Living. Deb joins Talk Wealth To Me to share how wealth is about so much more than money - it's also about providing for your family and others in meaningful ways, why faith and finance don't have to be separate, as well as how the power of prayer works hand-in-hand at viewing your finances from an abundance mindset.
About Deb Meyer:
Deborah owns WorthyNest®, a fee-only financial planning and investment advisory firm that helps parents build wealth, and SV CPA Services, an accounting and tax firm for forward-thinking entrepreneurs.
Deborah has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and CNN Business and is a contributor to Kiplinger. She is a 2019 CPA Practice Advisor “40 Under 40 Honoree” in Accounting and received the 2018 AICPA Standing Ovation Award. Outside of work, Deborah spends time with her husband Bryan and three sons.
About the Show
Comments, questions or suggestions for the show? Email us at [email protected].

To learn more about DebtWave Credit Counseling, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
To learn more about the San Diego Financial Literacy Center, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

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