6 Black Women Owned Financial Literacy Platforms to Support Your Financial Wellness
Financial wellbeing has a major impact on overall wellness and it’s something that’s not often discussed within the wellness community. For Black and Brown people who have been disproportionately impacted by poverty, unemployment, poor education, and discrimination, financial well being has been out of reach and the impacts have been devastating.
According to “Economic hardship and biological weathering: The epigenetics of aging in a U.S. sample of black women," the stress that comes from financial hardship impacts Black women on an epigenetic level. The 2015 study concluded that chronic financial pressure was linked to weathering and premature aging in Black women. A McKinsey & Company report found that the racial wealth gap has gotten so wide that it is preventing the growth of the American economy as a whole.
In my experience, navigating finances as a first-generation student and junior talent has been incredibly stressful. Although my after school program exposed us to financial literacy courses, a lot of the information was lost on me because I didn’t have a consistent income at the time. As a college student, the $10 per hour I was paid for student work was barely enough for me to replace clothes and replace household items, so saving was a pretty foreign concept.
When I graduated, I was lucky enough to find a job that pays me above minimum wage but because the thought of debt gave me anxiety, I focused all of my attention on paying off my loans throughout my first-year post-grad. Now there’s nothing wrong with paying off debt but due to the lack of education around financial literacy in the Black community, it wasn’t until I heard Tiffany “The Budgenista” on an episode of a podcast that I learned that being debt-free is a distinct goal within the Black community. Tiffany explained that while other communities’ goal was to create wealth, the Black community’s main goal was to be debt-free. Although being debt-free is great, that’s all you get—no debt. She then went on to discuss how she invested in her business and paid the minimum off of her loans until she got to the point that she was able to pay off all of her loans at once with the wealth she had created.
Tiffany’s perspective really opened my eyes and allowed me to explore other avenues for managing my finances. I don’t have everything figured out but what I’ve been able to learn gradually about saving has allowed me to meet one of my first savings goals in only 6 months. I was lucky enough to have my best friend lend me the book “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi which walks you through how to manage spending, savings, and investing step by step. But I’ve also found a few platforms created by women of color that continue to expand my knowledge of finances and provide me with strategies and solutions to mitigate the stress that can come with:
Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Adiche: Tiffany often refers to herself as America’s Favorite Financial Educator and has been featured on shows like Good Morning America, MSNBC, and The Today Show. Her goal is to make financial education accessible to women and she does so through her appearances, resources, and Live Richer challenges and books.
Clever Girl Finance: Created by Bola Sokunbi, Clever Girl Finance has supported thousands of women in gaining financial freedom. The platform includes articles, courses, videos, and a blog where financial information is broken down in an easy to access manner.
The Finance Bar: Founded by Marsha Barnes, The Finance Bar is a membership-based program that supports women and couples in improving their financial self-care. In addition to the membership, the Finance Bar provides a free course, one on one coaching, and a mobile financial education hub using a school bus.
The Break Platform: Patricia Bright, a well-known UK-based beauty and style blogger recently launched the Break Platform to support creatives and small businesses in creating successful online businesses. She also has a separate YouTube channel and social profiles where she offers additional advice on a range of financial topics.
The Come Up: On Bukola’s YouTube channel, “The Come Up,” she shares her experience of transitioning into software engineering without going back to school for it but she also shares easy to follow, beginner-friendly tips on finance ranging from budgeting to investing.
Le Market Noir: Curated by Chauncey Glenn, Le Market Noir provides content on topics ranging from debt repayment to passive income to support financial literacy, wellbeing, and success.
The impact of financial stress and pressure can be incredibly overwhelming, especially during the current state of the economy but these resources can support you in managing your finances and supporting your overall wellbeing.
By: Paula
Sources:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1131096#?seq=1
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027795361530263X
https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/deeper-in-debt/
https://womenswealthgap.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/OnTheMargins_April2020_CWWG.pdf