Close to 42% of African American adults have never been married, and by their early 40s, 31 percent of black women have never been wives, compared with 9 percent of white women, 11 percent of Asian women and 12 percent of Hispanic women. Statistics may show those numbers, however, there is a community of African Americans all across the country encouraging others in committed relationship to celebrate the joy of marriage.
Money is one of the top reasons for divorce. Whether it is a lack of money, money mismanagement or a communication breakdown about the finances, it is time to establish marriages for financial success. In honor of Black Marriage Day, Dr. Taffy Wagner, releases The Ten Commandments for Black Marriage and Money Success video.
The Ten Commandments for Black Marriage and Money Success is a compilation of couples, husband, wives sharing over 70 years of marriage experience regarding marriage and money. Stop and watch the video below:
I have been busy over the last few weeks between the kids, my husband and I talking and evaluating our businesses over and over it has been lots of fun. Communciation is key when you are married. Talking with your loved one about the concerns you have, your dreams, your goals and even the things that you are afraid of. Yes, that’s right I said if there are things you are afraid of open up about them as well.
From day one, my husband and I have always been each other’s biggest supporter. Having said that it was fun talking about the growth we want to see in each of the businesses and stepping out of the box to make it happen. Believing in ourselves and what we have to offer was absolutely great. What would you do if your spouse was your biggest encourager? Where do you think your marriage and money would be if you were on the same page and had mutual financial goals?
I have watched different Court tv shows which some are my favorite, but when I watch these people I think what were they thinking when they say I Do. Clearly some people were not thinking. It is evident that they should not have been getting married because they were too young and not ready to be someone’s spouse.
Marriage and money means working together and not against each other. There will be issues come up that you do not even expect but believe this if you can work THROUGH them together, your marriage will be stronger for it.
The idea when you say “I Do” should be to be married for a lifetime. With marriage comes different challenges and issues. Your first thought should be how can we work it out instead of its your fault and I am out of here. You didn’t get married to suddenly be divorced and single. Together you can accomplish much.
It has been very busy here for the last few weeks and continues to get even busier. However, over the last few days there have been some stories that I have seen that warrant my taking a minute or two to SPEAK UP.
Just last week I read a story about a parent of triplets and how she and her husband were very happy to discover that they would be having triplets when she was pregnant. However, once the babies were here the toll it began to take on their marriage. It took so much of a toll that the parents are now divorced and they attribute their divorce to being parents of triplets. You must read that story, it tore me apart.
The children did not ask to come into this world. I feel as if you as a married adult feel as if you are ready to become a parent, be wise and know what comes with that. Whether you have one child or several there will be financial expenses. That is where planning comes in and having a financial plan at that. Parenting is not something to be taken lightly.
I don’t know what the triplets were costing these parents, but I can imagine that they are spending more money because of a divorce, child support, health benefits and more. There are a lot of expenses when it comes to divorce and as a matter of fact usually ends up costing more than the cost of the marriage. What do I recommend to the couples that are reading this: If you do not presently have any children, talk about it, talk about it some more and discuss what are the financial obligations that must be met on a monthly basis, how long would the wife work during the pregnancy, would she return to work after giving birth… those questions and a lot more should be discussed prior to your becoming a parent.
I am a parent of twins and we knew that I could have twins long before the doctors confirmed I was having twins. Several years before the twins were born, I had started a business on the side and had that income. So we were thinking long term and knew that there was the potential that I would have to come home early carrying twins. But that didn’t happen. I got to a point where I wanted to stop working because I was big and want to rest.
PLAN, TALK, Plan your finances and plan some more. It is crucial to have a game plan. Sure your finances might not be perfect, however, once you begin getting things in order, it is like a weight being lifted on the shoulders.
I tell you what readers, I was not ready for the clock change. Mind you I had been dealing with the sneezing and coughing like so many others over the past weekend that I was not paying attention to the time. When I realized that the time had changed it was Sunday night at approximately 8pm when our daughter said she and her brother were going to do something in the Spring. I went OOOOH No. She of course said what Mom? I told her that the clocks changed and we were supposed to move them up an hour.
What have you done about your finances as you prepare for spring? Are your finances springing forward and on the path to removing financial obstacles or are staying in those same financial habits that is causing turmoil in your home, affecting your job and your health? The choice is yours. Why do I say that? Well, think about it like this as long as their is income of some sort coming into your hands, you can make better decisions today that affect your future.
You can remove financial mistakes and input sound financial principals that put you on the road to financial independence, becoming a saver and an investor. What are you waiting on? Why wouldn’t you want to be a save and an investor? It is high time to think big picture and for the future, not just short term. Please, please quit looking at your financial mistakes. Looking behind is causing so many to miss financial opportunities that are in front of them or they believe they deserve to be in debt and not out of debt. Either way, its a bleak picture.
Think about how much fun you could have this spring if you got your finances in order. Vacations! Picnics! Trips to the Beach and much more! I tell you what I’ve already begun thinking about some extended weekend trips for the family. Why not! You can create memories like never before and have a lot of fun in the process.
Last week I went to the bank two days in a row and I was taking in everything that I saw. Let me ask the question: Who do banks serve? Are they there to help the consumer or to make more money off of the consumer? Let me recount what I saw.
Day 1: There was a gentleman there and he was attempting to find out what was going on with his account. Clearly he did not know that his account had been overdrawn based on fees and was quite unhappy. Appears that deductions had not come out when they were supposed to and his account was in the negative. The gentleman was continuously shaking his head as in disbelief.
Lesson learned: You must always always check your bank account and stay on top of what you have done when it comes to spending, deposits and deductions made.
Day 2: The twins and I go into the bank there is one man at the window and he is vocal. What is happening with my accounts? The bank is making more money off of me than I am putting in. He has several accounts and I don’t mean 2 or 3, he had many. I heard them say money market account, checking account and savings account. Then they shared with him there is a fee for every time a transaction was made. He said, I am too busy for that to happen. Then he asked the question: Why don’t the bank protect the consumer and contact them and say you know we have a better account for you or something of that nature. Oh, you know that banker could not say anything. I took it in and the teller was clarifying what this customer wanted – ALL ACCOUNTS CLOSED.
Lesson in this one: Know what the bank fees are for the different accounts, the number of transactions you can make prior to any fee being charged, is there a minimum balance required. Also if you are unhappy with your current bank – SHOP around and get what you DESERVE. I’m not for banks making money on their clients but providing inadequate customer service.
