Graves Jr. Lambastes Conspicuous Consumption

Butch Graves wants more black Americans to learn this four-letter word: Save. Suggested Reading The Ever-Growing List of Lawsuits Against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Take a Look Inside Michael Jordan’s Former Chicago-Area Mansion, Which You Can Now Airbnb For This Heart-Clutching Price Celebrities Known to the Culture As ‘BlackFamous’ Video will return here when scrolled back…

Butch Graves wants more black Americans to learn this four-letter word: Save.

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Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

Many in our community โ€œstill have yet to learn the harsh lessons that come with conspicuous consumption,โ€ Graves, President and CEO of Black Enterprise said in his latest column, โ€œChoose Wealth, Not Style.โ€

In his piece, Graves โ€” son of Black Enterprise founder Earl Graves, Sr. โ€” warns that African Americans are โ€œdriving in reverseโ€ in their quest for the proverbial American Dream.ย  In 1984, white Americans had a net worth 12 times that of our community; Today, he says, that ratio is 20 to 1.

What does that mean in dollars? Graves breaks it down.

โ€œThe typical black household has roughly $5,700 in wealth compared with about $113,000 for the typical white household,โ€ Graves said. โ€œMoreover, more than a third of our households have zero or negative net worth versus about 15% for whites.โ€

Graves also offers frank examples of the mistakes some of us still are making with our money in 2012 and, for those who need a review, he spells out the difference between net worth and wages and earnings.

โ€œDepending on how finances are managed,โ€ Graves says, โ€œmany professionals with six-figure incomes can โ€” and do โ€” have a negative net worth.โ€

Though Graves concludes that many of his contemporaries have overspent and failed to protect their investments โ€œplacing them and their families in a financial hole that will take years, if not decades, to climb outโ€ he does have hope for the next generation.

By shifting gears and learning from the mistakes of the last generation, Graves contends that โ€œyoung people hold the best chance for getting on the road to building significant wealth and, in turn, sustaining this process to pass it on to future generations.โ€

Read More at Black Enterprise.

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