Take Care of Your Money, & Look Good Doing it.

Fresh off the high of Valentine’s Day and with the wedding season of Spring and Summer right around the corner, it’s safe to say that love is in the air. I recently spent some time flipping through old photos and reminiscing on lovely moments during my now 10+ year marriage with a smile. Holy matrimony is surely a marathon and not a sprint, complete with hurdles, pitfalls, and bruises, but we can’t forget the laughter, the joy, and the Deion Sanders style victory celebrations after overcoming challenging obstacles. I will always be one to promote the sanctity and importance of marriage in all aspects of life but I think it’s time to better highlight the financial benefits of marriage.

With the rate of divorce in the United States being well over 50%, some people do not see the reason to get married anymore. I have heard everything from “marriage is just a piece of paper” to “marriage is just a way for someone to steal your money.” I will be honest and say that marriage is more about commitment than it is about infatuation. Leaving the toilet seat up, excessive facial hair in the sink, and other adverse bathroom habits quickly reduce even the idea of infatuation, so if it is made the foundation of a marriage, you can be sure it will quickly fail. But if a marriage’s foundation is commitment, then you can be sure that your partner doesn’t intend to hurt your feelings when they inevitably do; you can be sure that you have someone to help you up when you fall and you have warmth when you lie down.

Let’s not forget that financial commitments exist within marriage as well. The vow of “in sickness and in health” reminds me of the insurance benefits that a lot of married people share. Health insurance, vision insurance, and dental insurance have spousal options in order to make sure that special someone in your life has essential coverage. There are unfortunately no coverage options for friends whether they live with you or not. How many people leave any death benefits to their unmarried partners? I’m sure it happens, but I’m also sure it’s not very often. It’s also important to note that if someone dies without a will and no beneficiaries, an unmarried partner will not receive any inheritance. Death benefits will go to the next living family member, even if it’s one that they did not like or even know.

I would be remiss if I did not mention tax benefits while we still have a month left in the season. Married filing jointly is undisputedly the best filing status to have when preparing your taxes. Most single deduction limits are essentially doubled. For example, according to IRS Publication 523, “If you meet certain conditions, you may exclude the first $250,000 of gain from the sale of your home from your income and avoid paying taxes on it. The exclusion is increased to $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly.” And what about the benefits of having a second income? When you can live off of one income and invest with the other? Or when you can reach your financial goals faster because you are not working on them by yourself? I’ll take Marriage for $2000 Alex (may he rest in peace).

It’s February already! Can you believe it? We have completed one month of 2022 and we officially have 11 more to go. And what’s any February without the mention of Black History Month on every social media site, commercial, and blog post? I want to properly and publicly acknowledge before moving forward that Black History is not only American history but it’s also World History. The oldest human remains are from where again? Oh, Africa, that’s right, not too far from the equator where the sun blesses God’s creations with all the melanin their hands and hearts can hold. So although Black History Month is acknowledged by the masses during the shortest month of the year, it is celebrated here 24/7/365, 366 during leap years.

Off my soapbox now and back to our regularly scheduled program. So what does Black History Month mean to me specifically as a Black Female Owned Business? Last week I shared on my social media stories that according to an economist at UCSC and a survey by Guidant Financial and SBTA respectively, there are 38% more black business owners in the United States today than February 2020 and as of December 2020, 46% of black small business owners are women. I am extremely proud to be a part of the growing population of black owned businesses and more specifically black female owned businesses. Personally, for me, being a black female business owner means continuing the legacy of my late grandfathers. 

My paternal grandfather, Hosie Joshua, was born and raised on the remnants of a plantation in Mississippi in the late 1920s and only matriculated through the 6th grade. His tenacity and diligence pushed him to found his own cleaning company in the 1980s. His company supported his wife and 3 children and allowed him to own properties in California and Georgia in his lifetime. My maternal grandfather, Freddie Carter, was a Navy veteran in the Korean War at a time when black men were only allowed to serve in the kitchen of the ships. His perseverance and intuitiveness assisted him in starting his own wig company in the 1950s and supporting his wife and 8 children. Starting and running a nonprofit organization and a limited liability company have not been easy tasks for me, but reflecting on my grandfathers and what they endured without the education, access, or resources that have been afforded to me as an entrepreneur in 2022 keeps me motivated. 

So, what about my grandmothers and the influence of black female owned businesses? Although my grandmothers served as tireless business partners to my grandfather’s businesses, they were rarely viewed as vice presidents or chief operating officers by clients but rather avid supporters and silent assistants. I grew up watching my grandmothers receiving money for their unmatched cosmetology and cooking skills but of course not under a corporate umbrella or above the table. So I knew as black women we had the talents and skills to be profitable, I just didn’t know how we were supposed to capitalize off of them within my family. Outside of the family thankfully, just right across the street, was my childcare provider and Pre-K teacher whom we affectionately called Mama Bertha. Mama Bertha ran her own successful childcare company for over 20 years from the den/remade garage in her home and this was not just a room where kids took naps. She had a curriculum that included bible study (I knew all of the books of the bible at 4), Spanish (I’m still not as good at it as I want to be), and dance (I did tap and ballet, might I add). I didn’t have the opportunity to ask her about the inner workings of her business before she passed away, but the evidence of the business acumen she had is proven in all of the college graduates whose formative education began right in her childcare center including six people including myself from my own family.

If I can make any suggestions or encourage you in any way as it relates to Black History, I would recommend these things:

1. Buy Black. What better way to support black owned businesses than to sow into them?

2. Learn a local Black History fact and share it with someone you know. Black History is much more than Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman.

3. Have a conversation with a seasoned black person (70+) and ask them about their upbringing and experiences. We have to preserve history in order to share it and not repeat it. 

“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” - Thurgood Marshall