1. Tell us about yourself! What’s your story? What do you do for work, and what do you specialize in? How has financial stability played a role in your mental health and wellness?
My name is Alexis Howard. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and lived there up until the age of 17 when I then left for college in San Francisco. While I grew up in a lower-middle income household, it was during my time in San Francisco when the significance of personal finance hit me hard. Living in one of the most expensive cities in the United States not only forced me to have to figure out how to manage my own money effectively but also gave me exposure to a lot of wealthy people which ultimately served as a source of inspiration for me to become like “them”.
I work for myself as a personal finance coach for my business, Financially Brave. I educate people on how they, too, can manage their money in a way that allows them to have more control over the quality of their life, freedom, and financial health.
Financial stability has given me the freedom to lead a life that is devoid of stress (related to money). It’s helped me tremendously in my sense of internal satisfaction and overall wellness.
2. According to statistics, black women are the most educated group of people by gender and race in the United States, yet on average black women have a net worth of 0$. Why do you think this is? What can we do to change this?
I imagine that it is due to systematic racism that prevented black people from partaking in the game of capitalism for so long. While times have “changed”, as a community, we haven’t had the same accessibility to wealth as other folks in this nation and that has impacted how we interact with money, how we educate our children about money, and our overall decision making with money.
When I was working at a wealth management firm, we had middle class (not millionaire) clients who would come into our office to open accounts for their newborn children, so that their children’s accounts would be fully funded by the time they went to college. We had young couples, who were eager to purchase a new home, that could call an Aunt or Uncle that would easily support them by covering their down payment and moving costs.
Like many other black men and women, I knew of no such reality growing up. Planning for college was unrealistic when mom and dad were trying to just plan for rent and food for the month.
With that being said, we have to take accountability in empowering ourselves. We can’t expect our school systems to do it, they won’t. We can’t expect our employers to do it, they won’t either. Changing our reality can only happen if we decide to take control of it, ourselves. Fortunately, we can easily do this for free (!!) at the tip of our fingers via Google, Instagram, and Youtube. So much information is out there that can change our lives and finances for the better. We just have to be willing to seek it out.
3. What advice do you have for single mothers who are currently supporting their child or children on their own and only have time and energy for one stream of income?
I think, more than anything, I’d just want them to know that the process to wealth building doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. You don’t have to have wealth in order to create wealth, and just a few hundred dollars into the right account can make a massive difference for your future reality. So, to all the bad a** moms raising children on a single income, I would advise them to make room (no matter how small) to invest in their future. With a solid strategy, it is doable and it will be worth it in the end.
4. What’s your advice for young adults who desire to pay for weddings, eventually purchase a house, etc, yet are struggling to pay off student loans or are in college?
This is always a difficult one for me to answer because that process looks different for everyone. What may work for me, may not work for you, and vice versa. There are so many different ways to create a plan to tackle your goals but I believe that the process of creating wealth is far easier when you take it one step at a time. If the goal is to eliminate debt, focus on that, so you can 10x your results in a fraction of the time. When you try to do everything at once, you get mediocre results in all categories. Focus on one thing, excel at it, and then move to the next priority. Be patient – slow and steady wins the race.
I do want to note that another part of wealth is also about understanding that you cannot always have your cake and eat it too. As nice as having a fancy wedding, home, car, vacation, clothing, may sound….for many people, it’s completely unsustainable. And that’s okay. Sometimes, there are sacrifices that you have to make to ensure you stay on the right track to building wealth.
So, in the midst of planning, it is important to be specific about what truly is important for you and your future and also be okay with not making room in your budget for expenses that won’t serve your future self. Not everything is a priority. Just because your neighbor is doing it or the influencer on Instagram is doing it, doesn’t mean that you should be doing it too. A lot of times, it actually means quite the opposite.
Of course this process looks different for everyone. So, In the end, you have to do what works best for you.
5. Studies suggests that financial hardship is the #1 cause of divorce. What are some healthy ways couples can work together to better manage their finances?
Well, I think transparency is key. My favorite saying is that you can’t fix what you don’t face… so as a partnership, it’s important to face your reality. How much does your partner have in debt? How much do you have in debt? Are savings balances adequately met? What’s the plan for investing? Children? Housing? etc. These are all very important questions that should be answered, ideally before marriage. Sitting down and ironing everything out provides a framework for creating a plan that can help you all meet your needs and goals as a couple.
6. What do you suggest for beginners or young adults who are trying to grow in their financial literacy? What important aspects of financial management are young adults not taught in school (i.e. taxes, retirement plans, life insurance)?
Learn it all if you want to. But, also, you don’t have to. $500/month into the stock market for the past 40 years would have netted you just about $3 million dollars. That’s real data and it could have been done without financial expertise, all that would have been needed is just the consistent contributions of $500. That’s easy enough, right?
But, for anyone looking for a starting point with financial management, I’d say it’s important to cover three big bases: a solid savings, at least one solid index fund, and retirement accounts (ideally a Roth & 401k or Roth & Traditional IRA)
You can go down the rabbit hole with finance and there will always be something new you can learn. While I am all for self-education and empowerment, I think it’s equally important that people realize that they don’t need to be experts in order to be successful. You can know nothing about stocks and still become a self-made millionaire from stocks. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
7. What are the components of a good budget? How should beginners go about creating one?
A good budget should have a clear outline of your living expenses (essential & non-essential), financial obligations (debt, personal loans), and should help you make room with your current income to effectively do 1 of 3 things at all times: save, eliminate debt, and invest.
8. What is your advice for those who have poor credit and desire to build their credit score for future purchasing power?
Keep your debt under 10% (of your total limit) by the time of your statement date, always pay your balance in full, and be sure that you do not miss any payments. Ideally, you should have multiple credit lines, but if you struggle with discipline, it’s better to hold off on adding more lines if you aren’t sure if you are ready to be responsible with it.
9. In simple terms, how does investing and purchasing stocks work? What are easy/ simple ways to start investing?
I get asked this question a lot 🙂
Investing in stocks is just the process of owning a fraction of a company. When you own a stock of McDonalds, you literally own a tiny fraction of McDonalds.
When you’re building wealth, the idea is that you put money into an investment account (on a consistent basis) that allows you to buy several stocks of several different companies at once. For example, instead of owning one stock of McDonalds, you could own 10 stocks of McDonalds, 10 stocks of Apple, 10 stocks of Google, 10 stocks of Tesla, 10 stocks of Amazon, etc. all in one place.
The act of contributing to this account, monthly, is quite literally how you build wealth over time.
10. Does everyone need a financial adviser?
Eh, not really. People with complicated financial situations (those who have several properties, cars, trusts, estates, various insurance policies, multiple businesses, etc.) should seek financial advice due to the complexity that comes behind owning all that.
But, for people who are just looking to have a healthier relationship with their money (i.e. save more, manage debt effectively, and prepare well for retirement and their future selves), that can be done without the aid of an expensive adviser. It’s just not necessary.
Interviewer: Tori Hairston
Interviewee: Alexis Howard / Investor, Financial Coach
Instagram: @financiallybrave
Website: https://linktr.ee/financiallybrave