Emerson once qouted ”to be yourself in a world that  is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” I don’t know if he was referring to being a black man living on this economic planet but it sure as heck sounds like it. To all my fellow black men walking on this planet, we must come to consciousness that economics is only reasonable path to freedom. Mass incarceration, single family homes, educational Marginalization systemic racism are all problematic. This leaves us with two options, we can address it head on by being bold and intentional about financial literacy. Or on the contrast take the easy way out and ignore the dire straits we are in as a demographic.

Indulging in licentiousness and endless leisure is only a temporary fix and only further exacerbate the situation. It is very easy to say I don’t have the money or the banks won’t give a business loan needed to start my own business venture. That may be factual in a sense, but however an inappropriate response. You have to break free of societies gravitational force and their expectations. If you aren’t mindful to the us natural gravity, life can denigrate into a viscous self-perpetuating cycle, which is society’s prescription for the normal “MJ Demarco. It’s more to life than working, sleeping, hoping for Friday and paying bill. It’s up to us to find out more.

There is a reason I mentioned credit, particularly for us in the black community. I find rather dubious that many viewed credit as this gigantic boogeyman that terrorizes black people’s credit report. It’s a reason why so many of us have us prime credit. We have to stop looking at credit to just consume items that depreciate like cars, jewelry, liquor, high end fashion as our retail therapy to escape our financial  dire straits. Credit is meant to be leveraged to gain financial assets, real estate, equipment, tools, start businesses and hire employee acquiring capital reserve. It all starts with having an excellent credit profile.

Here are five quick tips to do so:

Credit Utilization: all credit cards and tradlines should be under 30% of credit limit given ,example if you a 1000 dollar credit card you should not go over 300 dollars.

30 day late payments: avoiding 30 day late payments on your accounts is vital to your score, I recommend using auto pay, often times we forget when a bill is due and a 30 day will cause a serious dent to your score.

Credit inquires: lenders often look at the amount of inquires you have on your profile to see if your a credit risk, regardless of your score too many inquires will often get you denied business loans and business lines of credit . Keep in mind inquires fall off your report after two years you want to keep them below five to be favorable.

Don’t be afraid to ask for credit increase: remember when you are asking for a loan for a business or to get real estate you’re asking for thousands of dollars. Lenders like to see borrowers with high credit limits with low utilization. This takes tremendous discipline to have a card for 10k but use maybe 20 percent of it, when it comes to lending, they will reward you. If you are in good standing with your lender ask for a credit increase or a lower credit rate they will often oblige.

Secured cards/ secured bank loans: many banks and lenders like Discover will allow you to establish some positive credit with a secured card. Basically you secure your card based on your deposit, i.e. You provide 1000 dollars you will be given a 1000$ dollar limit. Good way to establish credit often times the bank will match your initial deposit with unsecured funds once you can show you can make monthly payments on time with low utilization.

Hope this helps, you have any credit questions you can always email me at aw@mr313realestate.com