Breaking Generational Curses & Gifting Generational Wealth. Part I.
Breaking generational course is absolutely not for the weak Chile.
It is a blessing that often feels like a burden.
It holds more weight than at times you may feel as though you are able to bear.
It is foreign in the sense that it goes against everything that you have been conditioned to accept. I am in the process of unlearning everything that I was conditioned to know and understand as my way of life. I am healing my inner child & raising my adult self at the same time. Unlearning and relearning simultaneously.
It is a painfully, yet equally beautiful coexistence that I endure with the very essence of my being. It’s loving the life that I lead & the lessons that turned into blessings. It was me then & it’s ME now.
For me, there wasn’t anything in my adolescent life that modeled the lifestyle I unknowingly set out to attain. There weren’t any precedented behaviors that provided me with the opportunity to mol d my own behaviors after.
Hurt and pain are magnificent teachers in the sense that they teach you what not to do.
Much of what my life is modeled after is based upon what I did not want to occur in my life.
I was so busy moving beyond what I did not want that I did not recognize the power of my own manifestations that afforded me the opportunity to control what I allowed in my life.
I did not know enough to know what exactly my power held.
I was hyper-focused on absolving myself of the life that conditioned my entire existence. I had not even begun to wrap my mind around the fullness of the legacy that I was steadfastly creating.
Often-times for me, reflecting is the way that I purge all that I have held on to. Creating the space I require to reflect, provides me with the opportunity to fully acknowledge my current place and purpose.
Establishing generational wealth requires a substantial amount of self-awareness. In an effort to truly embrace the journey, growth and adaption must occur. This means that we must step out of our comfort zone and do things that we have never done before. What’s more, we are unable to lean on our family for assistance, support or guidance. The responsibility shifts to us to manage the familial elevation.
Here’s how being armed with pertinent information aids you in the process:
We live in a world full of entrepreneurial endeavors which if leveraged appropriately can be paramount to breaking generational curses and gifting generational wealth. There is a clear delineation between the poor and the wealthy. If you have ever read 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' you know that the paradigm shift occurs when the author, Robert Kiyoaski reveals that the major difference between the two groups (aside from economic means) is the thought processes that could not be more abstract from one another. In the book, Kiyosaki outlines the thought process from his 'Poor Dad'- (which I am sure that many of us can relate to) is to work hard for money. While his 'Rich Dad' understand that no matter how hard one works for money, wealth will not be established until they understand how to make their money work for them. If you're like me, with a very Caribbean parent , and the other a from a generation of cohorts who believed in working for one company for 30 + years and retiring with a pension was the way to go. Then you are able to more than relate to the very limited capacity with which economically unstable communities operate with in regard to finance. The truth of the matter is that it does not matter how hard you work at a job that pays you less than minimum wage, you will not achieve success and wealth through working hard. Further, the discrepancies created from working under deplorable conditions with less than optimal wages is that, in that scenario one often finds themselves with more month than money. So the question becomes- how do we access the tools and resources required to free us from the oppresive way of thinking to truly take advantage of less than conventional ways of accumulating wealth?
Do your research. Which industries are growing rapidly? What skill set are you in possession of that aligns with said industry?
Check Eventbrite, YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram and other social media platforms for others who have found success in the industry that you want to break into.
Develop a business plan- this should speak in detail to the ways in which your business will operate, logistically on a daily business,.
Seek funding opportunities- Angel investors, grants, leverage business credit, etc.
Build your brand!
W9 your child(ren) as a sub-contracted employee to establish employment and payment history for that child. Limited to $12,000 annually.
Invest the funds into an IRA, 529 Coverdell Education Plan, Whole Life Insurance Plan or an annuity.
Add your child(ren) as an authorized user(s) to your oldest (earliest established) credit card or trade line.
Add your child(ren) as an authorized user(s) to the trade line/ line of credit/ credit card with the highest limit.
Now you have established credit history and credit limits for your child(ren) to inherit.
Now that you have prepared your child(ren) to inherit good credit, it is essential to understand the ways in which credit parameters may positively impact their credit portfolio. In July of 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection act became federal law. Its purpose was to re-examine the financial instability ushered on to the economy by way of The Great Recesssion and further exacerbated by bail out money. I’m sure that you’re wondering how that impacts credit- well let me tell you!
Do you remember standing on the yard your first day of college and being offered a free pizza? As broke, hungry college students away from home many of us (myself included) opted for the free pizza, free t-shirt, free cooler, etc.. What we were unaware of is that by signing up for this ‘free’ pizza we were also signing up for a credit card. Dodd-Frank invoked consumer protection to increase the age of consent (as it pertains to credit) to 21. Knowing and understanding how to maneuver through credit restrictions and guidelines will further aid in the process of cultivating healthy credit habits. As such, when the child(ren) become of age it becomes time to transition their status as an authorized user to the primary user on a credit account. Begin with a gas card, this is a practical way to transfer responsibility from the child to the young adult as they are able to hone in on the previously established credit history for further support in the process.
One thing's for sure and two thing's for certain, cultivating, managing, and preserving both personal and business credit is an investment of time and energy. There is no quick or easy fix. One must truly exhibit a considerable degree of commitment to see the intended results come to fruition. With that said, let me know if the information that I shared was helpful? Do you need more? What do you want to know?
Drop a comment! I am waiting for your feedback!