Side Hustle 101 - AR/AP | Pay Debts Like a Lannister

Side Hustle 101 Series

Starting Your Own Small Business
https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2018/12/side-hustle-101-start-your-business.html

Running a Small Business
https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/02/side-hustle-101-own-your-business.html
https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/03/side-hustle-101-are-open-for-business.html
https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-21-savage-look-into-business-income.html

How to Manage Small Business Risks
https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2018/11/side-hustles-101-risk-vs-reward.html

Small Business Benefits
https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2018/12/side-hustle-101-pay-yourself-first-with.html

Small Business Diversification
          Keep Your 9-5 Job: 

https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/11/hey-henry-high-earner-not-yet-rich.html

Know Your Worth: 

https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2020/10/what-you-need-in-life-invest-like.html

Know When You're Speculating: 

https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2020/10/oh-snapchat-whats-difference-between.html

This past week marked another significant milestone in building a side hustle that earns more than my main hustle (or 9-5 job).  Over the years, I've documented the slow build up of how to start, run, and manage a small business. A key part of this process is managing risk, something I help large corporations all across the world do. In particular I am building a business that helps me diversify my risk. 

My goal is to never be reliant on one source of income. 

My other goal is to add value to people's lives and this world.

I'm well onto my way of achieving these goals as my side hustles are getting close to eclipsing the relevance of my main hustle. Secondly, I continue to build a professional services business that is growing without a website, any marketing or overall push --- remember I have a 9-5 job. I landed my first major contract in San Antonio, Texas and this leads me to my second goal. I'm proud to be an employer --- I'm not just responsible for myself but my business has given someone a job and that speaks volumes. This person is well qualified but with the backdrop of a nation divided, my focus is on hiring people of color, veterans, women (in particular single moms), and anyone who wants to work hard while giving back to others. 

Due to the fact that I have to pay employees and vendors I wanted to quickly discuss how you manage your cash flow, prepare payroll, and make payments. First, I always remind people to understand who you're doing business with and get all terms documented in a contract. Being a risk manager, I review all my contracts and remove terms that ARE BAD FOR MY BUSINESS.

Cash Flow (Sales | Invoices | Receivables)

Sales - Review my Side Hustle series above and knowing your worth goes a long way into negotiating a sale of your product or service. My firm charges at a range where it's a win for my client, my employee, and myself.

Invoices - Next, I'm careful to invoice my customers on time and per the terms we agreed upon.

Receivables - Finally, I'm a hawk on knowing when and IF we got paid for the services we provided.

Payroll

If you have W2 employees, the best bet is to get a good payroll software here to help you ensure that you are deducting payroll taxes according to state and federal laws. If you only have 1099 or Corp2Corp relationships, you can accomplish this with requiring those relationships to invoice you according to a contractual agreement you've established.

Payables

You've seen me write before, I pay people according to the agreed upon terms "Like I'm a Lannister". Yes as in the dubious Lannister family in Game of Thrones, notoriously known for paying their debts or obligations. I keep my employees and vendors happy if I am paying them on-time and of course the right amounts. I've used a few companies this week to help me receive my cash timely and pay people time. I'll list a bunch (which include a few I use):

• Paycom
• Intuit Quickbooks
• ADP
• Paychex
• Gusto
• Your Bank

To keep things simple, for

Cash Flow and Receivables --- I channel The Notorious BIG on the song Get Money. Good contracts and tracking how much and when you're owed will ensure you'll never have to say the following lines: "Guess you could say your the one I trusted / Who would ever think that you would spread like mustard?"  

Payroll - Get help here, you're dealing with the laws. Don't be cheap on getting this right, as there are plenty of online software.

Payables - Paper or Plastic?  Believe it or not checks are the primary option for free delivery of payments to you employees or vendors. NOW you see why this area is ripe for disruption by startups. (hmmm maybe that will be my next startup company). Expect to pay a fee here to deliver payments directly to a bank account (direct deposit) --- but it reduces the risk of lost checks...and saves time.

#sidehustleseries   #paydebtslikealannister   #dontletcontractsspreadlikemustard  #paperorplastic #sanantonio  

Pfizer + BioNTech Announce Phase 3 COVID-19 Trials are 90% Effective

 Currently, the stock market is surging by over 5% in the pre-market (before it has even opened) signaling the direction of this good news. Key Points:

Pfizer - American Company

BioNTech - German Company

Industries that will benefit the most: Travel, Airlines, Hospitality, Restaurant and in general value stocks

If you recall in March, I pull all of my personal retirement funds OUT OF the stock market. Quite simply, this is a game-changer. I will be moving my retirement funds back into the market. I may be a bit pre-mature but finally there is a small light at the end of the tunnel. 

More to come but I need to make these portfolio adjustments and share the positive news.

CRONOS | ROKU | COLLECTORS UNIVERSE - 20% Increases After Earnings

ROKU - The reason I'm not active on social media is so it doesn't distract my investing. People tend to push their views on each other --- they call it their platform nowadays. I tend to allow data, research and science do the talking. For example, I wrote a post back in March about how we needed to aggressively defend against the virus. When it was clear our administration had no interest in taking the prudent steps I saw other countries taking, I didn't go Batman and start yelling on social media. I told my community to invest and go in Robin mode. Robinhood that is, we invest in things that unfortunately will benefit in this tough environment. Invest and then plant seeds in your community. 

Roku hit a low of high $50s and now just topped $250 after it reported earnings on Nov 5th. Just a few days ago this stock was touching $200, see the red highlight below. 

 

I have been speculating, guilty as charged, placing additional bets this stock wouldn't go parabolic before it reported earnings. It was a tight window and the trade worked beautifully. I saw a trend yesterday and pulled out after making over $5.5K in about a month on this stock. I'm glad I did b/c you could see this trending higher in the graph above. I put the trade on and took the trade off @ 3:59 yesterday, 1 minute before the market closed! It would not have gone well if I held on until today as the stock has gone parabolic baby!!! Not advised for rookies but how you play both sides as I actually own the stock as well and benefiting from this ride up. Here's that trade, time to find another trade to make: 

Stock                                                     Purch Date        Sold Date                   Gain   % Gain

CRONOS - Legalized marijuana was on the ballot in roughly 5 states. Again, I don't judge I just bet on the direction that the people's will is taking them. #countthevotes

Trust me people are moving to medical and personal marijuana use and less collateral damage on communities of color because they were in the past getting locked up for selling something that may not be legal. Cronos is up 20% and do to the % short (or ppl betting against this stock) there will be a party to get out of that trade leading this stock and other MJ stocks higher.

COLLECTORS UNIVERSE Thank you Warren for teaching me patience. I've owned this stock at least since 2008. Through the good and the bad I've held with strong conviction and received a healthy dividend and now I'm reaping the benefits of the growth or appreciation. Congratulations Collectors you are my first ever 10 bagger as billionaire investor Mario Gabelli often says. This stock have increased over 10 tenfold for me and proof as to why we should defy labels, boxes, and barriers!!!

 I'm investing my way out and teaching other people that look like me how to do the same. Just this year alone you could have been up over 700%, and the reason I know this is because I added this stock this year to my 401K plans and advised others who added it to their portfolios.

Oh Snapchat - What's the Difference Between Speculation + Investing

 Hello All - I've got a lot of things cooking, as day by day we incrementally improve our lives and the lives of others. More to come on what we've been up to. Really quickly --- I read an article about passive investing and the focus of the article is there is no such thing. I somewhat agree with the premise, but one must know the term usually stems from a financial and tax code designation of whether you are "active" in the management of a business or "passive".  It's only natural that other areas within the business and investment world have piggybacked off of this term. 

It was a cute discussion but not very helpful in the sense that legally you must determine whether you are an active participant in a business and how it functions. Quite simply, if you are not active --- you are considered a passive manager --- or in simpler terms it's NOT your day job. 

I wanted to change the objective of the topic and focus on what we agree on. We agree that there is really no such thing as being a "passive" or "part-time", or "arm-chair" investor in anything that you do in life. Think about how I view investing --- it's more akin to planting seeds. When you plant seeds you must dig, till the land, plant seeds, fertilize, water, prune, and pick the fruits of your labor. So if you find an investment that doesn't take this kind of maintenance in life please, please SHOW me. I believe in the theory that there are main hustles and side hustles. It's simply a way of "prioritizing" your investments. For me my hustles include:

• Private Sector Employment (aka Main Hustle, aka 9-5 job)
• Small Business Owner (aka: Side Hustle Number 1)
• Real Estate Owner (aka: Side Hustle Number 2)
• Stock Market Investor (aka: Side Hustle Number 3)

I search for balance in life and also in my investments or hustles. There are days, weeks, months where my Side Hustles eclipse what I earn in my main hustle. Those are great times and some days, although rarely nowadays, my main hustle is primary source of income. While many say this means I'm too busy, I say it FREES me up to spend more time focusing on my #1 priority - family, friends, freedom. When adversity or life events hit, I am phased but like a prize fighter this structure allows me to bounce back quicker...working on my core...my pillars. 

The old American saying goes if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything (I think, remember I'm African). It also should say if you don't own anything, you'll be cornered by anything. Life will take its best shot and we bounce back quickly through our beliefs, values, family, friends, and inner spirit. Not by what special interests say you should do --- which are often in their best interests...not yours.

I share this story because I decided to speculate this week. I did absolutely NO research into the trade I made. I was listening to my PM stock updates and there was a discussion about "unusual activity" being seen in Snapchat, the social media platform. I don't use SNAP and had done no research and simply made a small bet based on this news briefing. I was prepared to LOSE the amount invested. In 24 hours, this bet performed brilliantly. I had no clue Snapchat was reporting it's earning (or how much money it made in the last quarter) and they reported a very positive outlook. I should have done better due diligence, but I knew the difference:

Snapchat - Say Cheese to Speculation ($200 in 24 Hours):

Investing - Want to invest, watch my boy Rick Ross. He prime hustle is rapping. The small business  he owns is his record label (Maybach Music Group). He owns Wingstop franchises, I believe an adult entertainment club off of the water in Miami (I don't judge), and I would say he has an impressive real estate portfolio. He owns the old Evander Holyfield Estate --- ALL 254 acres of it and just purchased 87 more acres of land in Georgia where land is much cheaper than S. Florida. Job well done Rozay. You take everything away from him and at least he has land --- land to build on or even camp on should times ever get rough (but I doubt that will happen...he's planting seeds). Don't let special interests take options away from your life...nurture your pillars, invest in yourself, and to a better future.

Source: Rick Ross, Instagram 

How Netflix Shows Help Me Invest - Mindhunter | Black Mirror | Beats

 

Mindhunter - This show is about the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and how they first formed the Behavioral Science Unit. Simply put, this is the unit that came up with a methodology for investigating the murders that most local police forces couldn't solve. They coined the phrase "serial killer' and how to profile people. Oddly enough, maybe we do operate in "patterns" and when you consider history...it can often be used to solve the most complex murders. The irony in the show is how often people "back then" said this type of thing doesn't happen around here. I guess when it comes to investing, I try to create a profile of the economy. I ask myself what events and triggers are likely to occur because of my profile analysis. I do lots of research, as history tends to tell a story that often and sometimes unfortunately repeats itself. Finally, I look back in time for patterns. Patterns, especially those found in charts historically help me find great entry points to plant seeds --- or invest in companies.  

The simple mind easily complains about the athlete on TV who grinds through a physical game and calls them spoiled brats...the mindhunter wonders who pays all the salaries of the athletes on a team and how can he/she afford that payroll.  Makes you ponder -- if a particular league is 75% one race --- should coaches and executive management look more like the end product.  I guess they've never heard of no taxation without representation. 

More to come from me on Ice Cube's Contract with Black America. Just imagine if the decision - makers (Congress) had a guide to some of the items that could improve life for African Americans. Decent thought Cube, but bend your mind further --- why doesn't Congress simply reflect the represent 15% of the population that African Americans represent. No taxation without real representation. 

In The Dark - This show gets a thumbs up from me. I like the premise of the lead character being a blind person who has a messy life. We all do, so it's refreshing that they add layers of complexity to this show. It even turns the table on of the white savior complex as a black person actually is capable of helping the damsel in distress. While this theme is short-lived,  they go back to a white person saving the day but they tried. I cite this movie, because eventually as a society we are SLOWLY moving away from fake narratives and getting more real. Black people can help and save white people too. The cute white girl that's blind can have a life full of messy complex vices. This is REAL. Just like it's real when states are struggling to make ends meet. It again doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize they will have to find creative ways to balance their budgets. Hence my mindhunter investments into stocks like: Ceasars, Draftkings, and other gaming stocks. Just image that, the culture that holds puritan values so high needs gaming to save the day. It's just reality. When I travel to the United Kingdom, sports betting is prevalent on every corner. I can walk into a store that looks a lot like how a cell phone store is constructed here in the US. Instead of buying an I-Phone you can place a bet. Makes you wonder who is actually "In The Dark". 

Dark - After Black Mirror, the show "Dark" was easily next favorite series to watch. I couldn't spoil this show for you even if I tried. It's a German series that attempts to discuss how life is connected in more ways that we can imagine. I like the premise because as humans we attempt to dumb down life by only talking about the duality of life. What does this mean --- well have you ever heard someone describe things as simply black or white...good versus bad/evil?? This shows turns that concept on its head and blows up the duality narrative of life. We all know the concept is BS but we go along for the ride at every step of the way. What explains gay marriage, legalized drugs and gambling, priests who abuse their power, white supremacists', and so many other complex subjects. Boardwalk Empire shows us that will enough $$$ the prohibition of alcohol can be done away. The three-fifths clause in the constitution shows you how dark the human mind can delve to justify a means to an end. I am pro-business but I also recognize that business invest in the areas that need transformation --- in government we call this entitlements. I believe in social values so why don't we pay government workers private sector rates so that they can put food on the table and fund their own retirements and even possibly rid the system of pensions (or contractual obligations) that now many want to backtrack on and not pay? Why is this all so DARK, maybe because we try to simplify this into a dual world - good vs bad and black vs white...and it ain't that simple.

Black Mirror - Black Mirror is hands down my favorite show and describes my persona to a "T". I couldn't understand why so many don't see the harm of social media like I clearly see it. I've only had "that feeling" I get when I log into Facebook one other time and that's when I played a slot machine in Vegas. I've only done it once and it was crazy how it made me feel. I almost lost my entire $40 dollars and was prepared to go against my principle of adding more $$$ when I hit it $400 large. Then stupidly I thought well maybe I could do it again. I probably gave another $60 dollars back and decided. Enough was enough...I pulled the plugged. That dopamine effect was a feeling I've never felt before until I logged onto Facebook. The need for likes, the need to only post my travels, night outs, and big purchases. Then I decided 5+ years ago, this is overrated. So I don't log on and when I do, you get the good, bad and ugly of my life. I remind people, if someone is giving you anything for free in life --- YOU are the product. 

Beats - Finally, I wanted to highlight the movie Beats. This movie is about making it out of your environment and overcoming adversity. I don't always like the background of the need for music to black people's away out --- but music is in our DNA whether you are African, Jamaican, or African-American. I remind people to expect the road to be hard. The biggest thing I tell people to do nowadays is learn how to be independent. Find a service, skill, product that people need and be supply them with that legally. Negotiate your own terms and sleep better at night because I have no one to blame but me. More to come but I signed by first major business contract just a few months ago. I saw the tactics used against me were signs of systemic oppression because I became woke to how people were making money off of me the "talent". I appreciate the introduction, but why do you get paid tens of thousands of dollars when I'm the consultant and doing the actual work. I will tell you about this journey soon and how I am hiring people of color in an IT landscape that screams for diversity.

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My job is to help the largest corporations in the world to simplify their most complex and riskiest businesses. So I do that for people here when it comes to the economic engine of the world. It's a machine that has patterns. People at as if the world operates in a black and white manner but it simply does not. Right now its simple, the US government has printed 13 Trillion dollars. Most of that has gone to companies. Those companies are skyrocketing as their stocks are going through the roof. Roku is up so much that I am simply making trades each week that will make money betting the impossible will not happen. For example, Roku will NOT increase 30% in one week and if does not, please cut me a check. I usually execute these trade when I am supposed to be most scared --- when Roku reached its all-time high of $239 just in the last week. They want me to be scared to put the trade on but I'm not. I simply do it for the culture -- we can be talk about how wrong the system is or we can Robin Hood it and help our folks. I don't see them listening and trust me a system this rigged ain't changing anytime soon. Here is me slamming Roku. I trust you can do math on my gains. Any trades highlighted in Green means I only held the trade for 7 day, IMO a week. Not bad for a guy with a 9-5 and a side hustle.

Note: I'm masking my trades as I hope to dust off an alert service startup company I had dreams of running over 10 years ago. For almost a year, I've been literally an open book in hopes of teaching and showing people a different way. I'm not here to motivate, just to plant seeds. If we plant enough seeds, change gon' come. 

The US Economy Has a Stimulus Hangover

 I fear the US economy is starting to feel the hangover effect, after binging on $13 Trillion, yes with a "T", trillion dollars of stimulus. I'm not going to argue whether it's needed or not because I previously said stimulus to main street America is definitely needed. But the hangover reminds me of how I felt after a Saturday night of partying in Chicago once we officially transitioned from winter to warm weather --- everyone was out drinking.

When I think about government stimulus, everyone this spring and summer was wasted off of stimulus. If you were unemployed you got an extra shot of stimulus in the form of $600 added to your unemployment pay. For small businesses and then surprisingly large business (remember my post on even the LA Lakers organization getting PPP funds), we benefitted from stimulus if we promised to bring workers back. We soon found out many of my business colleagues graciously took the money and then far too many decided NOT to bring workers back --- why because they were more concerned about tying the funds to when business would come back. But being in the RISK MANAGEMENT business, this is fundamentally flawed thinking. The PPP experiment as I call it was a social experiment to see if as a nation we could band together and do what's best for our neighbor financially. I'm sad to say, the experiment didn't work as business people fought it along the way, while cashing in the money. During a health pandemic where people SHOULD stay home quarantined, you cannot expect business to return back to normal --- use government taxpayer money to keep people afloat. 

Note to anyone reading -- What kept people going was the unemployment checks and the extra bump of $600, it caused an e-commerce boom. How do I know, well I am in the Cyber Risk Management business. I have been getting calls from all over the country to help people do more business across the internet. My most amazing story is a company that sells boats and luxury yachts in Florida. They called me and we discussed business. At the beginning of the pandemic, no business because their model was predicated on customers coming in. But they quickly learned they needed a robust web platform as they were getting boat and yacht orders left and right. It sounds like most of us in Corporate America could keep going as we could work from home and buy boats and yachts but I wonder about the front line worker who is exposed to the virus on a daily basis if you're driving a bus, riding the train, or working the grocery checkout system. No national quarantine holiday in my humble opinion was a bad risk management move.

Why do I think we're feeling a hangover let's look at the news:

Company Continue to Announce Layoffs - 

• Airlines - this industry announced 35K job cuts and some anticipate this number will top 100K
• Disney - announced 28K layoffs
• Salesforce - initial pledges were made to not layoff, well soon thereafter they announced 1K layoffs

Jobless Claims Continue to Rise

As an investor, how do I keep track of economy. I use one indicator called the Jobless Claims report from the US Labor Department. The data is staggering:

• As of September 30, 2020 25 million required jobless benefits 
• Last week (Oct 10, 2020), - 898,000 new persons applied for jobless benefit aid for the first time
• To put this data into context, during the 2008 Financial Crisis that I believe was the worth since the Great Depression, the number of first-time applicants peaked @ 665,000 

COVID-19 Continues to Spike 

• France noted that 40% of it's hospital beds are filled w/ COVID patients
• Europe cases are rising
• The rural US is now the leading source of new cases
• And unfortunately people are fatigued or bored with staying home

Like a patient addicted to stimulus, the stock market is calling for more. What happens if we don't get more --- a painful withdrawal??

The ride up has been nice if you bought into e-commerce and stay at home stocks: think ROKU, PELETON, AMAZON, FACEBOOK. Everything else hasn't moved much...need proof I believe the S&P500 is up only 4%. So my barbell approach is still working. My retirement funds are safe (not invested in the market) and my investments in ROKU and Collectors, Sprint, Alibaba Allergan and others have surprisingly made me a tidy fortune during the pandemic. Real Estate is the other area where I'm poking my nose in. 

A reminder to not drink the Kool-Aid --- you'll avoid a hangover. Stick to the pillars.

What You Need in Life -- Invest Like a "Middle Child"

 

Investing In Yourself – Using Pillars to Build Your Core	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/urbanomics-pillars-path-set-for.html
Setting Budgets + Saving for Black Swans	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/personal-finance-budget-101-free-credit.html
	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/11/hey-henry-high-earner-not-yet-rich.html
How to Open My First Brokerage Account	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/personal-finance-101-starting.html
Diversify your Life (Mind, Body, Soul, + Investments)	Search My Blog

The Pillars - The Miseducation

In my culture, lessons are taught by the elders to the community and especially to the young children. Ironically, one thing has not changed over time which is song is a form of communication used to narrate stories.  This is still on display today with the power of music artists sharing stories through song  If you have read my blog you know that I like a flashback and reference songs that were defining for a generation.  When I thought of this post, a song came to mind popped in my head that defines success.  Success for many could be summed up through the hit track "Money, Power, Respect".  Many will believe this song was a track by Lil Kim.  Simply, before there was a Nicki Minaj or Cardi B there was Lil Kim eviscerating hooks like she did for the L.O.X on this track.  No disrespect to The L.O.X or Lil Kim, but my generation and generations before that bought into the wrong message:

See I believe in money, power, and respect. 

First You get the money. 

Then you get the power. 

After you get the power, MF will respect you

Song: Money, Power, Respect; Artist(s): The L.O.X ft. Lil Kim,

While Lil Kim described one way to obtain respect, she forgot to tell you that this way is not sustainable for everyone.  So I challenge, what you need in life --- are the pillars.  We need to strengthen our mental fortitude through education.  Those are skills that can never be taken away from you.  We need to use our skills to invest in our own assets.  By being independent, no one can dictate the terms to how you live, especially if you live within your means.  I'm proud when I see people discussing the pillars in our community here a few recent examples:

I believe J. Cole's has unplugged from the Matrix and understands the Pillars. He's on the same mission, Check out his lyrics from the track "Middle Child":

What good is the bread if my brothas is broke?

What good is first class if my brothas can't sit?

That's my next mission

That's why I can't quit

Just like LeBron

Get my brothas more chips

I think Kanye read my post on Master P. Go back and read how I wrote that over 20 years ago he inspired me to be independent, black owned, and bout it bout! People are finally understanding the stakes. Yes, Kanye you are the talent, why don't you own your own masters sir. Don't be afraid brotha because as a producer, artist, businessman, and family man you owe it to yourself, family and community to negotiate your own terms as long as you know your worth. Thank you for seeking out Master P and as I've told many people, you will grind for years but you must flip the switch to negotiating own your own terms when the time is right. I look at all my business deals closer, eliminate the middle men, and because it's my business I can choose to keep the money in my community and invest in people who share my values.

For years I've been talking about living within your means and prioritizing ownership and investing in assets that appreciate.  I was pleased to see the rapper Plies make this comment:

Finally, I'm hopeful people are listening.  I read a great story and about a business man, named Young Bleu.  He talked about his goals of being an independent music artist and how he already owns a few assets: a house and a restaurant.  And the thing I love the most about his article was an example that he gave: Young Bleu Interview courtesy of HipHopDx:

"I’m going to put it like this. Just say as a rapper, you got $400,000 in your account. You don’t got a house, right? Now just say that your label say, “F&ck you.” You know what I’m saying? “F&ck you. We don’t want to do nothing with your shit right now. We don’t feel like we want to do shit with you right now.” All right. You got $400,000 right? Okay. A nigga come up to you and say, “Man, shit. I can get your record going. Shit, we can go and do radio 150,000, 200,000.” Okay, there’s always a chance that this shit might not go as planned. So now you only got $400,000 but nowhere to go besides what someone says they can do for you.

Now if you already had a house, you already had cars paid for, why would you spend the $400,000? You know what I’m saying? If all else fails, you have a home to go back to. But if you don’t you’ll be scared to spend that money if you felt like, “Damn. Shit. If I blow this shit, it’s over and I’m back at the bottom. Shit, I’ll probably be back staying with my mama. Goddamn.” You feel me? If you got your shit in order, you will be more comfortable spending money, you know what I’m saying?"

Sound familiar?? All I can say is well said young brotha. This young man understands the game.  If you dissect his statement, he says: "what is the point of having so much capital (or cash) in your account and you own nothing.  If you own a house and have assets to fall back on (especially if this house was paid off), then when someone approaches you about doing business you are more likely to take prudent risks and make more investments knowing that you have something to fall back on.  As he eloquently stated, if you don't own that house (or some asset that appreciates) you will be scared to spend that money. I have a 9-5 job and a side hustle for income; my assets range from: 2 homes, have a individual retirement account that I could live off of and I use my brokerage account as war chest and make numerous investments every day...I'm not scared because I approve every investment. I can't wait to invest with J Cole, Master P, Young Bleu, Kanye if they share my value (b/c I don't always see eye to eye with some folks). But if we can agree people of color need their contracts rewritten, need independence, and they need investment...then let's do business.

#pillars, #independent, #Master P, #Young Bleu, #MiddleChildInvesting, #J Cole #educationispower