4 Things White Men Have Taught Me About Money
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I’m in a relationship with a white man and he’s taught me quite a bit about money. I’m a lawyer and most of the people in my office and in court are white men. Moreover, there’s a million white men all over the internet. I have a high level of exposure to white men and I’ve learned a lot from them about money. They’re not explicitly teaching me mind you, rarely has any white dude sat me down, took out a piece of chalk and written out money wisdom on a chalk board. But based on their behavior I’ve learned a lot and I think, as a Black woman, these are some helpful things to know.
You Should Be Investing It
This was the biggest lesson I learned. I thought I was doing great by paying my bills on time and saving consistently every month. And none of that was bad, but investing one’s money is leveling up. As I’ve learned, if I’m not investing my money then I’m essentially losing my money. So, I started educating myself about the stock market and 2021 became the year I officially became an investor. You can read more about my stock market journey here if you want.
Never Take the First Offer
Always bargain, always haggle, always ask for me. I wish I knew this when I was offered my first job as a lawyer but, whatever, can’t change the past. You can read about my deplorable decision to take the first amount I was offered here. I learned a lot from my parents about spirituality, family, how to treat people, how to hang shelves, how to make potato salad — all very important lessons and skills that I use regularly. But, I didn’t learn anything from them about negotiation. Which is fine, they didn’t really do much negotiating in their life AND I never asked them for help so who knows maybe they know a lot. Whatever, as it stands, most of what I’ve learned about negotiation came from the white men that I deal with in court every day. And what I learned is to demand more. Always more. You can do it nice, sweet and Southern (like me), but however you do it, ask for more.
