Sex and Money
Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about just one of those topics. The money. But wait. Isn’t this a blog about Indigenous health and wellness? Yep. Indigenous food and medicine. Healing ourselves. Taking control of that which we uniquely control. For ourselves. The ups and downs of trying to be healthier, move more, eat better. How to deal with emotions and grief and broken hearts. And how to keep diabetes and heart disease at bay. And how to break unhealthy cycles.
Guess what? Being broke and financially unhealthy can make you sick, too. Actually sick. No doubt about it. Health disparities tied to poverty, but also stress levels at an all time high across all income brackets.
In the first 5 months of this blog, I have laid a lot of myself “out there” in order to share a few triumphs and some unmitigated failures. And I have heard from many of you with such downright relatable stories that you speak my words with different voices. We are often each other.
Let’s do that again. Here’s another confession: at times in my adult life, I have been a financial mess. Sometimes in the early years, it was because I was really struggling to make ends meet. At other times, it was because my priorities were messed up. I was spending money as fast as it was coming in. I was not alone in my foolishness of living beyond my means: most people live paycheck to paycheck, no matter how big or small the paycheck.
It’s pretty easy to get into that cycle of debt and very tough to break it. Just like all the other cycles we talk about breaking - this one takes a LOT of education, awareness, truth-telling, behavioral adjustments and a shifts in mindset.
Just as most first-generation college kids don’t have a clue how to really navigate college life, most people also never learn how to manage money in a way that might create SOME inter-generational wealth. We got the inter-generational trauma part down pat. Let’s get to work on the other. If you are like most people, you really were never taught financial literacy. This is especially true in Indian country, for a host of reasons. So let’s spotlight it.
I am a lucky one for sure. I have 4 college degrees. Despite loads and loads of scholarships and grants, I ended up paying back $134,000 in student debt. I finally paid that off in my 40s AND that was only because I had a law school dean’s salary for a long time. And I know how ridiculous that sounds. I truly do. I so do.
The single NUMBER ONE thing you can do for your kids is help out with their educational expenses so they can minimize student debt. For most families, student loans will be necessary. On the flip side, education is a game changer. Access to an education truly can change the trajectory of many lives.
But access to an education where there’s some money banked is TRULY transformational. Not just for that one kid, but for the entire family. And it’s not just for rich people. No matter how small the amount you can contribute, it WILL matter. It changes the tone of the conversation in your home.
Today, I’m flying the 529 College Savings Plan flag (or similar investing). I’m on this soapbox because something remarkable is happening in the Cherokee Nation: a government distribution of $2000 to each and every citizen, adults and children. Every citizen. No income requirements. No residency requirements.
This comes from federal relief funds and it’s happening. And I’m not knocking it. I support the administration and council’s decisions to take this path given the whole of the circumstances. But that’s not the only Cherokee decision-making going on. There’s some decisions to make in your house.
You know what YOU have control over? What you do with the money.
If you take only your kid’s $2000 dollars (and let’s be honest, it’s found money that is pretty much falling out of the sky unexpectedly) and set up a College Savings Fund it will make a BIG difference in that child’s life. And yours too.
If you do this with a 2 year old and then contribute only $5 dollars per week afterwards to that fund, they will have about $14,000 when it comes time to go to college or vocational school. Here’s a 529 plan in Oklahoma - but there are many options out there.
What if you deposit your kid’s money and HALF of yours? You are now in the $20,000 range.
In a few weeks, I’ll host a free webinar to discuss this more, so check back here and on social media for more details on that.
Here’s a few bullet points to think on, in the meantime.
The money you invest grows tax free and builds on itself quicker than you might imagine
You can set one up for your kid, neice, grandkid, neighbor, any kid
If the kid takes the money out for college/trade school, it’s tax free when they w/d it
If they end up not going to college/trade school, then it works like any other income stream and the tax comes when it is w/d (but the money is not “lost”)
tax deduction THIS year on the $2000 you open the account with (and any more you add)
I know that many people are in a MAJOR financial crunch after this past year. This post is for those that see this money as an unexpected bonus. If you fall in that camp, please consider this and take advantage of the many resources out there to help with this process. If you spend it on something else, it will be gone in 6 months.
“Be the change” cuts across all areas of our lives.
#NextGen