Food for Thought

Tax season has come once again and I continue to shake my head in disbelief at some of the things that I see on a daily basis. The frivolous and unnecessary spending sprees that some of us go on is amazing. In this day in age, cars, brand named clothing, and other luxury goods determine a person's status in our society. Our buying power in itself, if we were our own country, would put us as the 16th largest country in the world. Some of us get large tax returns, and our buying power really is put on display...straight to the stores we go.

With companies salivating for a piece of the African-American dollar, they take to all out advertising and marketing campaigns specifically targeting our communities. We take our money and buy flashy and expensive items that add no real value to change our standard of living or create lasting legacies for our families. Spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on swag, rims, furniture, and vehicles that immediately lose value after purchase at dealer asking price only proves that we cannot hold our money very long. We spend very little money within our own communities and will outsource our hard-earned dollars to businesses that will not even think about reinvesting in our communities.

With buying power that high, it is disturbing to see so many of us have nothing to show for it in the end. Too much of our money is spent on things designed to give the impression that we have status and success that we do not. Buying expensive watches and shoes may look great to others, but then the light bill or rent is due and there is no money to pay it, then what? I see more people heading into a department store to buy a huge television set than I do going to an investment broker's office to setup a retirement portfolio. We can spend money to purchase a nice barbecue pit to decorate a yard that we do not own, but not saving a few thousand dollars to purchase our own land. I saw a piece of property in a rural area today 5.33 acres for a cool $2,500 and the value can appreciate. The barbecue pit, watch, shoes, and used car a whopping $8,750 and loses value sooner rather than later.

Food for thought...