It's Okay That You Didn't Know

My Story

I remember when I learned about the Rule of 72, which was coined by Albert Einstein and identifies the rate at which your investments double, based on various rates of return. It blew my mind. I was working with an insurance and financial services company at the time and was still brand new. The first couple I talked to were my parents. When my Trainer asked if they had heard of the Rule of 72, they responded, “Yes.” My mouth almost fell open.

I would have been in my early twenties, and it could have made such an impact in my life. But I was learning about it from someone else 25 years later. 

What’s done is done. I can’t change the past, but I can employ what I know, now. I can share the Rule of 72 and all the good and biblically financial concepts I learn.

Natural Inclinations; Not the Same as Knowing

My family did stuff together, but we didn’t talk about money together. That’s one thing I regret. It’s such a taboo subject in black homes and churches. In addition, you can’t talk about what you don’t know about. Some people are inclined towards frugality; they are naturally savers. No one has to necessarily tell them to watch their spending because they do it automatically. Other people are inclined towards spending; they buy the things they want, when they want it, as long as they think they can afford it.

The saver may be saving, but not because they were taught to do so. The spender may be overspending because they were never taught to do otherwise.

But common among black and brown people is, we didn’t talk amount money at home, and we didn’t learn about it in school.

It’s Okay If You Didn’t Know

It’s okay if you didn’t know. I mean, you may have feelings about systems in place to keep us in the dark and feelings about a whole lot of things, but it’s not productive to say stuck there. You didn’t know; but coming out of the dark. It’s okay if you were doing it wrong, but own learning how to do better. When you learn better, you can do better. Take what you learn from being purely academic to practical. You have to do it.

Twenty-five years prior, my parents worked with the same company I was working for in 2020, but they never mentioned the Rule of 72 to me. I was speechless. Why would they not tell me? I think it boiled down to a couple of things. One, they weren’t comfortable talking about money. Two, it was merely academic; they were leery of investing so eventually it faded from mind. Meanwhile, I’ve seen the power of it in my own life and other people’s lives so  and am very vocal sharing it.

Conclusion

Start a conversation with the people you know- regardless of their ages. Even share it with adolescents. Urge others to do to the same. Parents, talk to your children about options for making money, tithing, saving, the rule of 72, budgeting, student loans, credit cards, new cars, taxes, etc. 

You don’t have to have done everything well to be able to share your story. Young people (or people in general), like to hear from people who didn’t do everything right, but were able to overcome and still make positive strides in life. They can identify with that kind of person- someone who is authentic. 

So, start today. Learn, grow as you go, and be a good steward of your finances and sharing the information you learn.