by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
March 11, 2024
As student loans and other debts take their toll, personal finance expert Shavon Roman gives tips on how women can achieve financial freedom.
Are you struggling with the job market or bottomless debt? The journey to financial freedom may seem unfathomable in today’s economy, but all is not lost yet.
Personal Finance expert Shavon Roman has dedicated her career to advising women of color out of these financial binds. She spoke with BLACK ENTERPRISE on her “Heal. Plan. Invest.” approach that helps women break their poor spending habits and ease their debts.
Taking an untraditional approach by first healing their relationship with money, Roman curates debt-solving strategies tailored to each client’s lifestyle. Owing money overwhelms many people, but step-by-step guidance on how debt can be paid off will make things feel less daunting.
For Roman, being financially stable is just the first step. Living the life you envisioned for yourself can be fully realized with discipline and dedication to serious economic goals. Here are five ways women can come out on top of their financial situations, build awareness of their spending habits, and strike a practical plan to become debt-free.
1. Addressing Your Unhealed Feelings About Money
Over Roman’s 14 years in financial planning, she has learned that money, whether one has it in abundance or not, is an emotional journey. There is a heaviness surrounding Black women and their conversations about money, and it can stunt their ability to feel optimistic about their financial future. Having to decide between sending their child to private school or saving enough money to retire fuels emotions that are inevitably tied to financial choices.
According to Roman, wealth is a mathematical equation, but internal work must happen before wealth is built. Addressing the “why” behind making luxury purchases or lacking investments, especially when detrimental to financial stability, is critical to changing how one deals with money.
2. Combat Income Inequality By Going Where Your Worth Is And Trusting In Community
It’s been proven that Black women, on average, make less than other demographics. Roman says that although you can’t always change how your employer pays up, you can take steps to remedy the situation for yourself. Revamping your resume and entering the job market are promises to go where your worth is. Additional steps, such as low-cost programs that grant training certifications, can open new opportunities in the workforce. Increasing your income is not an impossible task.
We often lack the resources from our communities to help us out of these situations. So it’s income, debt, and access, but the solution can also be found in community. “Let’s start by what we can fix,” shares Roman. We have to band together by pooling our resources, voting and empowering our local leaders, to begin building that financial support from our own.
3. Standing On Business (And Setting Financial Boundaries)
What Roman commonly sees is that Black and Brown women prioritize others when it comes to their financial well-being. Their goals are for their children or parents, without ever mentioning their own aspirations with money. Those who are the go-to piggy bank for their families must learn how to help–but with discretion.
If helping out a family member is a frequent responsibility, earmarking a specific amount to give will allow boundaries to be set. Standing on business and setting financial boundaries will prevent self-depletion. Developing a plan for giving will encourage discipline and decondition women to stop giving everything of themselves.
4. Build Clear Strategies For After The Life-Changing Purchase
Roman stresses that the biggest financial challenge for Black women is “overwhelming” debt. However, she believes there is a misconception about consumer spending, and that debt is primarily caused by life-changing purchases made to level up. Student loans for various degrees and homeownership typically have a high price tag.
However, Roman assures that clear strategies after the big financial leaps can remedy this overwhelming feeling. Having a plan already in action to pay back those loans within a certain timeline or building home equity to accrue more wealth will help women feel more hopeful once the checks are written.
5. Stabilize, Then Visualize
“Nothing comes before stability. Once you are stabilized and out of that paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, you can dissect what makes you feel good,” explains Roman. Stability should not just be the end goal, and getting there can be a sacrificial battle as is. When you’ve made it through that process, you can design the life you dream of.
Don’t know what to do when you’ve finally made it or are at the cusp of financial freedom? Put your money where your dreams are. Once you stabilize your monetary situation, then you can begin to fully visualize what you want life to look like. It’s not enough to say I hope tomorrow will be better. Plan today for exactly how you want, even need, tomorrow to be.
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