ORLANDO, Fla. – Evergreen financial advice that can work for anyone is somewhat scarce, but it’s out there, with the simple “live below your means” still among those best practices.
But what are you supposed to do once that advice makes you richer? Do you keep on saving, or should you start spending, and what on?
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This week on “Black Men Sundays,” host Corie Murray interviews Timothy Jernigan, an entrepreneur who brought a lot of insight regarding not only how to become a millionaire, but how to hold onto to that wealth as well.
For starters, Jernigan — who bought his first property at 19 years old, at one point owning seven, now four — advises that you try to ensure at least a third of your net worth is invested in real estate.
“Real estate is the cornerstone of wealth building, and real estate is safe. That’s why it’s called real estate, because it’s real property, it’s real,” Jernigan said. “It’s not mandatory, but it’s highly suggested. Like I said, I’ve always been into real estate — for my whole life, I felt like, you know? — and it never has done me wrong, but you have to know what you’re doing.”
Jernigan wrote “Your Map to Your Million: The Guide to Becoming a Millionaire in Seven Years From $0.00,” available on Amazon and from other booksellers.
Considering what one would have to do along this path, especially if they really are starting out with nothing, it’s understandable that Jernigan outright rejects brand names, instead opting to do his clothes shopping at Goodwill. He even goes as far as calling it “GW Fashion,” what he considers a very smart thing to be a fan of.
“The reason why I hate name brands is the hold the name brands have on our community,” Jernigan said. “As a Black community, if we would have just invested the money that we gave Gucci and Louis over the last 10 years, we would have enough as a Black community to sponsor every HBCU to be tuition free for the next 20 years.”
In general, when it comes to hitting a million in savings, Jernigan stressed that it would not happen overnight, not even over hundreds of nights.
Just as his book is titled, Jernigan told Murray that it took him seven years to become a millionaire. As hopeful as he is that you find that success quicker, however, Jernigan leaves no expectation unmanaged.
“There’s nothing easy about it, but it’s worth it. So you have to know what you’re doing or seek wise counsel, you know, seek wise counsel, you just can’t go into it blind, always get you a mentor or something like that, somebody who’s done it, you know, don’t go to those classes,” Jernigan said. “...If you listen to this podcast, be leery of those, you know, ‘Hey, get my easy three-step program and learn how to flip houses,’ and so on and so forth. So just be leery of that and just get you a good mentor and learn. I tell people all the time, don’t try to flip a house if you don’t own your own first. On your own, learn how this stuff works, you know, go through the process once. This is not the get rich quick business. This is chess. This is the long game.”
Black Men Sundays talks about building generational wealth. Check out every episode in the media player below.