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The Legacy Series contains the most read articles in the history of this website. This is the #2 most read article in the history of Black Men In America.com.
By Gary A. Johnson – Black Men In America.com
Updated December 28, 2022 (Originally posted on November 5, 2010).
How black people spend their money has been a hotly debated topic in offices, at social events, and in beauty and barber shops across America. This article, “How Do Black People Spend Their Money?,” has been the most read and commented article for 12 years running. Once I learned that this was the most popular and discussed article on the website, I decided to do some research and share this information with others. Over the years I found the process of gathering data and updating the site to be exhausting. It’s a lot to read. I update the site 1-2 times per year. This year I decided to update the article via video in the form of a pictorial slideshow. This way the reader has options. You can watch a 9-minute video which is the equivalent of having a summary video or a “Cliff Notes” version of how Black people spend their money, which includes a new component. I developed, “Gary’s 10 Tips To Prosperity and Emotional Fulfillment,” as part of the 2022 update. Or, you can read and review the exhaustive data and charts/graphs.
Here’s something to think about. Blogger Matthew Corbin lists 5 Reasons Why Black People Are Still Broke.
Here are Corbin’s 5 reasons:
- Black people spend more money than they make
- Black people don’t support black businesses
- Black people don’t save their money
- Black people don’t know how to invest
- Black people aren’t working towards getting out of poverty
Click here to read Corbin’s explanation for each reason.
There is an article on Mater Meta.com, by Kimberly Anderson-Mutch, about how to build generational wealth. Kimberly outlines the following 5 things that Black families can do to build generational wealth.
- Talk to your children about wealth.
- Buy a home or invest in real estate to create generational wealth.
- Start a business.
- Invest in stocks.
- Establish an estate plan.
A recently released study by Merrill Lynch explored the ways wealthy Black people in the US spend their money.
What they found is that many well-to-do Black Americans:
- Take care of their family members, invest in their friends’ businesses, and eliminate debt
- Spend their earnings preparing for the future and retirement
The study, entitled “Diverse Viewpoints: Exploring Wealth in the Black/African American Community,” surveyed 455 affluent Black people –– defined as a household with annual income of $125,000 or more. The study’s findings indicate that this group of the US population is actually growing in size and has been since 2015.
The study participants reported working harder than other people in the affluent income category and charter their own career pathways. Affluent Black in the US are five times more likely to financially support their parents than other affluent people and four times more likely to plan to start their own business.
Another great source of information is “How Black/African Americans Pursue—and Define—Success,“ by Diallo Hall, a longtime content strategist and editor whose experience includes serving as Director of Thought Leadership at Fortune and Senior Editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. In that article you will read about the “Black Rules for Success,” from other successful Black/African American survey respondents.
Part 1: The Narrative
Part 2: The Pictorial Slideshow of How Black People Spend Their Money
Warning: The following is a link to a long article with a lot of details, numbers, observations and opinions covering over two decades of information and data. A large portion of the data was gathered before COVID-19.
Click Here To Read The Entire Updated “How Do Black People Spend Their Money?”
How black people spend their money has been a hotly debated topic not only on this site, but in our office, at social events and in beauty and barber shops across America. This article has been the most read and commented article for 12 years running. Once I learned that this was the most popular and discussed article on the website, I decided to do some research and share this information with others.
Click Here To Read The Entire Updated “How Do Black People Spend Their Money?”
Let’s start by watching this short video that explains the “racial wealth gap” in America.
Check out this 1954 film made to educate white merchants on the spending habits of Black Americans.
The Secret of Selling the Negro Market is a 1954 film financed by Johnson Publishing Company, the publisher of Ebony magazine, to encourage advertisers to promote their products and services in the African-American media. The film showed African-American professionals, housewives and students as participants in the American consumer society, and it emphasized the economic power of this demographic community. The film, which was shot in Kodachrome Color, featured appearances by Sinclair Weeks, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and radio announcer Robert Trout. The film had its premiere in July 1954 at the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was shown on a non-theatrical basis.
Watch this film and measure how far we’ve come over the last 60+ years.
Click Here To Read The Entire Updated Article
The series of articles and versions of “How Do Black People Spend Their Money?” contain opinions from outside sources not affiliated with Black Men In America.com. This series is for information and educational purposes only. The opinions and views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of Gary Johnson, Black Men In America.com or any of its affiliates.
Gary is the Founder and Publisher of Black Men In America.com, an online news and magazine, Black Boating and Yachting.com and several other online sites. Gary is also the author of the book “25 Things That Really Matter In Life,”: A Quick and Comprehensive Guide To Making Your Life Better—Today! and “The Black Father Perspective: What We Want America To Know,” and “In Search of Fatherhood – Transcending Boundaries: International Conversations on Fatherhood.“ In 2019, Gary developed a line of spices under the name of “MasterChef Gary’s Premium Organic Seasoning.” In 2021, Gary launched a motivational website and talk show called “Calculations.“ For motivational content and exclusive interviews with interesting people, visit Calculations Talk Show.com. In his spare time, Gary uses his platform to help the Black Farmers of America. He built the website Justice for Black Farmers to help educate others about the plight of the Black Farmer and their fight against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
[…] land, but let’s show them that we’ve kept them in business since the very beginning. It is a known fact that Black Americans spend an estimated of $1.2 TRILLION a year. From June 15th through the 22nd; I propose ALL OF AMERICA, or at the very least my followers and […]
[…] How Do Black People Spend Their Money? (The Racial Wealth Gap) June 22, 2019 […]
[…] The Times article attributes this disparity to distrust of the hospice industry. Perhaps there’s some truth to that, but it’s hard ignore the fact that this goes hand in hand with other high time-preference traits found in blacks, such as not investing and higher crime rates. For example: […]
[…] not sure how up to date the information is on this particular webpage of “Black Men In America,” but what I do know is that there is a lot of content worth taking in consideration. Indeed, […]
[…] Johnson, G. A. (2018, November 12). Updated report: How do black people spend their money? Retrieved March 12, 2019, from https://blackmeninamerica.com/updated-how-do-black-people-spend-their-money-3/ […]
[…] building a business or furthering their business (if they had one.) An excellent article from blackmeninamerica.com reveal that studies show Caucasians on average invest 7 times as much into their businesses than […]
[…] https://blackmeninamerica.com/updated-how-do-black-people-spend-their-money-3/ […]
This is what we really need to focus on thanks for the breath of fresh air…
[…] have great potential to accumulate wealth. And, the first step towards building riches is to save. The annual expenditure of black people is 4 percent greater than any other race despite the fact they have the highest rate of poverty […]
Me I am investing in a Black Owned Company Ztegrity the ZBlackcard let me lay it done. White people want to fee you tii death on prepaid card a lot of black people use. Rushcard was suppose to be for the black community. hey Russell Simmons sold it for millions to Green Dot. Finally a prepaid Mastercard or Visa for the people that buy everything. Of course what makes it special NO FEES what makes it more special Reports to the credit Bureau. What makes this card 3 times special you can have a trade line from $1000 to $10000 for a year to build your FICO scores built in just keep paying. And to top it off for $50 a month Drive your Dream Car. Black people support this CEO he doing it out of Houston TX for us. See More at http://zblackcard/getyours. Oh one more thing, the Zblackcard is all Metal just like an American Express Blackcard that you can’t even get. ENJOY BUY BLACK❤
OMG, so much information to ponder. Are these statistics correct? I have always been a believer in putting money back into your community and this article solidified my reasoning.
This article is truly amazing. It is full of important information and data that should spark African-American “to do for self.” You have gain a new follower. Thanks for all this information!!!
Too much damn information. How many people do you think are going to read this? This article, more concisely stated, could be ten times more effective. You make many solid points however, and I suggest that many of our people are crippled by self-hate and dysfunctional families which is where the battle begins. Tteach us to love ourselves and rebuild our families from the damage done by the well-intentioned section 8. Right now single parent families by race are blacks 62%, latinos 34% and whites 22%. It was not always so and up to 1960 something like 92% of white women had been married at least once by the age of 40 with 86% for black women. So start there, teach self-love, bring the family back and teach financial literacy. Earl Graves (Black Enterprise Mag.) is doing some good work. all this tendency to ostentatious living, bling bling and fast cars is born of self-hate and insecurity.
Too much damn info? The lazy will fall, the strong will overcome laziness and actually read for more than 30 sec.
[…] this episode, we tackle some hard truths about the deep divide between spending habits of Black Consumers and the selling habits of Black Business Owners. The video below is a primer to white business […]
Most mega churches are owned by white board members who teach them how to pimp their own Black people. This is nothing new, it stated during slavery when the white so- called master taught the slave preacher to teach the slaves to be submissive. and never think of running away. The slave Preacher made sure he taught the slaves to love his master more than he love himself. The Negro Preacher could never preach about independence or freedom because he was too scared to even thinking of being away from his white blue eyed oppressor. Today, the Black church is no better. 99.0% of all Black preachers are scared of the word independence or freedom. They all remind me of Fiddler from Roots. When the brave warrior was trying to teach old Fiddler about freedom he said stop that! I don’t want to know nuttin about freedom! The Black preachers today is the modern day Fiddler. They are too scared to build up wealth for the Black community. Most of them have borrowed so much money from the white man bank he probably owned their church and the Black preacher too. They are afraid to be completely free from their white Lord! I bet most of these big and small churches have their account set up at the white man’s bank. Until these Black preachers get that hump out his back, the white man is going to continue to hell! The brother was talking about the night club taking Black people’s money is different because people are aware that they are going into the Lions Den. However, the church make you believe that you are coming into the house of the Savior to be save but really you are being pimped out of you money in the holy name of the Messiah! The only person who wins in these mega churches are the Black Preacher and the man he owes his mortgage to and that’s his modern day slave master- The white bank!!
[…] bloggers and commentators have suggested that the $12 billion to $13 billion per year going to black church […]
[…] bloggers and commentators have suggested that the $12 billion to $13 billion per year going to black church […]
HI JONATHAN, GREAT COMMENT, ALL THIS ARTICLE IF FACTUAL , I THINK THERE MUST BE CHANGE AND FOR BLACK FOLKS TO WAKE UP FROM THERE SLEEP. I’V NOTICE WHILE OUT SHOPPING , WHEN YOU LOOK AT OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR IN THE FACE, YOU CAN SEE THE SELF HATE THAT HAS BEEN PROGRAMMED INTO SOME NOT ALL, I PERSONALLY THINK WE SHOULD STOP GIVING ALL OF OUR FUNDS TO THE DAM CHURCH AND SPEND IT WITH OTHER BLACK BUSINESS LIKE I DO, IM SELF EMPLOYED WITH 3 DIFFERENT BUSINESS, AND CURRENTLY BUILDING ANOTHER FOR MY KIDS, TEACHING THEM ABOUT KEEPING THERE CREDIT SCORE HIGH, INVESTING IN STOCKS,WEALTH BUILDING THRU REAL ESTATE, PEOPLE SHOULD ALSO CONSIDER INVESTING IN OR ALL OVER THE CARIBBEAN, WHERE WE ALL SHOULD BE SOMETIME OR ALL TIMES OF THE YEAR.
I CAN RECOMMEND SOMETIME THING TO TRY BUT ITS ALL LEFT UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE MAN/WOMAN OF THE FAMILY..
FIRSTLY WE HAVE TO TRY TO STAY OFF ALL THE FAST FOOD WHICH IS CAUSING OUR BODIES NOT TO THINK CLEARLY, ALL THOSE GMO,HIGH SUGARS FOODS (SYNTHETIC) STUFF.
SECONDLY, SELF EDUCATE IF KEY, GET A INTERNET CONNECTION AND RUN WITH IT, I DO IT DAILY,
THIRDLY: START SMALL SUPPORT YOUR OWN FIRST, I PRACTICE THIS IN MY BUSINESSES AND ITS REALLY HELP , YOU SEE IT IN SALES AND YOU MUST ALWAYS GIVE BACK IN SOME WAY, THE UNIVERSE WILL RETURN IT BACK TO YOU BECAUSE IT KNOWS WHAT YOUR HEART IS DOING, ITS ALL SEEING!!
FORTHLY, WILLINGNESS TO SHARE YOU KNOWLEDGE, TO MANY OF US GAIN THE INFORMATION , GET A LITTLE MONEY AND FORGET ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE, THIS WILL SPELL FAILURE, WHAT WILL YOUR CHILDREN INHERIT . YOU SEE, YOU HAVE THIS GREAT THING INSIDE OF YOU CALLED MELANIN, (CARBON) , ONCE YOU GET TO KNOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE, THE WORLD IS YOURS. TRY IT , IT REALLY WORKS, ITS WORK FOR ME,
LISTEN TO GUYS LIKE THE FOLLOWING, DR. DELBERT BLAIR, JOHN HENRY CLARKE, DR. SABI,MINISTER ENQI, DR. UMAR JOHNSON, DR. LALLIA AFRIKA, DR. BEN JOCHNNEN , PROF IVAN VAN SERTINA, TO L;ONG OF A LIST TO NAME, PROF JAMES SMALL,
BIG PRAISE TO MINISTER ENQI AND KT, THEY HAVE TAUGHT ME SO MUCH, I LIKE TO SHARE THERE NAME , GO TO YOUTUBE FOR MORE INFO, THEY KNOW THE BLACK BODY. THIS IS WHY WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR DIETS
BUSINESS: START SMALL, DO BUYING AND SELLING, SELL SOMETHING,THERE ARE LOTS OF SUPPLIERS ALL OVER THE WORLD LOOKING FOR DISTRIBUTORS, START OFF WITH ONE SAMPLE, JUST LIKE I HAVE STARTED ONE OF MY BUSINESS. KNOCK ON DOORS OF FRIENDS,FAMILY, PEOPLE ON THE STREET, ANYONE, PUT UP A FACEBOOK PAGE, INSTAGRAM IN YOUR COMMUNITY, TRUST ME ,ONCE THE UNIVERSE SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING, ITS WILL PLACE THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN FRONT OF YOU.
I’LL STOP HERE OR ELSE I CAN WRITE A BOOK, THIS IS JUST THE SELF LOVE FOR MYSELF AND MY FAMILY, SO PEOPLE GET OUT THEIR AND TAKE ON THE WORLD AND BUILD A WEB-SITE, TRY WIX.COM OR VISTAPRINT, DO IT YOURSELF.
AND NO IM NOT GETTING ANY KICKBACK FOR THE LISTED REFERRALS ABOVE.
P.S WHEN YOU READ THE ARTICLE AND THEY TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE SPENDING 18.6 BILLION ON USELESS GOODS, THAT HAS NO FUTURE PROFIT. BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[…] back to the point, think about this for a minute blacks spend about $1.1 trillion a year. This is more money than the wealthiest man in the world is worth. Bill Gates is only worth […]
i find it interesting that the writer mentioned pastors taking people money which this type of behavior is a great minority in the church period and yet the writer did not give the other side of what churches do with tithes which is give to the poor, provide a place of worship which is clean and comfortable for the parishioner. also many churches help members who are in need but there was no mention of this. I might also add by the way how many smokers and drinkers and drug users and ex prostitutes and criminals go to church and change their lives whether you believe in it or not and thus they are not killing, breaking into our homes, selling their bodies, doing drugs anymore and thats ll because they walked into a church one day where the tithes kept the lights on and allowed them a place to go and find help. oh and if you want to know the greatest hustle in our community that takes and gives nothing back its the clubs that we go and pay thousands of dollars in entry fee and drinks only to dance all night and yet they give nothing back to the community. Nike and the tennis shoe industry, the clothing industry etc….
So who ever you are to be so irresponsible to place that statement in your article without looking at all the good the church has done and actually coming up with a comparable dollar amount it has given back to our community is very irresponsible. see all good can’t be calculated in dollars and cents, let me leave you with this which no amount of money can ever equal. this is just one example of this. As a pastor five years ago I met a lady once who was cheating on her spouse and he was not in the church at the time and he believed all the church wanted was people money. What he did not know is the church, was working with his wife to help her overcome her behavior because she loved her husband and didn’t want to do that to him… Through prayer and many days and hours of walking with that person she was able to be delivered from this behavior, this woman found the church one day and wasn’t coming to join but for another reason but instead God helped her. Now you may believe that all the pastors want is the tithe and to get rich but i have you know the average pastor earns less that 28 thousand through pastoring and its a very hard and long hours job. Only 3 percent of churches with more than 1,600 people in attendance pay senior pastors more than $300,000, said Warren Bird, research director at Leadership Network. At the other extreme, a recent study by the National Association of Church Business Administration found that the average American pastor with a congregation of 300 people earns a salary of less than $28,000 a year. I sometimes give my parishoners time set aside for my children and wife because they are in need. I am not angry at you because clearly you are using a lightening rod subject to advance your notion that the church is keeping Blacks poor. I simply want you to do what journalist who actually care about fair and honest reporting are taught to do. get both sides of the subject matter and report them with integrity… by the way that woman has once said to the church God used you to save my life and i think she will tell you that 50 dollars a week to have her marriage back and leave a place for a new soul to come in and get help with the broken part of their life is well worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi,
While you can argue that in time past, the church has done so much good (I just finished writing an article about the positive influence the church had during the slave era), in the present day, the objective of the church needs to be evaluated. All the time spent in praying and organizing church events, could be spent in skill capacity building and acquiring more knowledge.
The present day environment reveals that nobody has all the answers. Thus, the church ought to evolve to meet the present needs of the populace rather than depending on it for sustenance. It is my opinion that pastors should work. I currently have the desire to establish a church, so as to help create more inspiring pictures in the minds of the attendees. I aim to instill ambition into them, love, worthwhile values, and push them to contribute their quota here on earth (And God said, “Let us make man in our own image, and let them ‘dominate’ the earth…”).
However, I am working to establish the companies and businesses that would ensure my family is well taken care of, so that I do not have to succumb to receiving an offering/collection in the church. In this manner, the church would be run like a nonprofit. However, every money gotten and spent would be accounted for, and put up on the church website.
We need to do more for our environment than make ends meet; and then, attend religious events. It’s my strongest belief that it is our responsibility (each of us) to build God’s world. Since the 7th day, He “rested”, and man has been doing the building ever since.
Tony must be a pastor. Lol
[…] you read my article, please read the latest article written by the publisher of Black Men In America.com. The article is “How Do Black People Spend Their Money?” This article is scary and will […]
Thank you for that information! I humbly accept these findings as some lay particular in my household. We as a community need to recognize and take responsibility for our own actions and make better decisions for our households. We’ve lost two generations of fathers and grandfathers to prison, drugs or death. We have to make a come back and remove this “status quo” or stereotypical: Jordans wearing, McDonalds eating, Flat-screen TV buying, Tax refund spending, beauty product buying, human-hair weaving/fixing, Premium package cable looking, dollar store snooping, malt liqour drinking, no job having, apartment renting, EBT name brand spending, Mentality. I’ll take my cut of the $1.1 trillion buying power and now spend it elsewhere in our community and put more in my retirement. Regards
[…] black Americans having an estimated $1.3 trillion in buying power, a single dollar stays in the black community for only six hours compared to 17 days in the white community and 30 days in the Asian […]