Hello it’s Me

 Hello My Peoples,

I felt I would reintroduce with that Isley Brothers song “Hello it’s Me”….

Hello, it's me, I've thought about us for a long, long time

Maybe I think too much but something's wrong

I think the lyrics are perfect for this time. After the election, I took some time to reflect and regroup but I have been thinking of you and how to give guidance and hope. I still am a history buff and recommend that everyone read “The Defender” by Ethan Michaeli. This book is about the great black Chicago newspaper but also shows us how our people survived and navigate difficult presidencies and trying times. I am sorry that some of you have found out that your financial advisors don’t know any more than you do. Their advice of readjusting your portfolio and staying calm is just not cutting it as you see your portfolio crashing. Are you having flashbacks to 1990, 2008 or 2020? I know you want someone to make the pain go away but the hard truth is to never give the final guidance to someone else, whether you make or lose money is not going to effect your advisor’s paycheck too harshly. Remember, they have many more clients. You have to decide what your loss point is and at what point do you cut your losses and park your money on the side. I am no guru, but the tariff war doesn’t make since. Tariffs are complicated and there is a reason why we have not made drastic changes, but I am not going to debate this on here. So here are some things I have learned along the way:

1. If you have 30 to 40 years til retirement, you just have to stay in the market and ride it out. Your retirement account are investing on dollar cost average so the cheaper the mutual fund price the more mutual fund stock you buy with the potential that it will all be worth more upon retirement.

2. If you are within 5-10 years til retirement, you need to make a decision whether to stay in or sit on the side lines. Do you have enough money to be okay? Remember, pigs get fat, but hogs get slaughtered. Rethink what retirement looks like and can slow quit. Can you reduce time spent in the office, use vacation and those saved up sick days for mental health and leisure? Retirement doesn’t mean you have to leave your job, retirement mentally. You can access your 401k or 403b with penalty after 59 1/2, just don’t take out more than 4% annually.

3. Education: we are back to the pre affirmative action days. Get your kids as much education as possible and remember they may have to follow the opportunity even if it means leaving those red states or looking internationally. Our people won’t make it just settling for Starbucks jobs.

4. I still drink seltzer but not Perrier, I bought a Soda Stream. I am saving money and reducing recycling.

5. I hope Warren Buffet stays around for at least 4 more years. Berkshire B shares have been good to me even during this downturn.

6. Don’t sacrifice your health during this period. Eat healthy and exercise. My best investment last year was an E-bike. Trust me, get an Actbest on Amazon. It is reasonably priced and well built.

7. If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, get the ice cream attachment. I have made the best Oatmilk nondairy ice cream. I normally put in fresh blueberries or strawberries. You will never buy store bought ice cream again.

8. We still have some tough months ahead financially and as a people. The coming months will be difficult but we are built for endurance. This is a time to be frugal and reduce costs and lean into your spirituality.

Peace out,

Frugal Frank OTBS 

Trump 2.0: Back in 2025-repost from 2019

Hello My Peoples,

I posted this blog in 2019 and I think it is worth reposting during this Trump 2.0 time.

Hello my peoples,

I don’t know about you, but I miss President Obama. During these times, we need to remember that we are still living in Obama’s economy.
The jobs growth- Obama
Healthcare- Obama
Stock Market- Obama
Minimum wage increases- Obama
Green economy- Obama

We need to also remember that we will feel the full effect of Trump’s policies in the next 4 years going forward. Just think of the Bush years. Clinton left a booming surplus economy and it only took Bush 4 years to destroy it. Remember, that’s why we got Obama., a republican President drove the economy into the ditch. The sad thing is, he was smarter than the present dude.
I am not here to bash President Trump, because it just waste energy and history will always uncover the truth.

I have been slow reading the new Frederick Douglass biography by David Blight and it helps me appreciate and understand the times we are in now. Just think about it, Fred saw all the progress made during abolition and reconstruction only to see so much ground lost during the beginnings of Jim Crow. In reading the book, I saw that white supremacy takes no vacations and will try and rewrite history because most of the populists takes the path of least resistance. Fred never stop living as a man and continued to speak truth to power. I don’t want to give a summary of the book, so I suggest that you make this your holiday read and come back and discuss it with me.

So, with the holidays amongst us, what should we discuss? Beyoncé, Jay-Z or Kanye? As Whitney Houston once said, “Hell to the no!” We see a lot of this mindless material on television. I think it should be finances. Why? Because money issues shorten our life span, leads to divorce, unhappy retirements and unhappy relationships. As a black man living in New England, I have learned that weekends are great for biking, tennis, golf, and farm to table eating. Weekends are not meant for Mall retail shopping, fast food eating, and any sedentary activity possible. I also love the Lord, but have found many ways and places to worship not always in the traditional church structure. I sometimes attend church with my white brethren when I want a short service with the word, but I also go to the black church for spiritual renewal. There is just something about a white choir singing Negro spirituals that is just not right. So, I will be attending my black church during the holidays with my people. You know, “Silent Night” with the Motown twist can’t be beat at Christmas.

So back to finances, as I read Frederick Douglass, one of my takeaways is that blacks after Reconstruction were involved in educating their children and were trying to make impacts on society. As, I look at  the Jay-Z’s, Will Smiths, Kanye’s and multiple wealthy celebrities, I wonder if they are producing future doctors, scientists, and lawyers or future consumers of mindless materialism? Is it the ultimate goal to be on E!News every night? Is that what our people fought and died for? You know the ironic thing about this whole college admissions scam involving celebrities? There were no black celebrity parents. They will buy kids $200,000 cars and throw the biggest birthday bashes but are not trying to get their kids into elite colleges, even illegally. I will give George Foreman some serious credit, none of his kids are boxers; but they are lawyers, doctors and dentists even though their father is worth $300 million and they could live off his wealth.
Let’s keep our eyes on the prize. During this holiday season, don’t overspend. Your kids should still love you if they don’t get the latest new toy and if they have issues check your parenting skills. Trust me I am raising two strong sisters who are woke and self conscious. Maybe it’s the parenting or because they have a frugal dad, but this year they want gifts after Christmas when stores give the greatest markdowns. They are giving me my greatest Christmas gift, Frugal Kids on the black side.

So, during this period of holiday joy and political turmoil, get your finances in order so that you can bear the economic down turn coming, and believe me, it is coming. We may have one or two years of breathing room. So do these during the holidays:

1. Pay off as much debt as possible
2. Build reserve funds
3. Build retirement
4. Educate your kids, if A’s are not coming home, some serious shit needs to get restricted.
5. Join Planet Fitness instead of buying a Peloton
6. Upgrade to a used car instead of a new car
7. Stop drinking all soft drinks and switch to Perrier
    This and reduced bread intake will improve health and weight loss
8. Buy a subscription to Consumer Reports
9. Subscribe to SiriusXM for Urban Talk-get woke
10. You still need to get your kid a junior golf membership to a nice golf course plus lessons
11. For the  HolidayFive Black Movies to Watch this Holiday