How it Started Our Wealth Building Stories

Danielle Desir 0:11

Co-hosted by Acquania Escarne, the host of The Purpose of Money and Danielle Desir, the host of The Thought Card, Millennial Wealth Builders Series is where we share the stories of women of color, building wealth.

Acquania Escarne 0:27

But this isn't your ordinary interview based show. Throughout the series, you'll be hearing from women who are creatively securing the bag, stacking coins, you know what we mean.

Danielle Desir 0:47

This series would not be possible without the support of the Plutus Foundation. Millennial Wealth Builders is the proud recipient of the Plutus Foundation's fall 2020 grants.

Acquania Escarne 1:00

Yeah, I can't believe how we got here, but I'm gonna blame you.

Danielle Desir 1:05

I hit you up because I saw an opportunity that dropped in my inbox. And it was a grant. And it just so happened to be the Plutus Foundation, which is really well known in the personal finance space for really helping creators like bring their ideas to life. So I had this idea, I was like, Okay, I want to do something, but I don't really necessarily want to do it solo. And I love podcasting. And I was like, who can I collaborate with? And what kind of topics are we both interested in? And I immediately thought about you because I'm like, we're both in the wealth building stages of our lives. And we're both also women of color. So I pitched Acquania the idea she loved it, and your podcasts fits so perfectly.

Acquania Escarne 1:48

I can't agree more. And I'm actually glad because I wasn't aware of the opportunity. But as soon as I heard about the Plutus Foundation grant, I jumped on it, we wrote this thing out. And here we are, we're the recipient of the Plutus Foundation, fall 2020 grant. It is going to help us produce Millennial Wealth Builders Series, which is going to be a series where we highlight women of color, and their wealth building strategies. So I'm super excited about that, because that is what I live to do.

Danielle Desir 2:20

I know and I think for us what was really important was to highlight women of color, because we're both women of color. And there are lots of gaps. Like we know, there's one really notable, but notable gap is like the wealth. There's a wealth gap number one, but there's also the pay gap. So we wanted to really highlight that yes, despite the obstacles that there are some incredible stories out there of women who are who are crushing it who are finding creative ways. And we are super excited to really bring this out. We've never actually done a documentary series. We've done nothing like this just interview based podcasts. So this is, this is like so new, so new, but I think it's gonna offer a new perspective in the personal finance space, right, like, don't get me wrong, interview style is great. And I think it's easy to do. But I think we wanted to peel back the layer a bit and go a little deeper with this one.

Acquania Escarne 3:18

We're going to empower you with strategies that you can actually use, and we want to hear from you. So make sure that you're reaching out to each of us to tell us how we're doing on the Millennial Wealth Builders Series, and how the stories are impacting you. So we're gonna bring you a new episode of Millennial Wealth Builders on the first of every month. It's gonna be syndicated on each of our podcasts. So make sure to check out The Thought Card Podcast and The Purpose of Money Podcast, like you always do to hear the latest episodes on the first of every month. We're gonna cover some really awesome topics like building wealth, through real estate, entrepreneurship, how to negotiate your salary, and ways to invest. We're gonna have experts on the show who have done it, and can tell you more about their story, and how you can take actionable tips from each episode and start creating wealth in your life as soon as you're done listening.

My wealth building journey began in high school. When my dad gave me a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. I have to be honest, before I read that book, I wasn't even thinking about building wealth, and I wasn't thinking about generational wealth. I was a high school student. I just wanted to have my own money and be able to get things when I wanted them. I was always a good saver. And I was pretty good at babysitting. And making money through odd things that you could do for other people. But the concept of building significant wealth was instilled in me after reading that book.

Rogelio Gibbs 5:12

When I was coming up, I would read a lot of books, or magazines such as Money Magazine, Forbes magazine, I read a lot of books on businesses. But that particular book in itself Rich Dad, Poor Dad, it really opened up my eyes in reference to entrepreneurship. And just by reading the book, it seems like most of the stuff in a book may seem like is kind of fictional, where he's basically comparing these two dads that he had one was rich and one was poor. But the lessons the life lessons that were learned in that book is is very crucial. So I figured that I will buy the book, give it to you, so you can read it, and maybe you can get some of the same things that I got out of it. And that's what that's one of the critical reasons why I bought the book because had a lot of insight, not only as far as business is concerned, but a lot of insight in reference to life.

Acquania Escarne 6:08

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is literally like one of the most famous financial literacy books out there. Robert Kiyosaki was a boy who had two dads one was his biological father, and one was his stepdad. They both taught him about money, but through different ways. One dad was not as financially well off, and he learned money lessons through the life that he lived. And one was better off financially, but helped him learn ways to maximize not only his income, but to think bigger, like, what is life like beyond being an employee? And why should I pursue ownership and entrepreneurship over a career working for someone else, and then everything kind of stems from there, it encourages you to think about ways to maximize your money, and how to utilize the ownership mindset to really boost what you're able to accomplish.

Danielle Desir 7:11

I think the first time I realized what building wealth was, was when I was probably like 10, or 11. And I would spend my summers in Haiti every single summer with my grandparents, and my grandparents have a lovely estate, farms chickens, goats, I mean acres and acres of land. And that, to me, symbolizes okay, he's, he owns his property, he owns this land, he's not renting. And we would have a lot of visitors who would come in to visit him. And he was always very generous, or he would like, you know, either employ them to do something on his behalf, or he would give them give them funds, which is very common in a, you know, Caribbean household. So I realized that okay, this is this is someone who has enough to take care of not only his household and his family, but to also be generous enough to give to others. And again, he had goats and chickens and horses and and other properties that were income producing properties as well. That was the first time I noticed, okay, this is what it means to be an owner. And more like later in life, I would say that when my mom bought her first home, I realized, okay, against solidifying what it means to be an owner, we were renting in the Bronx for a long time. I mean, from like, when I was born to like about sixth grade. And then my mom purchased a home in the suburbs. And I saw that, you know, I saw her putting down the down payment, I saw her buying the home, I saw her buying all the furniture. So I realized, you know what, I want to be a homeowner one day as well. And I think that at seventh grade, I knew I wanted to be a homeowner, I knew that building wealth was important. And I knew honestly that if anything had ever happened to my family members, I would be responsible for all of these things like my grandparents house in Haiti, my mom's house, you know, as well, I would be in charge of that. So I needed to, again, understand money, and understand how I can make that something that I could manage and grow and build upon that. So that is my I think those are the beginnings of who I am now.

Acquania Escarne 9:28

You know, Danielle, I think is so awesome that you mentioned that in your Caribbean roots and how it inspired you I have a similar story on how my family began its journey. And it starts with where my father's grandfather, Felix Watson was actually living in Panama and he immigrated to New York, and eventually sent for all his children to join him but in New York, he was serial worker, entrepreneur, land and real estate owner and had like 10 jobs. My dad and family members have told the story about how he did so many jobs in his community, it was difficult to count. And so keep up and a lot of it was giving as well, like he used to manage a store, a school, he was a social worker, and he had property and he used to hand collect his rent, and from his tenants. And then when anytime somebody needed something, he was always the first person the community came to when they needed help. And he would give a helping hand.

Rogelio Gibbs 10:44

I stayed with my grandfather, and my grandfather was an entrepreneur. There's not a lot of stuff that I could say that he didn't do. He was a businessman, he was a lawyer. He was very astute in business. So on Saturdays, he used to take me around to these apartment buildings that he owned, I didn't realize that he owned so many. And we will go around and collect the rents at the end of the month. And then after we collected the rents, I noticed that close to the end of the month, too, he will get four or five, maybe six, eight, maybe 10 different types of sources of income coming through the mailbox. And that's trying to figure out how is this guy getting all this money? You know, because I knew he had the real estate business. And I knew he worked. But I didn't realize that he was he was that astute in business. So when I saw that I made a commitment to myself, I said, When I grow up, I want to be getting as many checks as my grandfather got, because he seemed to be very astute when it came to business. And that's that's the, the seed that was placed in me to actually do real estate or even to pursue any type of business ventures or even to pursue education as far as reading or taking classes or asking questions in reference to businesses.

Acquania Escarne 12:05

So I think there is something to be said and learned about entrepreneurs, who build an empire for their families, but then are also giving to their communities as well.

Danielle Desir 12:16

I think what's also really important for me is that my grandfather, who I love dearly, has been retired for as long as I've known him. He retired at the age of 55. And he is now 85. Because I'm 30. So that is another instance. And I think that just that realization just came to me like this year is that and he's also a Virgo, which I just realize, I don't know why I just realized as a Virgo also. But I'm a Virgo as well, but it's like the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree. He had an interest in retiring early, and he's been living in retirement for 30 years. But let me just say that although he retired from working for someone else, again, he has land, he has farms, he has all these assets that are producing for him so he can live a fulfilled life.

Acquania Escarne 13:13

And as a descendant of Felix Watson, I feel obligated to continue what he started, because I want our legacy to continue. And I want my kids to have an advantage just like other families give their children, when they're starting out in the world, I would love for my children to be able to go to college debt free or almost debt free. You know, most people don't know this. But my first two years of college, I work two jobs in order to help pay for college and make sure that every bit of my tuition was covered. And I also wanted to lower the burden on my mom who was helping me cover it. And the way that I finally stopped doing that was I hustled for scholarships, and I just kept applying and kept applying. And then I got the full ride I needed but it was only until my third year of school. But it helps me not only get my education paid for, but it helps me minimize my undergraduate and graduate student loans, which is huge. But if you can imagine how much better off I or anyone could be, if they had zero student loans, and they were able to get the education they needed it to pursue the career they wanted. So that's just one of the advantages that I'm providing for my children by saving for their college now.

Danielle Desir 14:36

One of my first accomplishments financially was being able to save $5,000 I actually think it was $10,000 in my investment accounts before I turned 18 and went to college so I had been like working at the movie theaters, clothing stores, and I had been saving up some money. I'm pretty sure it's between five and 10. Can't don't quote me on it, but I was still proud of myself that I was able to save that much money in high school. Now, fast forward, my story is that I had $63,000 of student loan debt. And I paid that off in four years, I did that through a number of ways, like living at home, like really throwing money at it being strategic, and really focusing on my interest. That was really, really important. However, at the time, I was paying off my student loans, I was living at my mom's like I mentioned, but I knew I wanted to be a homeowner, again, going back to that Hades, and, you know, summers, the Haiti story. And knowing that homeownership was so important, but also, in Connecticut, where I live, it's cheaper to be a homeowner than it is to rent. So it made sense for me to start saving money to move out as soon as I was done with my student loans. So that's exactly what I did. I had saved enough money, I purchased my home, I live in said home now. And it's been over three and a half years since I purchased my home. Now, during that time, I've also been able to pay off $22,000 of my mortgage. So I'm ahead many, many years ahead, I want to be financially independent, and I want to retire early. So I need to remove as much at least in my theory, in my mind, I need to remove as much debt as possible, so that I can live on less. So that is why my mortgage is one of my number one priorities financially. I'm married now. And we are really interested in purchasing our first investment property. So I think in the future, you'll definitely be hearing about me purchasing my first investment property. And the story continues to unfold.

Acquania Escarne 16:44

At 16, I opened up a Roth individual retirement account after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad with the same goal. I want to retire early. And I don't want to work forever. And I just remember going into the bank. And the lady looking at me like why are you doing this, like who put this idea in your head? And I said, I did. I read about it. And I know that it's a good way to get started. And I took my first paycheck, the whole paycheck, I was working at a retail store that summer selling clothes, kind of like, you know, to women's clothes that you could wear. And my first check was about $252. And you know, most students at that age would have said, I want to save some money for myself, I want to go out I want to put some of this money towards fun stuff. But I was like, if I don't save now, I probably never will get started. So I made a sacrifice to dedicate that first check to that purpose. And then I after I was done working that summer, I saved coins, literally all my coins. So when we say stacking coins, we mean it like I saved all my change. And when I'd gone back to school that year, because I went to a boarding school. So it's I wasn't able to continue working that summer job during the year because it was away from where I went to school. So during the school year, I saved money from babysitting and any of my change. And then Christmas time, I made a deposit. Birthday time I made a deposit. So I wasn't able to, you know, consistently contribute to that retirement account. But when I had money I did. And then when I got out of college and I had a steady paycheck, then I started to make monthly contributions. So I still have that Roth individual retirement account is still working and growing. For me. It's just in the background, just building building building.

And after starting my career, and getting married, one of the things my husband and I really did well in our first three years of marriage was save like we had so many vehicle setup to put money aside we were saving in life insurance, we were saving in investment accounts, and we were actually able to save more once we decided to move abroad. Taking advantage of geo arbitrage. My job moved both my job moved both of us overseas, and he was able to get a job overseas with me in Dubai. And so we rent it out his house that he had purchased before we got married. So we became instant landlords. We allowed the tenant rent to cover the mortgage. So we have a property that's paying for itself. And then we had our living costs mostly covered in Dubai. So the money we would have spent to pay our own mortgage we saved for three years. We saved all that money. And when we came back to the US, we purchased a home for our family because we expanded a bit we had another son in Dubai so we came back instead of a family of three as a family of four. So we needed more space. So we decided to purchase our dream home in Virginia, which was a lot more expensive than the house he purchased before. So it did take more money.

But in one year in 2016, we were able to buy our dream home. And I was able to purchase a rental property in another state in Pennsylvania. And only reason that's possible is because we had the savings to do both. And I'm very proud of the fact that that same year, we also were able to help my mother in law purchase her condo, we all all are her children were able to contribute to that purpose. And most people think, Oh, my God, how could you possibly contribute to three down payments in one year, and it was all because we were aggressive savers, and investors. And we were able to utilize that money to help ourselves and to help our family. And that was tremendous, because it was really a gift to be able to help my mother in law. And it was a blessing to provide a house for our family. And rental income through the rental investment as well ended up being something that helped out for two years. So now, I own about almost a million in real estate. And I utilize real estate investing as a great way to produce passive income for myself. But I'm also an entrepreneur, outside of my nine to five, I do sell life insurance, and I'm a financial coach. And I use those income streams to invest in long term investments that will produce passive income in the future. So I'm always thinking forward and upward. And I'm constantly into stuff. So in a few weeks, I hope to have my own updates as to what I'm investing in next.

Danielle Desir 21:53

The marathon continues.

Acquania Escarne 21:55

Stay tuned for new episodes of Millennial Wealth Builders on the first of every month. Take a screenshot of you listening and make sure to share it with us on our Instagram pages @thethoughtcard and @thepurposeofmoney. And don't forget to subscribe to both of our shows wherever you're listening. And we appreciate reviews. If you like what you're hearing, leave a review on Apple podcasts and make sure to say MWB. So we know you're talking about the Millennial Wealth Builders Series.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai