By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
For many older adults, financial wisdom didn’t come from the dinner table or classrooms, it came from experience and hard-learned lessons. Now, women like Verlincia Roach, 62, and Carol Fillmore, 79, are sharing what they wish they had known about saving, spending and building financial stability with the younger generations in their lives.
For Roach, a Washington, D.C. resident, those lessons began at home, where money was rarely discussed beyond how quickly it should be spent.
“I guess my parents didn’t know about money, so they didn’t teach me. They just taught me, when I do get money, to spend it,” said Roach. “Growing up, I wish they had taught me the value of money, how to invest in something for down the road and not to create unnecessary debt.”
That early approach to money carried into Roach’s teenage and early working years. She recalled going on high-end shopping trips with her mother once she began earning income, a habit that spiraled into financial trouble.
“I found myself at an early age being in debt, owing collectors, and trying to get out of it,” said Roach.
Roach said her understanding of money didn’t begin to shift until after she had children and became a single mother. The responsibility forced her to rethink how she approached spending and saving.
Now, she encourages young people to start investing early, whether through stocks or bonds. Roach has also advised her nine-year-old grandson to refrain from spending on unnecessary things, like girlfriends, drinking, smoking or brand-name products.
“As far as I’m concerned, name-brand things are a no-no,” said Roach. “If you want to get some knockoffs, fine. But, don’t spend a lot of money on material things, like name-brand clothes and shoes.”
For Fillmore, financial lessons also began in childhood, but under different circumstances. A lifelong Washingtonian, she grew up in a household of 10 children led by a single mother. While they didn’t always recognize it, money was tight.
She started working at 15 to afford the things her peers already had, and at 19, she became a single working mother. That experience shaped her belief that financial education needs to start much earlier.
“I don’t think they’re starting early enough,” said Fillmore. “By the time they tell them that they should be saving, they’ve already started spending.”
Fillmore believes both parents and schools should play a stronger role in teaching financial literacy, starting as early as fourth grade. If children receive allowances, she said, a portion should be tied to chores or responsibilities, with an emphasis on saving rather than spending everything.
“I don’t know if it was my mother or someone else, but they always said, ‘when you got paid, pay yourself first and then pay for other things,” said Fillmore. “It never worked out that way for me, but I would teach kids that now.”
Fillmore also stressed the importance of work ethic and understanding the effort required to earn and keep money, noting that many young people today lack that urgency.
“Spend a little, but save some too,” said Fillmore. “You never know when that rainy day is going to come and you’re going to need it.”
