Analysis and Interpretation worksheet

Jennifer Vitale: 00:00 So hello today we are sitting here, uh, myself and Mr. Roosevelt who I will be interviewing. And just so you are aware, Roosevelt, the purpose of this interview is to be able to view financial literacy from a varying standpoint or perspective. This is such requires the contribution of parties who are familiar in this field of practice. And I know that you are familiar in this field and in a minute, I guess you can tell us how you are familiar in this field, but please ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible because it helps reflect the perspective regarding the topic. So Roosevelt, if you could just take a minute, tell us about yourself and how you are familiar in this field of practice.

Roosevelt Desir: 00:45 Well, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Um, my name is Roosevelt. Obviously I have been in the field of finance for now coming up on eight years. Uh, my introduction to the industry was on a need that I needed to fulfill or I should say I was overcoming financial obstacles as it relates to money. My biggest problem at the time was living paycheck to paycheck. And looking for a way to find financial freedom. And at the time I was introduced to an opportunity and also a seminar, believe it or not, on how our relationship with money has been affected by what we were grown to know. So that piqued my interest into wanting to learn more and find out more as, as to how money works basically. So with that, uh, I actually got, uh, licensed with the state and not only licensed with the state, but also so was able to find a company in which stood for educating middle Americans about financial literacy and the importance of financial literacy.

Roosevelt Desir: 02:07 As you may know right now there is no, at least in my, in my demographic as far as where I come from, um, being a, uh, a child of immigrant parents, we weren't taught about saving. We weren't taught about investing. We weren't taught about credit. We weren't taught about how to budget. We weren't taught about interest rates. We weren't taught a lot about money unfortunately, but we were taught about how to go to work and get a paycheck. So for me, I wanted more, and I knew there was more information out there because there were some people who were winning at the money game. So when you take a look at the statistics, it's very alarming that on average about three quarters of people are retiring with less than $25,000 and average Americans about seven and 8% of them have than 400 or $1,000 in an emergency fund. And when you take a look at those numbers of other people who are drowning in debt, it came to the conclusion that maybe we don't know what we thought we knew, if that makes sense. So that what me to the, where I place I'm at now as far as educating people and bringing an awareness to financial literacy at the forefront of the community. Um, so basically people need to know how money works.

Jennifer Vitale: 03:30 Awesome. Absolutely. 100% and you actually answered some of the questions I'm already going to ask you. So if you could just elaborate [inaudible] excuse me, elaborate a little bit more. So the first question that I am going to ask is, in your experience, how beneficial is financial literacy?

Roosevelt Desir: 03:54 Financial literacy is a cornerstone to anything. I like to always compare it to, if you're going to play a game, you play the game to win the game. But if you don't know the rules of the game, how can you know that you're winning? And most of all, how do you know if you're scoring? Because at the end of the day you need to keep points. Like yesterday it was a Superbowl, uh, San Francisco, won I think, 31 to 20. So that was the score. San Francisco? Oh, sorry, Kansas city, I'm sorry, Kansas city, won 31 to 20. I think. What, but why was that important? Well, in order to know who's going to win the game, you have to keep score. Well, that's the same thing as it relates to money and understanding how money works when you're talking about middle income families who are struggling living paycheck to paycheck and trying to balance their checkbook but not understanding that they're paying a lot more taxes and there's different strategies and programs in place to help them save more money and keep more of their money. Of course there'll be losing. So it's really an educational standpoint. Same thing as it relates to credit. If you don't understand credit and how it works is costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars. And an instance when you go get maybe a car loan or a mortgage where people who are educated about money, they know that having good credit could get them lower interest as opposed to high interest on a credit card.

Jennifer Vitale: 05:27 Yes, absolutely. And what brought your attention and interest to the subject of financial literacy?

Roosevelt Desir: 05:36 Like I said, it was a personal, it was a personal dilemma. Um, I was making money, but unfortunately unable to save money. I didn't know how to save money. I was a hard worker. I didn't think that there was a major difference between myself and anybody else. I just wanted to find what was that the main thing that was missing and it was the education, the education and understanding the simple basic concepts when it comes to interest, when it comes to investing, knowing how to invest, diversification, there's a lot more to it that's not been taught at schools. And worst off, we are expected to go to school, get the grades and graduate. But then a lot of people unfortunately are not prepared for the real world because they lack the experiences, the real life experiences. For example, every week or every two weeks, um, a household gets a paycheck. But by the time they're done paying all their expenses, there's nothing left. So why is that? Is it just because people are living over there means like I was, or is it truly something else missing where there was a gap between what the wealthy people knew that weren't taught and what average middle Americans didn't know?

Jennifer Vitale: 07:06 Right. And with that being said about, you know, the lack of education, what are some of the different ways which you would consider implementing financial literacy into the education curriculum?

Roosevelt Desir: 07:21 Great question. It starts off, I would say a nine. I only use based on my experiences, it starts at home. For instance, we have our daughter, she understands the value of a dollar. She understands that you can't spend everything and have nothing. So understanding that when, for example, I'm staying with my daughter, she knows if she gets a dollar, she has to split it amongst her spending. A certain percentage goes towards spending, a certain percentage goes towards giving and a certain percentage goes towards savings. So you're preparing, you're building a foundation in which that foundation is built on solid fundamental sound money knowledge as opposed to just just doing things because everybody else is doing it. I hope that makes sense. When you take a look at some of the studies that shows a correlation with people having some type of financial knowledge and people who don't have any financial knowledge, the numbers are staggering.

Roosevelt Desir: 08:30 So yes, starting off with how money works and communicating that to children and then they take it, they use it, they implement it at a young age, it stays with them. And then us as adults finding the resources to learn, um, about accumulating wealth. A lot of people think that you have to have money to be wealthy or to have $1 million, which is far from the truth. It's, it's learning about discipline, know where to put your money as opposed to, for instance, putting money in the bank, money in the bank versus investing as two different strategies.

Jennifer Vitale: 09:12 So would you agree that financial literacy needs to be added into the curriculum then from an early age?

Roosevelt Desir: 09:20 I do agree with that and especially starting off with the schools. Um, I know I've, I've seen a couple of researches here and there. Like for instance, our daughter has received, um, a couple of brochures as far as, you know, money, finances for kids. But one of the things that we do is we teach parents to teach and have that conversation with their children starting at a young age. Understanding that, you know, you may not want to buy the brand jeans. If you can buy a lesser pair that has same comparable price and you're saving more money and having money in the future. But it starts with first implementing it into the schools. If we can get this into the schools and they can start teaching the children, they'll be better off. But here's the dilemma. If the teachers don't know this, how can they teach the children? So now you're talking about creating a system in place where the teachers get this knowledge and able to practice it themselves and then also be able to communicate it and show and give examples to the children on how it's feasible to have. Um, it's a pretty much have more money.

Jennifer Vitale: 10:36 Absolutely. Very essential. So in the time that you've now had the knowledge and learning about financial literacy, how has it affected your lifestyle?

Roosevelt Desir: 10:48 Well, let's say that I'm not making the same mistakes that I was previously as a young 20 year old, something kid I was giving. I was given $25,000 from a trust, and I have nothing to show for that today because I didn't know what to do with that money. Imagine given 25 $25,000 to a 21 something year old kid. At that mindset, what are we talking about? We're talking about material things. We're not talking about long distance horizon. So what I know now, if I knew what I knew then what I know now, I would have invested that money, a portion of that money, if not three quarters of that money into a vehicle in which I know that, Hey, it'll be here later on. For me, it's very critical that people understand that. It first starts with people wanting to know. Once people informed, then they can make an informed decision into their personal situation.

Roosevelt Desir: 11:50 It's not a cookie cutter system, but we believe, especially with my team, that when people are educated and armed with the right information, because there's a lot of misinformation out there, but when they have the right information, they can make smart decisions. Now, obviously I'm not where I want to be, but I'm a whole lot different place than I was before having this information. So now when it comes to, for instance, getting ready to make a purchase that requires to have good credit, I know that I need to be prepared, that my credit is in line, its an order or else it's going to cost me a lot of money, money that I already don't have. And especially when you're talking about big institutions like the banks who are, in my opinion, taking advantage of people, uh, and their ignorance because the banks know what to do with your money. But unfortunately not teaching us what to do with our money.

Jennifer Vitale: 12:43 Hmm. No, not at all. So with regard to experience, how many individuals would you say approximately that you come across that are actually familiar with the concept of financial literacy?

Roosevelt Desir: 13:00 Say that one more time. Sorry. [inaudible].

Jennifer Vitale: 13:02 With regard to your experience, how many individuals do you feel that you come across that are familiar with the concept of financial literacy?

Roosevelt Desir: 13:12 Unfortunately, it's a staggering number that is way below. Um, let's just, if I was to take a number out of, for every 10 people that I've talked to, maybe one, maybe one. And when you're talking about individuals, let's say for instance, individuals who fail to save, um, for whatever underlying reason or factors, because based on impatience, they lack the financial literacy. We live in a society right now where everybody wants it fast. And unfortunately, those are the same people who a large number are financially illiterate. So they're not there. They don't understand what they're doing.

Jennifer Vitale: 14:00 Right. So it would be safe to say that we're nowhere where we need to be as a society.

Roosevelt Desir: 14:05 No, we're not. And that's why right now what you're doing and bringing that to the forefront is very important because it is a conversation to have because it's only getting worse. As you take a look at the speed of technology and the speed of information, people are making decisions based on little information that they know and not getting the results that they want.

Jennifer Vitale: 14:33 Right. Well, looks like together we have much work to do. Um, I thank you so much for your time, for your expertise. I'm sure I will use you tremendously throughout this journey. And again, I cannot thank you enough, um, for your time and have a wonderful day.

Roosevelt Desir: 14:55 Thank you. Appreciate it.

Audible link: Interview with Roosevelt