Can Blacks Build Wealth and Remain Charitable?

James Johnson, a business professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, remembers when his older relatives helped him out financially while he was in graduate school. With that in mind, he has tried to make sure that their needs are met, but the costs of caring for elderly loved ones continue to rise at the detriment of his own savings.

Before his mother died two months ago, Johnson gave her at least $500 per month for utilities. In addition, he paid the insurance on his parents’ cars and houses, and their taxes. One year ago, he took on his mother-in-law’s mortgage when she couldn’t sell her home. She needed the money to buy into a retirement community that cost $6,500 per month. Last week, as his family planned a Thanksgiving retreat, he offered to pay the airfare for a relative whose leukemia prevents him from traveling by car, train, or bus.

“I know I could have that money in an interest-bearing account, but I just can’t afford to do that when I have these responsibilities,” says Johnson, who has been trying to sell his mother-in-law’s house since last year. I take it very seriously because I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for those people.”

Johnson falls within a population of affluent black people who have either $250,000 or more in household income or at least $1 million in investable assets in 2007. The Northern Trust Corp. questioned members of this group about their giving habits and published their findings in a study called “Wealth in Black America,” which was released last month. The study shows that giving and wealth building, even within affluent black communities seem to be at odds with the temperament of most blacks.

The findings reveal that approximately half of affluent blacks feel a responsibility to provide financial support to family members. Additionally, participants of the study donated about $35,000 to charitable and religious organizations in 2007.

“Financial support of family members is certainly relevant to anyone, regardless of ethnicity or cultural background, but we found this to be a particular area of focus among blacks,” says Shundrawn Thomas, senior vice president and head of corporate strategy at Northern Trust. “Blacks on the whole are very charitably inclined.”

Six in 10 affluent blacks currently provide support to parents, and two in five provide support to siblings. Long-term care or disability is the most important need affluent blacks believe will be met through their financial support of adult family members.

“I have eight people in my family who are aging between 78 and 88 years old,” says Johnson. “You never know when you pick up the phone what they are going to need. It can be $50 for gasoline or $2,000 because the phone has been turned off. I don’t know how you plan for that. A lot of it is emergency stuff and the other part is related to health crisis.”

Younger generations, aged 18 to 42, feel more responsible to provide financial support to family members than their older counterparts age 43 and older. Thirty-eight percent of younger generations were interested in financial education programs regarding family philanthropy while only 5% of older generations found interest in it.

At 54, Johnson does not fall in the younger generation’s age range, but he feels squeezed by what he calls the sandwich generation.

“We are caught in between aging parents and grandparents who did not have the benefit or access to good jobs that paid livable wages with sound retirement packages attached to them and Gen X and Y relatives who are having a hard time because of the white-collar recession that we are in,” Johnson says. “That requires us to contribute on both ends of the spectrum.”

No one expects that affluent blacks should not assist family members financially or give to charities, but there are other ways to reduce or plan in anticipation for financial problems that family members might face.

Jessica Gordon-Nembhard believes that blacks are not as diligent at estate planning as whites. Although more than three in five affluent blacks say they are extremely or very concerned about ensuring that the next generations of family members lead productive, meaningful lives, only 54% of younger generations have prepared a last will and testament. That number is significantly lower for older generations.

Everyone should diversify their investments, but for blacks that is a difficult task since they often need to keep a portion of their savings liquid in case they run into emergencies that require them to bailout family members. “Wealthier whites have four or five elements in their portfolio whereas wealthier blacks only have two,” says Gordon-Nembhard.

She suggests that there are other ways for blacks to expand their wealth building portfolios. “Liquid investments can be as simple as a savings or money market account or a piece of property that is easy to sell,” Gordon-Nembhard says.

Cooperative business ownership or joint ownership of businesses shared amongst family is another way for families to invest together and establish generational wealth.

Finally, Gordon-Nembhard says that wealth creation has got to be a combination of policy and personal savvy. “It has never been about what one individual can do,” says Gordon-Nembhard. She suggests that blacks seek help from a financial counselor who might be able to suggest how blacks can leverage their assets in a way that maximizes growth while maintaining liquidity.

The good news from the study is that members of Generation X and Y are more concerned with estate planning and financial literacy than were older generations, reports “Wealth in Black America.” The study found that 71% of younger generations deemed it extremely or very important to leave an estate to their heirs, while only 37% of boomers said the same thing.

“The study shows me that younger generations are thinking in a more sophisticated manner and thinking along the lines of multigenerational wealth,” Thomas says.