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☆ Closing the Racial Retirement Gap
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailClosing the Racial Retirement GapThere is a huge disparity in retirement savings in America. According to recent studies, on average, white Americans have seven times the retirement savings of Black Americans, and five times the savings of Latino retirees. TIAA CEO Thasunda Duckett has made finding ways to close these gaps and secure the retirement futures for all TIAA's customers a critical part of her company's mission. 17:52 an hour ago

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates repeatedly since 2022, and that makes credit card debt expensive. With debt balances at $986 billion, Americans will pay $45 billion more in interest than they would have. Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to have credit card debt than white Americans. At the beginning of 2022, the average credit card interest rate was 16.17%, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Ways to take control of your credit card debtIf you find yourself with large credit card debt, it's a good idea to pay it off quickly.

Bad credit could mean paying more than three times as much on a $5,000 loan as someone with good credit. If the 3.5 million Americans taking out loans had bad credit, that difference in interest rate would cost them a cumulative $20 billion. The cost of borrowing money with bad credit adds up fastWe don't know exactly how many borrowers have good and bad credit, so there's no way to be sure how much more Americans with bad credit are paying on the whole. In other words, bad credit could mean Americans would cumulatively pay as much as $20 billion extra this year. A recent Credit Sesame survey of 5,000 adults in the United States also found Black and Hispanic Americans had lower average credit scores than white Americans.

☆ New York City launches program to help lower-income residents recover from floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

New York City has introduced a new pilot program that will help residents from lower-income communities recover more quickly from major flooding events. The program is designed in part to help frontline communities get quicker relief after climate-related disasters and make up for an often slow and complex payout process from private insurance providers or the federal government. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers reside in low-lying neighborhoods where climate change has prompted rising sea levels, worsening coastal storms and more frequent flood events. Rising tides and more frequent storms in New York City will put up to $242 billion of real estate at risk of coastal flooding by the 2050s, according to a report by the city's comptroller. "I think of this pilot as one of many potential creative ways we can start improving equity and recovery," Kousky said.

☆ The Equity Talk: One of America's largest insurance providers is making addiction and mental health a top focus for CEOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

In an Equity Talk, Nasenbenny talks about how mental health and addiction are DEI issues. The data has clearly demonstrated that everyone is affected by the current mental health and addiction crisis. Do you feel the CEOs at companies you provide insurance to actually care about mental health and addiction policies? We see a lot of individuals that come to us with claims who are on opioids or have a mental health condition, oftentimes an untreated mental health condition. If we see trends within one of our customers that suggest they have more addiction issues or mental health issues than other like-minded, similarly situated companies, we will bring that to their attention.

☆ Racial homeownership gap larger now than a decade ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The homeownership rate for White Americans in 2021 was 72.7%, but the rate for Black Americans was 44%, according to NAR’s analysis of the most recent data. The homeownership rate for Asian Americans was 62.8% and for Hispanic Americans it was 50.6%. The homeownership rate for Black Americans varies from 15% to 55% across the country. The states with the highest homeownership rate for Black Americans were South Carolina at 55%, Delaware at 54%, and Mississippi at 54%. Meanwhile, the homeownership rate for White Americans ranged from 50% to 81% across the country.

☆ Racial homeownership gap widens as Black buyers struggle to secure loans amid persistent discrimination and redlining, analysis finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The rate of Black homeownership in the US has increased by less than one percent over the last , the National Association of Realtors found. On Tuesday, an Ohio-based bank paid millions to the Justice Department after being accused of redlining Black buyers. New scoring models by the Federal Housing Finance Agency suggest homeownership could become more accessible for Americans. While the US homeownership rate has consistently increased over the years, according to an analysis by the National Association of Realtors, the Black homeownership rate has failed to keep up. Homeowners of other racial and ethnic groups fall below the 30% mark, with just 21% of White Americans spending 30% of their income on their home.

☆ Elon Musk sides with Dilbert cartoonist after newspapers dropped him for making a racist rant
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk made the comments in defence of "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams. Adams was dropped by newspapers after making racist claims about Black Americans. Musk said the media is racist against white people, and made no criticism of Adams' claims. "For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they're racist against whites & Asians," Musk tweeted in response to the move. Musk's tweets came after the Dilbert creator suggested white Americans "get the hell away from Black people" in a YouTube video.

☆ 'Dilbert' cartoon dropped after racist rant by creator Scott Adams
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Feb 25 (Reuters) - The cartoon "Dilbert" has been dropped from numerous U.S. newspapers in response to a racist rant by its creator on YouTube. "If nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with white people ... that's a hate group," Adams said on his YouTube channel on Wednesday. "Cartoonist Scott Adams made racist comments in a YouTube livestream Feb. 22, offensive remarks that The Times rejects," the newspaper said on its website. The Times said it had removed four Dilbert cartoons from its pages in recent months because they violated the newspaper's standards. But on his YouTube channel, he confirmed his comic was being dropped - and said he had expected that to happen.

☆ Elon Musk accuses media of racism after newspapers drop 'Dilbert' cartoon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday accused the media of being racist against whites and Asians after U.S. newspapers dropped a white comic strip author who made derogatory comments about Black Americans. "Maybe they can try not being racist," Musk tweeted. loadingIn response to an account that said white victims of police violence get a fraction of media coverage compared to Black victims, Musk said the coverage is "Very disproportionate to promote a false narrative." Musk's latest tweets come after the Dilbert creator suggested white Americans "get the hell away from Black people". The move to drop the cartoon was "not a difficult decision", the Plain Dealer newspaper in Ohio told its readers on Friday.

☆ Analysis: With record diversity on their boards, Fed bank chiefs see lower chances of policy error
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Ann Saphir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Fed bank directors generally stay out of the limelight, but many U.S. central bankers view them as a critical resource. "I think the probabilities are far higher of achieving that gentle transition, that smoother transition," San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told Reuters in an interview. This year, of the 108 spots on the 12 Fed bank boards, 44% are filled by women, and 41% by people of color, a review of the data shows. Still, a majority of the Fed's economists are white men, as are its top two monetary policymakers: Powell and New York Fed President John Williams. Hispanics and Latinos, Menendez notes, are a fast-growing segment of the population but are underrepresented at the Fed at all levels, including on Fed bank boards.

☆ A 'baby bond' bill to give every child $1,000 at birth has been reintroduced in Congress. How it would work
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The policy is aimed at narrowing the wealth gap, which has grown dramatically in the past 50 years, according to the lawmakers. The idea of baby bonds is getting traction in some states. Baby bond legislation has passed in California, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. Another eight states have introduced legislation, according to the Urban Institute, including Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, Washington, Delaware, Nevada and Massachusetts. A national policy may reduce the wealthy disparity between young white and Black Americans to a ratio of 1 to 4, according to the research. Estimates have found young white Americans have 16 times the wealth of young Black Americans, based on median incomes.

If the 3.5 million Americans taking out loans had bad credit, that difference in interest rate would cost them a cumulative $93 billion. See Insider's picks for the best personal loans »Insider's Featured Personal Loan Companies LightStream Personal LoanMarcus Personal LoanSoFi Personal Loan Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. The cost of borrowing money with bad credit adds up fastWe don't know exactly how many borrowers have good and bad credit, so there's no way to be sure how much more Americans with bad credit are paying on the whole. In other words, bad credit could mean Americans would cumulatively pay as much as $93 billion extra this year. A recent Credit Sesame survey of 5,000 adults in the United States also found Black and Hispanic Americans had lower average credit scores than white Americans.

I read a lot about saving and investing and use investing apps that make it easy to build wealth. While these numbers look discouraging, I've never been more encouraged to build wealth as Black woman in America. I have four siblings, and we often talk about how we want to be the generation to build wealth and pass something on to our kids. Editor's Rating 4.36/5 A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Editor's Rating 4.34/5 A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Editor's Rating 3.9/5 A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Learn more On Public's website Learn more On Wealthfront's website Learn more On Acorns' websiteIn 2017, I opened an IRA for the first time, and just contributed whatever I could. Overall, putting in the time and money to learn more about finances has helped me make wise money decisions and have a better shot at building wealth as a Black woman.

Black families face unique, racist barriers to creating wealth, from homeownership to business ownership, says Salene Hitchcock-Gear, president of individual life insurance at Prudential. To work towards closing the racial wealth gap and building generational wealth for Black Americans, it's important to understand what obstacles stand in the way. Black Americans face lower median credit scoresWhile the credit scoring system was created to take the bias out of lending, it's become yet another hurdle that prevents many Black Americans from building wealth. The bottom lineAfter many generations of being excluded from wealth-building, Black Americans still face a unique set of challenges stemming from racial discrimination. However, making homebuying and financial literacy more accessible could start to narrow the wide racial wealth gap in the US, and help Black families build generational wealth.

☆ AI needs a set of rules — for its own good, and for ours
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Lawmakers and industry insiders agree: AI needs strong regulations for the industry to thrive. Ultimately, experts agree that this is a necessary step for the nascent AI industry to truly thrive. The AI industry welcomes regulationTech industry insiders say that AI regulation is a prudent step to helping make sure that the technology can be brought to the mass market in a sustainable, responsible way. While the tech industry has historically viewed regulation as harmful to innovation, supporters of rules for AI point to the many instances where strict rules have helped technologies flourish. Calls for AI regulation are not limited to policymakers and researchers.

☆ Back-to-back California shootings reflect an American tragedy, not an ‘Asian issue,’ experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Mirna-Alsharif-Byline-Jm.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Gun violence isn’t innate in Asian culturesGun violence, experts note, is not inherent in the Asian diaspora's culture. So Ho condemned those attempting to paint the Asian American community with a broad brush due to the pair of tragedies. Gun control organizations haven’t invested enough time and resources in the Asian American community, Ramakrishnan said. And campaigns and parties have often targeted Asian American voters with a focus on education and affirmative action, he said. And Dhingra said he fears that, as more attacks occur in Asian American spaces, it could lead to more Asian Americans purchasing weapons for self-defense, leading to more firearms to be used and misused.

With the tax-advantaged investing component of a permanent life insurance policy, life insurance is the gift that keeps giving. Life insurance is more affordable than you may thinkPerceived cost is one factor that deters people of color from buying adequate life insurance. Unfortunately, we've seen licensed life insurance agents who still tell buyers term to whole conversions are "guaranteed," or rates will stay the same in those life insurance conversions. Life insurance doesn't have to cost a pretty penny, and life insurance is constantly changing. Permanent life insurance is generally more expensive than a term life insurance policy and can vary highly based on various factors.

Last week, the Bruces’ great-grandsons sold it back to the county for nearly $20 million. However, equally as shortsighted is treating this case as a model for reparations for all Black Americans, as some have suggested. Doing so would ignore that true reparation requires repair, and this solution doesn’t address the sources of racial inequality in America’s real estate system. Invariably, Blacks’ property was most endangered when it became valuable, or when it threatened the value of white property and business interests. In gentrifying housing markets, tax sales serve as a lucrative profit source, whose main victims are Black, elderly and low-income people.

☆ The U.S. passed a historic climate deal this year — here's a recap of what's in the bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Emma Newburger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

The IRA's provisions have major implications for clean energy and manufacturing businesses, climate startups and consumers in the coming years. As 2022 comes to a close, here's a look back at the key elements in the legislation that climate and clean energy advocates will be monitoring in 2023. Taking aim at methane gas emissionsSome pumpjacks operate while others stand idle in the Belridge oil field near McKittrick, California. Mario Tama | Getty ImagesThe package imposes a tax on energy producers that exceed a certain level of methane gas emissions. And the bill has a hydrogen production tax credit, which provides hydrogen producers with a credit based on the climate attributes of their production methods.

☆ Black homeowners pushed out of one Baltimore block show how Wall Street banks failed to lend money they had promised, a Bloomberg investigation shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Banks promised to invest in Black communities after they were hit by the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The block stands as a glaring reminder of the broken promises made by some of Wall Street's biggest banks to support America's Black homeowners, a recent Bloomberg investigation shows. As of October 2021, according to the US Census Bureau, 45% of Black Americans owned homes, which is nearly 30 points below the rate of white Americans: 74.6%. On Walbrook Avenue, the absence of large lenders has left many locals without a lifeline. After the 2008-2009 financial crisis, several financial institutions made pledges to invest billions of dollars to support Black homeownership.

☆ Black Americans saw crypto as a path to building wealth. Now they're bearing the brunt of its decline.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Many Black Americans have invested in cryptocurrency in recent years. Closing the wealth gap is among the reasons some Black investors turned to crypto in the first place. As of September 2021, 18% of Black Americans overall had invested in, traded, or used a cryptocurrency, compared to 13% of white Americans, according to a Pew Research poll of over 10,000 US adults. First, some Black investors may see crypto as a way to close the racial wealth gap. An April Ariel and Charles Schwab survey found 28% of Black Americans distrust banks, compared to 18% of white Americans.

☆ Americans will soon be able to save a lot more for retirement — but it might help the wealthy the most
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It includes changes to Americans' retirement savings, like raising the age of required withdrawal. A significant element of the bipartisan government spending plan included changes to Americans' retirement funds. It also allows an increased contribution in retirement savings for older workers and paves the way for automatic enrollment for workers starting in 2025. White Americans are far more likely to have retirement savings, and those savings dwarf those of Americans of color. Some Democratic lawmakers acknowledged they did not get to include everything they had hoped for in this spending package, like increased funding to help Americans recover from the pandemic.

Brittney Griner’s release from a Russian penal colony Thursday as part of a prisoner swap for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was met with widespread celebration. Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison after vape canisters and cannabis oil were discovered in her luggage at the airport. “I wonder if she will respect our flag and country now,” self-proclaimed Trump supporter Collin Rugg wrote in a tweet liked 21,000 times. Such outdated definitions of patriotism disgrace the national anthem and the flag more than any peaceful protest ever could. She is a Black LGBTQ American, a wife, a daughter, an advocate, an Olympian and a world-class basketball star.

☆ First Gen Z congressman, Maxwell Frost, says he was denied an apartment in DC over bad credit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Kayla Gallagher | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Gen Z Congressman Maxwell Frost tweeted Thursday he got denied from a DC apartment for bad credit. "Just applied to an apartment in DC where I told the guy that my credit was really bad. He's not alone: Credit card balances have been on the rise, especially for Gen Z, as the cost of living keeps soaring. But as Insider's Kevin L. Matthews II reported, there's a "credit gap" between Black and white borrowers, further powering the racial wealth gap. That can further the gap in homeownership rates between Americans of color and white Americans.

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