Financial freedom and prosperity is very hard to achieve. It’s so hard that the majority of people never even achieve it. In fact, over 60% of the American population have under $1000 in savings and over 50% of the American population are financially illiterate, meaning they have no idea how to manage their money. The old saying goes, “the poor get poorer and the rich get richer”, and this saying stands true in our society today. So, what is the solution to financial freedom and prosperity, or is there even a solution?
The answer to the above question is yes there is a solution, and it isn’t as difficult as you might think. Take for instance, a man by the name of Curtis Carroll, was once both illiterate and financially illiterate. He lived a life in poverty where he carried out a series of crimes for a living which landed him in prison. While this may be the end all to some, by getting incarcerated, Curtis Carroll turned his life around and can now not only read but he’s also financially literate as well. His moving story can be found here in this video:
While Curtis Carroll was in prison he picked up a newspaper for his cell mate to read to him. It happened to be the business section and his cell mate asked Curtis if he picked stocks. He said, “what are stocks?”, and then his old cell mate said, “it’s where rich white folk hold their money!” He then filled Curtis in on what the stock market was, which became Curtis’s first glimpse of financial prosperity. While in prison, Curtis learned how to read, and it gave him the gifts of self-worth, knowledge, and discipline. With these gifts he became enlightened and developed an understanding of managing finances.
Upon learning to read and gaining a wealth of knowledge about his new found passion of financial prosperity, Curtis realized that financial illiteracy has crippled minorities and the lower class society for generations. After all, it was the reason he was in prison and over 70% of Americans who are incarcerated are charged with money related crimes. This bothered Curtis Carroll deeply which is why he cofounded a program to help financially illiterate people called ‘Financial Empowerment Emotional Literacy’.
