Here at Boss Women Media, we love to celebrate black excellence from both men and women. What better way to do just that than to shine a light on one of hip-hop’s most prized artist—Jay-Z. Recently Jay-Z became known as the first rapper to become a billionaire at the age of 49. Clearly HOV is making money moves, and we need to take a page or two out of his book, so we can do the same!
Here are four financial lessons from Jay-Z’s 4:44, to help us all make billionaire boss moves and take our success to the next level.
Generational Wealth
“Generational Wealth, that’s the key, my parents ain’t have s**t so that shift started with me.” -Legacy
The Breakdown: Generational wealth is money that has continuously been passed down from parents to children (generation to generation), so they are able to add to the pool of funds and continue the growth over time. Jay- Z’s mindset is to preserve the Carter families name, and give his children and family the tools they need to build upon their wealth for many years to come. Simply stated, pass wealth to the next generation.
Investing
“Please don’t die over the neighborhood that your momma rentin’, take your drug money and buy the neighborhood, that’s how you rinse it.” -The Story of OJ
The Breakdown: Many street gangs are territorial, and gang members tend to put their lives on the line for properties that are ultimately government owned. With Jay-Z’s experience with the violence of the drug dealing lifestyle, he uses his retirement from it to encourage others to do the same thing. While you can, invest your savings, take worthy risks while you’re young, and remember it’s never too early to begin saving for retirement.
Support Your Friends
“What’s better than one billionaire? Two. I’ll be damned if I drink some Belvedere while Puff got Cîroc.” – Family Feud
The Breakdown: It literally cost nothing to support your friends. Jay-Z is adamant about supporting black-owned businesses, and regardless of who the actual billionaires are, Jay-Z wants everyone within the culture to succeed—period. There’s no room or time for jealously and criticism (unless it’s constructive), support other business owners.
Credit
“You know what’s more important than throwing away money in the strip club? Credit.” – The Story of OJ
The Breakdown: Spending money at the club has long been a common theme in the hip-hop culture. Jay-Z emphasizes the idea of investing and expanding, making good credit a necessity. The average credit score of younger millennials (ages 22-28) is around 652, and older millennials (ages 29-35) average a 665.Having good credit is important in this day age, it can take you further than you can imagine.
