The Economic Posterity Series: Securing Your Financial Future

In a life full of unpredictable factors and heavy uncertainty it's nice to have some predictable aspects.

Economic Posterity...what does that even mean?
Posterity is a noun meaning future generations. If we all had the opportunity to invest economically in the generations that follow after us, wouldn't we desire to provide some level of financial security? The purpose behind a course on economic posterity is to supply women with the necessary tools to provide a financially stable future, not only for ourselves but for our offspring, our grandchildren, and to all other generations that fall in our lineage.

Women are disproportionately disadvantaged when it comes to securing an economically prosperous future because of the persistent wage gaps between men and women working in the same industry with the same job title. Data collected by the Census Bureau in 2018 revealed that for every dollar earned by a male of any race females earn approximately 82 cents (two years later, these numbers have not changed much). This disproportionate pay not only limits a female's ability to adequately sustain a living for herself but also lessens her ability to provide a financially secure future for her offspring.

The meaning behind the course: Confronting this problem
Ngozi Bell, course creator and speaker opens her course with this quote:
"Your work life outcome must outlive your labor, it should be predictable, controllable, and fantastic on your terms."

A huge part of life is work. And since that is the case we might as well be in a fulfilling career-- love what we do, get paid well for it, and thoroughly enjoy our work environment.

This quote embodies the essence of Ngozi Bell's course. To access economic posterity we must be able to gauge where we are now and plan the future we desire, because consciously or unconsciously we are all working/moving towards this desirable outcome that can really only become a reality when both the human and economic factors are present.

Introducing Ngozi Bell
Over the past few weeks, I have had the pleasure of conversing with Ngozi Bell. These conversations allowed me to get to know her as an individual -- the daughter of a mother who was a chemistry professor and co-author of a chemistry book. Both of her parents valued higher education yet decided not to put academic pressure on their children. For university Nogzi decided to pursue a physics and an engineering degree, becoming a STEM girl in a time when women were not typically seen and represented in such industries. This decision, partly inspired by her mother, opened a number of opportunities for Ngozi and heavily influenced the direction her life has taken over the last two decades.

Ngozi, born and raised in Enugu, a city in east Nigeria, attended both Queens and Port Harcourt colleges to obtain her physics degree. Throughout our conversations, Ngozi stressed the importance of one decision: a decision that may not require a ton of thought or effort, but nevertheless one that can and does make a world of difference. In the 1990s Ngozi relocated to America to pursue her masters in electrical engineering at Florida State University. After getting her professional career started at a consulting firm whose mission was to solve environmental problems, Ngozi had the opportunity to work for AT&T Microelectronics, Lucent technology, and Agere system LSI, some of the most technologically advanced companies in the mid 1990s to early 2000s. In 2008 Ngozi began working as Vice President of Birchmere Ventures, a venture capital firm where she spent two solid years before transitioning to government employment. In 2010 Ngozi had the opportunity to work under former President Barack Obama's administration for six years in the office of advocacy as the small business chief counsel for six states in the MidAtlantic region. While Ngozi is still very active in various other sectors, she is currently employed at TransSahara Investment Corporation, a private equity firm, as a firm partner. Ngozi's work experience has allowed her to navigate several industries and positions which encompass technology, engineering, leadership, business, investment, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

Is economic posterity actually accessible?
Often when considering taking a course it is common practice to ask whether the information can be applied to our own individual lives and if the acquired takeaways are even worth our time. Total change is not something that can happen overnight. Being intentional is imperative when it pertains to economic prosperity. Our daily actions matter and our ability to capitalize on the opportunities granted to us is a decision we must make for ourselves. Conversing with Ngozi is proof that anyone in any life stage can work towards securing his or her financial future-- transcending obvious limiting factors such as systemic racial bias, worldwide economic distress as a result of the pandemic, and various ethnic barriers.

- Acknowledge and become comfortable with defining who you are- our educational status and the opportunities we find ourselves in qualify us to navigate and thrive in a multitude of arenas. Capitalize on that.

- Style it! Make an investment in yourself and discover what the equity (the return from that investment) will be.

- Have a good exit plan. Opportunities do eventually come to an end -- a company's agenda may change and your role may no longer be needed. Our ability to use our experiences is imperative for securing a prosperous predictable future. It is important to remember that every new financial opportunity is a way to cash in on the skills acquired from the places we once occupied.

Minor setbacks yield major comebacks
There is no preset timeline one's life must fall into to guarantee economic prosperity. Missteps and diversions are simply part of our human nature. While many often assume Ngozi Bell is a super serious individual, she is actually very chill and easygoing. Ngozi is very understanding, interested and invested in others' present and future lives. Her course is merely an extension of who she is -- it's a way for her to educate others on a practice she has utilized for many years.

Ngozi, her life, her work, and her message is a market demand. Voices like hers need to be heard and the content she is sharing is an absolute necessity. So ask yourself, what am I building? What enterprise does my life support? Am I living a life that is pushing me towards economic posterity, and is my future predictable? Then attend Ngozi's course which starts Thursday, October 22, 2020.

You'll thank me later.

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.