Day 22

by Black Star - January 22, 2022 ET

In just three short weeks, we have prayed and made a reading list, committed to saving and paying off debt, learned to invest and give back, and so much more. Now, where do we go from here?

In my book, Say Yes When Life Says No, I encourage my readers that once you have completed an exercise like this, be prepared to start the process over. “That is the strength of this exercise. You can reuse these same strategies as you continue to achieve goals or tweak existing goals based on your life circumstances. The more you practice these strategies, the better you get at growing and protecting your finances.

But what if your plans are undermined by events beyond your control? Are you prepared for the unexpected? I have learned to expect the unexpected by hoping and praying for the best, but planning and preparing for the worst. You cannot control what happens, but you can control how you respond… if you are prepared.”

The important message today is that you must prepare for your next level. The next level is attainable; however, you must be prepared to be able to take advantage of even the smallest window of opportunity to move up. I have provided you some clear steps to take to keep you connected and on the path to financial freedom:

Subscribe to the Dfree Podcast Network.

This is a series of shows designed to uplift, empower and motivate you to become financially free. Depending on where you are in your journey to financial freedom, we have a show for everyone. Now launching February 7, 2022.

Enroll in the Dfree Online Academy

You can join our upcoming three-week, instructor-led class starting Saturday, February 12, at 10:00am ET. The class will repeat every quarter this year. You can also enroll in a self-paced course to work at your own pace.

Become a Dfree affiliate

Our Dfree curriculum is biblically-based, culturally relevant and economically sound. Our financial program has the flexibility of aligning with the work you are already doing to improve and protect your finances. With fictitious characters like Claude and Grace embedded throughout our user-friendly, easy-to-read content, participants have the ability to “see” themselves through their example.

The Dfree program is not a “one-stop shop.” Our goal is to help our participants explore the behaviors, attitudes, psychological, cultural and emotional contributors to their financial decision-making, and transform these into a healthy financial lifestyle.

The six Ds of Dfree represent a shift from debt, deficit and delinquency to deposits, dividends and deeds, thus moving from generational curses to growing generational wealth. To learn about Dfree and explore ways of keeping on track with your financial growth, contact info@mydfree.org or call 844-693-3733.

Thank you for joining me on this 22-day journey. Please click here to provide comments and feedback about your experience on Jump$tart22. Remember, everything I have shared is available at www.dfreefoundation.org/category/jumpstart22/. I invite you to revisit your favorite days and share this link with others who may have missed this experience. It’s never too late to Jump$tart your finances.

I look forward to sharing more with you throughout the year on the podcast and live classes.

Culled from Say Yes When Life Says No, available on Amazon.

Day 21

by Black Star - January 21, 2022 ET

Call To Action

Subscribe to the Dfree In the Black podcast. The hosts, Dr. Soaries and Tamika Stembridge, will announce the launch of the Dfree Podcast Network on Monday, February 7th. The network is designed to uplift, empower and motivate you to become financially free. Depending on where you are in your journey to financial freedom, we have a show for everyone.

Enroll in the Dfree Online Academy for a three-week instructor-led class starting Saturday, February 12, at 10:00am ET.

More often, we have a picture-perfect day or season. It may not happen frequently, but from time to time, we enjoy a period when it seems like nothing can go wrong and we can do no wrong. These are the times we wish would never end.

Joshua had a day such as this. The highlight of Joshua’s day – perhaps his whole life – was commanding the sun and the moon to stand still. If the sun and the moon were described as having stood still, then Joshua’s miraculous victory was so profound it felt as if the Earth had actually stood still. What Joshua accomplished in defeating his adversaries was so amazing that his victory was described poetically as being like the sun and the moon actually pausing to honor the victory. That is a huge victory!

These seemingly perfect seasons don’t just happen; they represent the harvest from seeds that have been sown in the past, such as the seeds sown during these 20 days on Jump$tart22. If you have diligently followed this campaign and practiced each (or even some) of the activities shared relating to your finances, today we celebrate!

We often face formidable forces that do not want us to succeed. But even if they team up against you, God can organize a victory that can be so tremendous that it will be like planets changing their behavior in agreement with God’s blessing. That kind of victory does not happen every day, and not without putting in personal effort. But if it happened for Joshua, it can happen for you. And when it does, celebrate!

Culled from Meditation for Financial Freedom Vol.2.

Day 20

by Black Star - January 20, 2022 ET

Call to Action

Subscribe to the Dfree In the Black podcast. Hosts, Dr. Soaries and Tamika Stembridge, will announce the launch of the Dfree Podcast Network next Monday, January 24. The network is designed to uplift, empower, and motivate you to become financially free. Depending on where you are in your journey to financial freedom, we have a show for everyone.

Enroll in the Dfree Online Academy for a three-week instructor-led class starting Saturday, February 12, at 10:00am ET

Recently, there was a documentary about the billionaire, Warren Buffett. It told his life story and about his relationship with money and economics.

In this documentary, we journey with Mr. Buffett as he continues to gain more and more assets. While Mr. Buffett is securing a solid financial hold, his wife, Susan, is busy with charitable organizations and supporting underserved and marginalized community members. Mr. Buffett jokes, “As soon as I get it, Susie wants to give it away.”

Susie later dies from cancer. Mr. Buffet then vows to give away most of his fortune to charity. However, he knows he is not the only one who has the capacity to make a difference. Warren Buffet enlists other billionaires to join in the commitment to give to those less fortunate.

You don’t have Warren Buffet money, but you can help someone else. Proverbs 4:7 reminds us, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Hopefully, you have learned some techniques, some skills or secured some information that will aide you in supporting this dfree® movement. Now it is time for you to share your knowledge with someone else.

Our challenge:

Apply the principals of dfree® living to your life;
Share the story of dfree® with family and friends;
Start a group to discuss the elements and power of living dfree®;
Make your church or charity a beneficiary in one of your life insurance policies; and
Leave an asset to your church or charity of your choice in your will or trust.

We believe this Dfree Financial Freedom Movement can be a community movement, a city movement, a state movement which would lead to a country movement, and eventually a worldwide movement. Imagine if your community was a Dfree living community. It is possible. This is your opportunity to give something back to your community – this free and life-changing program.

Will you join us in this endeavor to change the world? Who else do you feel can benefit from Dfree and become good partners with us? Let us know! Help us share what you have learned with others – an endeavor to be DFREE!

Culled from Dfree for Entrepreneurs and A Guide for Seasoned Citizens both available on Amazon.com.

Day 19

by Black Star - January 19, 2022 ET

Call To Action

Here are two easy and free ways to keep connected, keep informed and keep on track:

Our new podcast series launches on Monday, January 24, bringing you expert discussions on a variety of subjects including Financial Solutions, Wife Life: Securing Your Future, and How to Finance Your Athletic Dreams, among others. Go to www.dfree.com/shows for a full list with details.
Enroll in the Dfree Online Academy for a three-week instructor-led class starting Saturday, February 12, at 10:00am ET: www.mydfree.org.

Verse

“Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.” 2 Kings 4:10 NIV

Thought

My maternal grandmother was the church mother at the Trinity Temple Church of God in Christ in Montclair, New Jersey in the 1960s. This designation as church mother is taken very seriously both by the person who holds it and her community. In this role, church mother has tremendous influence in the church. I strongly believe that the tradition of church mothers derives from the role of the queen mother in West Africa.

Just as the African queen mother has a close relationship with the African king, the church mother has a close working relationship with the pastor of a church. My grandmother’s pastor was Bishop Frederick Douglas Washington, one of the most renowned preachers among Black Pentecostal Christians. As a child, I hated Bishop Washington because he was the only person who got to use the fine China in our house!

There was a wooden cabinet in my grandmother’s dining room that had a glass door and through it you could see fine glasses, dishes, plates, forks and knives that could not be touched, as they were reserved for Bishop Washington’s use only. Bishop Washington obliged himself to use those well-protected items every Sunday after church services, when he would come to our house for an extravagant meal prepared by my grandmother who was his church mother.

Grandma had the kind of respect and admiration for Bishop Washington that the Shunammite woman had for Prophet Elisha. She was married and quite well-to-do; and whenever Elisha was in Shunem, he would go to her house for dinner, just like Bishop Washington. The woman concluded that Elisha was a holy man and suggested to her husband that they build an extra room in their house so they could provide Elisha with lodging when he needed it. They did exactly that, and Elisha accepted their offer and embraced their hospitality.

Her love and admiration for Prophet Elisha was sincere and generous, but her ability to actually provide support for Elisha and his cause was due to the fact that she and her husband owned their own home and could do with it whatever they chose. One very important position to have is the ability to support important causes in tangible ways with your own resources or monetary funds.

Many Christian causes and Christian institutions have been made possible by the generosity of people with means. When we own assets, we have the option to do more than just pray for people and projects that we love and support. We can make those resources available to protect the church and its leaders from begging for support; and perhaps even compromising their principles in order to make ends meet.

Ownership allows flexibility to support our church community. Both Elisha and Bishop Washington had physical nurture and people with means who made places for them in the homes that they owned because the people of the church had the means to do so.

Watch the recording of a conversation with our partners at eHomeAmerica on how to get help becoming a first-time home owner: https://youtu.be/MBsdWmZAmoI.

Culled from Meditation for Financial Freedom Vol 4.

Day 18

by Black Star - January 18, 2022 ET

We may be surprised that we are living longer than many of our grandparents and that we are healthier than our parents were, but we should not be surprised that our lives will one day end.

We may encounter physical disability; we may be laid off from our jobs; our businesses may not survive as long as we live; we may just get tired. Not only is it prudent for us to consider our own survival, but we must also consider the welfare of our families that depend on us after we die. We must prepare for our decline and our departure while our strength is still present.

Medical technology has made it possible for people to live far beyond their natural years. One of the most difficult decisions for a family to make involves how long to keep a loved one on life support. Circumstances requiring such decisions are now widespread within hospitals and the healthcare systems due to the existence of very sophisticated technologies.

King Hezekiah was not on life support but he had an illness that the prophet Isaiah predicted would end his life. Hezekiah followed up the prophet’s prediction by going straight to God with a request to live longer, and God granted the king 15 more years. But eventually, he still died.

Isaiah gave him good advice regardless of whether he died then or lived 15 more years. “Put your house in order” is good advice whenever it is given because every one of us will face the end of our physical lives and we might even have our lives extended by machines.

Putting your house in order includes preparing a professional will concerning your estate and heirs, as well as creating written instructions concerning your desires should a time arrive when you can no longer make and communicate decisions for yourself about medical treatment. These instructions are living wills and advance directives.

These are written, legal instructions regarding your preferences for medical care if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. Advance directives guide choices for doctors and caregivers if you’re terminally ill, seriously injured, in a coma, in the late stages of dementia or near the end of your life.

Advance directives aren’t just for older adults. Unexpected end-of-life situations can happen at any age, so it’s important for all adults to prepare these documents.

By “putting your house in order”, you ensure that your wishes and instructions are carried out if you become incapacitated or die, avoiding unnecessary suffering and relieving your family of decision-making burdens during moments of crisis or grief.

You also help reduce confusion or disagreement about the choices you would want people to make on your behalf or about your estate.

Each of the books listed below contain additional information for further reading on the subject of wills and estate preparation for all age groups:

Dfree for entrepreneurs
Your dfree, A guide for seasoned citizens
Meditation For Financial Freedom Vol. 2
Meditation For Financial Freedom Vol. 4 (coming soon).

Go to www.dfree.com/gethelp and connect with a professional to discuss how to put your house in order today.

*Culled from Meditations for Financial Freedom Vol. 2

Day 17

by Black Star - January 17, 2022 ET

Thank God my father had life insurance and mortgage insurance. When he died at 47, all his major bills were paid because he was well insured. This, among other experiences, gave me great appreciation for the need for insurance.

Of course, auto insurance is mandatory almost everywhere, so I have always had insurance for my car since I started driving at 17. I also knew that life insurance was important to have; my grandmother got a weekly visit from an insurance agent to whom she paid her premium and my father had a part time job selling life insurance for the black-owned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. That is how I grew into adulthood embracing insurance products as a necessity and not a luxury.

I learned an alarming fact when I first made a workplace presentation of my Dfree Financial Freedom Movement to a New England insurance company. It was through my work with their employees that I learned I could more likely become disabled before age 65 than die before age 65. This stunned me! I had never given any thought to being disabled much less before reaching age 65.

Shortly after this newfound knowledge, a dear friend of mine became too sick to work. In fact, he was a successful professional and an active man who played golf, travelled extensively and was well-respected among our peers. He was too young to retire but he had never purchased disability insurance.

There are several different types of insurances that we can invest in, including insurances that protect us in the event of accidents and incidents that attack our assets or our ability to earn an income. Get a copy of the Dfree 12 Steps Workbook where we have provided a decent list of insurances for your consideration.

I also recommend that you speak with a Certified Financial Planner who can help you determine what type of insurance you need. Go to www.dfree.com/gethelp to request a free consultation today.

Day 16

by Black Star - January 16, 2022 ET

I once saw a commercial about saving for retirement where they had young people draw a line to where they think one should begin saving for retirement. There were also older people who drew a line from where they started to save. The discovery was that there was a huge gap between when people consider saving and when they actually start saving.

In my book, Meditations for Financial Freedom Vol.1, I reference Genesis 26:12 (NIV) where “Isaac planted crops in that land and in the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.” We are responsible for our investments, our retirement planning, and our security and there are many forms of investments that can help individuals.

The problem many of us have is deciding what to believe as really being possible. Is it really possible that Isaac planted crops and in the same year had a harvest that was one hundred times larger? Forget a one-year harvest – is it possible to have an increase of one hundred times our original investment in a lifetime?

Well, consider this; if someone had invested $40, ($531 today) in one share of Coca Cola stock in 1940, their investment would be worth $9.8 million dollars today! There are companies today that are growing equally as fast and offering substantial returns.

Unfortunately, too many of us see the stock market as being for the rich and the famous. The truth is that some of us spend $531 a month at bowling alleys, in nightclubs or on lottery tickets. $531 dollars invested wisely could yield us more than the one hundredfold that Isaac yielded from his crops. The difference between Isaac and us is that he believed the crops would yield a harvest and we are wondering if it’s possible.

We at Dfree Global Foundation Inc. have partnered with Moneylion Wealth LLC to provide you with free and accessible advice on banking and investment. Click here now if you’d like to learn more and get connected with Moneylion today.

Day 15

by Black Star - January 15, 2022 ET

Trying to determine what investments to make and what retirement accounts you need all by yourself can be complicated if you are not familiar with investments and retirement accounts.

I recommend seeking the help and support of a professional. A financial advisor or a financial planner is an individual who can assist you with your investments, and help you understand the pros and cons of your retirement plans.

How do you secure a reputable financial advisor? Go to www.dfree.com/gethelp to request to be contacted by a financial advisor. You can also ask your friends, co-workers, family and church members for recommendations.

You must know what type of service you want from the advisor. Are you looking for someone to manage your financial portfolio or do you need someone to answer questions you may have from time to time?

This is not just for your individual financial needs. For better or worse, the diversity of complex options for how to manage your finances has made it imperative for conscientious business owners to consult financial advisors for critical financial decisions.

Purchase your personal copies of Dfree for Entrepreneurs and also Dfree for Seasoned Citizens for more information and guidance on how to get professional financial advice.

Day 14

by Black Star - January 14, 2022 ET

Time.com published in a June 2021 article that over 14 million American adults are unbanked or under-banked according to a survey by the FDIC. This number represents 6% of American households. The article also reports that almost 17% of Black households are likely unbanked.

As we learned on Day 10 from the example of Mr. RED, starting to save early on in life, for any purpose, is of great benefit and advantage. It is, however, important to know and understand the different types of accounts you must have and the purpose and benefit of each.

In the Dfree Lifestyle: 12 Steps to Financial Freedom Workbook, there’s a list of some “must-have” accounts, including those mentioned below, to serve as a guide. The context will help you determine which accounts you need. And then go and open what you don’t have.

Bank or credit union checking account
Bank or credit union savings account
Investment account
Retirement account
College savings account

If you already have a copy of the Dfree Lifestyle: 12 Steps to Financial Freedom Workbook and still need help figuring out your “must-have” accounts, reach out to us; email info@mydfree.org and we’ll help you get started.

You can read the full time.com article here: What You Should Know if You’re Unbanked Right Now.

Day 13

by Black Star - January 13, 2022 ET

A member of my team shared with me her recent experience with subscriptions. She had to update all her different subscriptions with her new credit card information. A couple of weeks later, a service provider called to remind her to update her card information or lose her subscription. She was confused because she was sure she had already updated her information on that account.

On following up with them, she discovered that she had set up a second account with this service provider by mistake, and that she was paying for two accounts when she only really used (and needed) one! How long had this gone on? She couldn’t even remember when she had set it up.

That is why it is important that you review and clean up your subscriptions regularly. It could be a case similar to this story, or something as simple as no longer needing a certain number of channels on your cable.

Cleaning up subscriptions ensures you reduce the volume of junk mail you receive, thereby reducing the temptation to make purchases from enticing marketing materials. You also get to review not just services, but events and programing that you have signed up for and re-assess whether you still need them.

Most importantly, clean up your subscriptions so that you can make room for what is necessary for your personal, social, psychological, and financial growth.

Visit www.dfree.com/shows to get a preview of the personal and financial growth content we have developed for you in the all new Dfree Podcast Network series, starting Monday, January 24.

WELCOME