Financial advisor Ryan Mack has a passion for teaching wealth in the Black community and guiding his clients towards financial freedom. He delves into a few topics that are hard to hear, yet, important to know when it comes to the value we place on a dollar and our self. Get ready to have a financial awakening!

Name: Ryan Mack

Company: Optimum Capital Management

Crème Magazine: What is the Mission of Optimum Capital Management?

Ryan Mack: Optimum Capital Management has a mission of providing highly-skilled, full-service financial planning in the most cost efficient means for our clients. We are a fee-only advisor which means that service will always be our focus as we do not charge commission for the investments that we select for our clients. I wanted to create a company where clients would not have to worry about being placed in inappropriate products that do not fulfill their needs or being given inappropriate advice. Optimum also places a heavy emphasis on education. We have created and taught personal financial planning courses for colleges and for the US Department of Justice. We have used this same curriculum in the hundreds of seminars that we have conducted throughout the US and believe strongly in the “teach a person howto fish” method of investing and wealth creation.

Crème Magazine: What are some of the services that you offer to your clients?

Ryan Mack: We understand the importance of selecting the most appropriate investments within a financial plan so we offer investment planning services. We help individuals make the most of their investments by doing the following: Analyze your current portfolio and asset allocation. Assess your comfort with risk. Develop an investing strategy. Provide ongoing counsel and support. Optimum has cash flow management services that utilize personal data gathered from our clients and places it in a format that will be useful in determining his or her financial status, reviewing financial activities, and developing and using a budget to assist in the accomplishment of client goals and objectives. As the road to retirement is not without obstacles, our retirement planning services assist our clients to deal with economic fluctuations, unexpected life changes, and market turns that tend to take the unprepared individual off track. Insurance is an important part of a complete financial plan which is why Optimum also offers insurance planning services. Life, car and home insurances are only a few of several types of insurance coverage needed to protect yourself and your family from life’s uncertainties. In addition to health insurance, protection from the loss of income that a debilitating illness or accident might cause is also important. Optimum reviews the current insurance coverage of our clients and compares it to their long-range goals. Educational planning is a major concern for many of our clients. Whether college is 18 years away or right around the corner, Optimum uses a variety of private and public programs to help jump-start our clients’ college savings plans. We are not accountants or estate planners but we can give guidance of various matters pertaining to income tax and estate planners. Throughout the US we have a very extensive network of accountants and estate planners who assist in the preparation of their income taxes or estate plans.

Crème Magazine: Tell us a little bit about All About Business (AAB)?

Ryan Mack: All About Business was created because I saw that there was a need in the Black community to develop a tangible program that instilled the important life skills of financial literacy on a long-term basis in youth. I saw a few programs that would provide exposure to these principles for one to two weeks but I would always be concerned about what happened after the sessions were over. Is one to two weeks enough? The best way to learn something is to teach it. I learned the most about financial literacy when I created and taught college courses on the topic. In order to create a program of which the youth would be able to benefit the most from this knowledge they would have to learn the principles well enough to teach them. This would require a program that would involve more comprehensive learning for longer durations of time. All About Business lasts for an entire year of which I would volunteer to teach these classes once per week. We mainly focus on the importance of financial planning principles but we also touch upon other areas such as professional development, networking/business skills, and work ethic. The youth, ages 15-18, meet once per week during the school year for 9 months. When the summer comes they are schooled enough to begin conducting their own seminars. Over the summer we have met as much as 4-5 times per week as they conduct multiple seminars throughout the community to youth AND adults. The results of this program were astounding as many received scholarships, internship offers, they were featured in Black Enterprise, and have taken an accelerated path to starting their careers. I recruited over 100 students who are currently in the organization in South Africa and have an additional 50 students who just joined the organization from the NYC Department of Education Temporary Housing Program. This makes approximately 200 students around the world either teaching currently, or learning how to teach financial literacy. This is a movement that will continue to grow.

Crème Magazine: What is the mission of The Optimum Institute of Economic Empowerment (OIEE)?

Ryan Mack: The mission of The Optimum Institute of Economic Empowerment is to create and implement tangible economic empowerment programs. As a change agent Optimum will develop and administer programs that will focus on teaching and increasing exposure to principles of financial literacy within communities of need. Working individually and also in collaboration with other community constituents, Optimum believes that individuals, businesses and communities can be educated to understand and adhere to those financial principles which will serve as a solid foundation for future economic growth and sustainability.

Crème Magazine: What are some statistics that face African-Americans regarding financing which we need to be aware?

Ryan Mack: Blacks have buying power of over $750 billion which is 1 ½ times that of the nation of South Africa. However over 90% of our dollar is spent on consumption and 90% of our dollar is spent outside of our community. Blacks comprise 12 – 14% of the population within the US but only own 3% of the wealth. However we are not lacking in the alcohol consumption as we account for over 30% of the revenues of alcoholic consumption. Blacks have an average net worth of $8,300 compared to Whites who have an average net worth of $56,000. For every $100 that Whites possess Blacks posses $8 - $19. Blacks invest on average 20% less per month than Whites. A U.S. Census report indicates that Blacks in the income range of $25,000 to $50,000 earn slightly more than Whites in that same range; however White wealth is almost 10 times that of Blacks in that same range. There are fewer blacks worth $100 at age 68 than there are Blacks worth $100 at age 18. This means that the majority of Blacks are working for 40 – 50 years just to go backwards in net worth. If you are saying that Whites are better off because they have inherited their wealth then look at the following: 80% of America’s millionaires are 1st generation rich 19% of America’s millionaires receive ANY income from a trust or estate More than half of America’s millionaires NEVER received as much as $1 of inheritance (stats from Millionaire Next Door)  

Crème Magazine: What has been the toughest struggle for you at times?

Ryan Mack: My toughest struggle is the mentality of Blacks to take action and make a change. The most common thing that I hear is “I really need your services”. However, very few actually want to take that step to utilize my services. I created the non-profit mainly because I wanted to provide the education to the community for free of charge for those who cannot afford to pay for my services. However, you would be surprised how hard it is to get people to come to a financial literacy workshop (even though it is free of charge). Many will jump to spend $80 for a Jay-Z concert, break the door down to get a $300 PlayStation or wait in a cold line to spend $150 for the new hot sneaker. However, when you ask them to spend TIME to learn how to get their finances in order they become too busy. We have been trained to place a higher value on things that keep us enslaved mentally than those things that create financial freedom.

Crème Magazine: Please give our readers a few tips on financial planning:

Ryan Mack: At Optimum we lead all of our clients through the “Optimum Seven Steps to Financial Freedom”. I will list them below and hopefully you can begin to structure your own personal finances today by using them. The steps are the following: Step One: Get Your House in Order Provide adequate insurance for yourself and family. Update all of your estate planning documents. Establish a working budget in your household. Clean up your credit. Step Two: Eliminate All High Risk Debt (Credit Cards, Cash Advances, IRS Collections) Step Three: Efficiently Fund/Allocate Your Company Retirement Plan Step Four: Establish an Emergency Fund Step Five: Efficiently Fund/Allocate an Individual Retirement Account Step Six: Eliminate All Low Risk Debt (Student Loans, Mortgages, Auto Loans) Step Seven: Diversified Investment Strategy Stocks Bonds Real Estate Business Development

Crème Magazine: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Ryan Mack: 1 John 3:18 states, “Our love must not be a thing of words and fine talk, it must be a thing of action and sincerity.” Optimum is really about encouraging all to take action to empower your community, family, and self. Too many times in the Black community our ideas live and die on the drawing board if they make it to the drawing board at all. When did we become a people who were so prudent and unwilling to take risk? Was the civil rights movement a movement that was fought for us to be content to live in mediocrity? When did we place such a high value on material things that we are willing to jeopardize the financial future of our future generations? The two most powerful forces known to man are love and selfishness. Decisions made out of love lead to wealth, while decisions made out of selfishness lead to destruction. When you reach into your pocket to spend, ask yourself, “Am I spending this dollar to benefit someone else, or is it to benefit myself?” Ask yourself, “Am I creating a legacy by spending this dollar, or depleting the legacy and inheritance with this dollar?” We must take action now! All of us must “start your tomorrow today”.