As Financial Literacy month comes to a close, DNA Financial Services wants you to remain aware throughout the year when it comes to your personal finances. One of the reasons we emphasize a person’s financial behaviors and how they are formed is because this helps with determining what your financial priorities are. Take a moment and think about the most important things to you when it comes to your finances. Hold that thought while we discuss this further. What you cho

In our ongoing research to better understand financial behaviors, we came across an article published in 2015 on the Pacific Standard website (GROWING UP POOR HAS EFFECTS ON YOUR CHILDREN EVEN IF YOU ESCAPE POVERTY) that speaks to the social ramifications of growing up poor and how it can effect generations by keeping them in a circle of established poverty. Their discussion leaned toward the environment that was lived in by parent and child effecting both the longer they st

In our research of local financial issues, we found The Detroit News had a well written article by Christine MacDonald and Nicquel Terry last week detailing the first rise of median income (Average family income) in the city of Detroit since the turn of the century (Census: Detroit Incomes Up For First Time Since 2000). It sounded like good news on the surface as there also was a decrease in the city’s poverty level (Defined at $24,563.00 for a family of four). However, a d

Often times, people believe that wealth is an unreachable goal based on their current financial situation. I am here to tell you that is not the case. If you can set a specific aim to become wealthy, I guarantee it can happen for you. Let’s examine making a specific aim. If you want to meet the financial goals you have set out for yourself, you have to be intentional with all of your financial decisions. Many people give up their wealth for what is in their driveway, in t

The definition of a millionaire is having a net worth greater than 1 million U.S. dollars. Do you know what your net worth is? Net worth is the amount by which your assets exceed your liabilities. Before you can start your wealth building journey, you have to know where you are currently financially. I would like to challenge you to take the time to calculate your net worth. Net worth is calculated by adding up all of your assets and subtracting all of your liabilities. Ne

The Challenge: Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF's) vs Sufficient Wealth Funds (SWF's). Are you losing your wealth to bank fees? According to CNN Money, three of the big banks: JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America made $1.1 billion in ATM fees, 2.3 billion in maintenance fees and 5.4 billion in overdraft fees in 2016. These are alarming numbers. Are you giving up your wealth to bank fees? If you are, your challenge is to STOP THE DEVOURER. There was a time when bank

I came across this post on Facebook where a young man had made the following observation: “White children are allowed to live at home, go to college, make mistakes and learn, fall down and get back on their feet with the support of their parents… Meanwhile while a black child has to be an asset financially in order to remain in the household otherwise you are deemed useless, so instead of being able to get ahead you are stuck doing jobs and things you don’t want JUST to supp