Patrick Freeman’s Guide To Building Wealth

There are many different ways one can invest their monies, other than the stock markets, and still be in a position to gain
financial security, to name a few you have the Real Estate markets,
Commodities, and let us not forget one of the most popular opportunities, still is: owning your own business.

[Business News]

Patrick D. Freeman, is licensed with the National Association of Securities Dealers as a Financial Consultant. He is also a lecturer on personal finance and is well respected in his field. Patrick is also the President of the Freeman Consulting Group, LLC, a consulting company that teaches the principles of ‘Personal Development and ‘Personal Finance’ as a “Life skill”. He specializes in investment, retirement and tax planning issues for business owners, individuals and families, both traditional
and non-traditional. He has more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry.

BSN: What made you decide to become a financial adviser?
PF: I decided to become a Financial Adviser over a decade ago, when my wife and I started our family. As a young father and
husband, I knew very little about money, savings; investing. All I knew was I wanted to provide the best quality of life for my family, as I possibly can.

Having a strong desire to be what God was now calling me to, I began to study and read every piece of information, in reference to personal financial growth that I could get my hands on. The more I read, the more evident it became, our community, the Black community was in a dire state, as it pertained to our finances and wealth, when compared to other communities. I began to study the conditions that lead to this fact and became passionate about, being used to effect a change. My mission became to help close the Gap between Black and White Wealth.

BSN: What type of schooling and other training did you need to take in order to become a financial adviser?
PF: After your basic college learning (BA), in order to enter this area of financial services, there are licenses you must attain (series 6, and or series 7, Life, Health & Accident) in order to even discuss these subjects of financial planning, much less sell the products that will allow your client to achieve this level of financial freedom. For me, after acquiring these licenses, I felt I wanted advance myself and my knowledge, to be able to not only help my client, but to be of a greater value to my community as well. So, I continued learning at The American College, where I am undergoing an extensive study program, which would afford me, my designations as a Financial Services Specialist (FSS). Where I will then, continue on with the study for my Certified Financial Planning (CFP) designations.

BSN: In terms of economic status, what groups of people have you worked with, and which groups do you usually work with?
PF: In the beginning, as I was learning, I worked with your everyday working class families. Showing these families the basic
steps to building a more secure financial future. As my knowledge began to broaden and grow, so did my client base. Whereas now, I am the President of my own firm, and we specialize in working with Professionals and Business Owners, in the areas of their Retirement planning and Estate planning, ‘showing them how to protect, distribute and eventually transfer their wealth…according to their terms’. Doing all this is important, but it is also important to never forget why I came to this stage. Thus, I am also the President of an LLC, which focuses on teaching financial literacy, to the youth and to those that are lest
privy to this information. What makes us different at the LLC, is we don’t just focus on money matters, but we also take up the task of teaching ‘Personal development’ and combine the two. Because I believe that your Personal development will have a direct effect on your personal finances, and your ability to build wealth.

BSN: As a financial adviser you must spend a lot of time talking to people about the importance of saving money and investing. What advice would you give to young people about the importance of saving and investing?
PF: Yes, as a financial adviser and through my LLC, I am constantly speaking with young people. What I stress with young people is for them to take a long hard look at their habits, as it pertains to saving and investing, and probably more important: what are our spending habits. We, as humans, are ‘creatures of habit’ and it is no different when it comes to our money.
We do what we see and repeat what we hear. I was one of those youth. I could not wait to get to a store and spend my money, and I am sure we all remember hearing our parents say “don’t let that money burn a whole in your hands” that is a habit we must learn, discipline!

So, when I am speaking to young people I encourage them to not spend every penny of every dollar, make it a habit to save 20% or .20 cents of every $1.00. if they can do that they will see growth in their accounts, then we can talk about where to put some of that growth (invest) for a better growth. The other very important point for young people is ‘start today’. They have the benefit of Time on their side. I teach them about a very import term called: Compounding Interest and I show them how this can grow their money, exponentially.

BSN: Now there are those who feel that investing in the stock market is too risky, what would you say to those people who have doubts about investing due to being afraid to take risks?
PF: The first thing I would say to people who have doubts about investing due to being afraid of the risk is, that everyone is in
a different space, in their life. It is really about the goals one has for their money. Is this money something you plan to use in the distant future, or is it something you will need soon? Answering these questions and more will determine how you should invest this money. Everyone should take a ‘Risk Tolerance Questionnaire’ before proceeding to invest. This questionnaire will
help to determine if you are an Aggressive or Conservative investor. The investor should also understand the Risk-vs.-Rewards that are involved in investing, and this should be discussed with an Adviser prior to investing.

BSN: Besides investing in the stock market what other ways can people invest their money in a manner that helps better ensure financial security and gain?
PF: There are many different ways one can invest their monies, other than the stock markets, and still be in a position to gain
financial security, to name a few you have the Real Estate markets, Commodities, and let us not forget one of the most popular opportunities, still is: owning your own business. In the book, The Millionaire next door it was stated that over 65% of the Millionaires today, are Millionaires as a result of owning a successful Small Business. I would just pause to say, whatever you
choose, just make sure you do your due diligence and get good advice.

BSN: What specific books do you recommend a person read to become more financially aware, as well as to learn how to better manage their savings and investments?
PF: There are many books on the market, today, but as for the best ones I would recommend, first and far most, is the words
of God. In those books we find instructions from the Creator on how we should handle what He has given us for His purpose, it’s called good Stewardship. After that, in order to add to your learning, here are some of the books I have read and would recommend: Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki; The Millionaire next door, by Thomas Stanley; Smart money moves for African Americans, by Kelvin E. Boston, just to name a few.

BSN: How do you feel about President Obama’s recent economic stimulus plan? Do you feel that his plan will help the economy in the long run?
PF: I believe that President Obama is a fair man, and that he is trying to correct the conditions in this country. The question, in
my opinion, that needs to be asked is: What about the forces that he is forced to deal with? Will they allow change, or will they continue to push back with more business as usual?

BSN: If people continue to make better choices in terms of saving, spending and investing especially in the African American community, where do you see the economy headed in the next 10 years?
PF: In the African American community, I believe we can make a huge difference, in the next 10 years but we need to focus our efforts on building a community that loves itself, and is willing to serve one another.

What I am saying is that we need to address the lack of economic development among us. Focus on building businesses, schools, real estate and anything else that we need. We MUST address the fact that in every other community the dollar bill stays within that community an exchanges hands up to eight times, before it leaves that community. While in the black community it barely exchanges hands one time. By doing this we will help to strengthen the business and be able to
provide much needed employment in the community.

BSN: How can people who are interested in building wealth contact you?
PF: I can be reached for a consultation by calling: (347) 453-2344 cell or (631) 486-6500 ext. 451 (office)

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