Shareef "Ross Mac" McDonald, creator of Revolt Tv's Maconomics
Despite the fact that many Americans lack financial literacy, Black people appear to be at the forefront of this problem. The p-fin index indicates that Black Americans have a limited understanding of risk and investments.
Since the typical white family has eight times the wealth of the typical Black family, closing the racial wealth gap is not an easy problem to solve. The key to closing that gap is to increase awareness of financial literacy.
Ivy League educated entertainer, musician, and entrepreneur Shareef “Ross Mac” McDonald from Chicago's south side is assisting in changing that narrative. Mac started his career working for Morgan Stanley on Wall Street after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. After three years, he accepted a position at Grosvenor Capital Management in his hometown of Chicago, where he started out on a quest to inspire change in his community.
Mac committed himself to broadening access to financial education in an effort to change the mindset of inner-city youth. His decision to return to Chicago helped him reconnect with his community and set him on a path of service.
According to Mac, the best way for people to learn a new concept is through exposure. The idea of financial literacy was alien to most Black people in the community he grew up in. The fact that he was exposed to that milieu during college was what ultimately paved the road for him.
“Being from Chicago and attending an ivy league institution, where just six percent of the students at that university were Black, was an eye-opener for me. I was the first Black person to work on my particular trading desk while working on Wall Street. Because of that, I felt that one of the most important things I had to do was take what I learned and share it with my community. We, the people, are not exposed to this. I sought to serve as the funnel connecting main street to Wall Street, and that is where Maconomics originated,” expressed Mac.
Mac created a YouTube series called Maconomics in 2019 with a focus on shifting the financial perspective of teens. Maconomics provided his audience with a foundational grasp of financial literacy from an urban perspective. The show did so well organically that Ross developed a partnership with Revolt TV.
Maconomics is known now as the ideal union of Wall Street wisdom and hip hop culture. Mac leverages the power of his brand to educate and enlighten others who might not have access to more conventional channels for information.
As a result, he has developed corporate partnerships with brands such as Bank of America, Target, State Farm and SoFi, while also doing corporate financial development for employees at Google, LinkedIn, Salesforce and many more.
Shareef "Ross Mac" McDonald, creator of Revolt Tv's Maconomics
Regarding the amount of comfort with discussing money, there seems to be a challenge within the Black community. Mac argues that lingering taboos in the community are to blame for the lack of communication.
“I believe that in our community, people feel more at ease talking about topics like who is a better athlete or the newest designer brand on trend. People tend not to want to discuss topics they are not comfortable with. Finance, for example, is taboo since it involves a subject matter which many are unsure about. When it comes to financial literacy, the younger you learn to speak the language, the more likely you are to become proficient. For example, you'll be fluent in Spanish for the rest of your life if you started speaking it at the age of two. I believe that this is why experience serves as the best teacher,” explains Mac.
Learning how to understand challenging concepts is the cornerstone of the Maconomics brand. The purpose of Mac's show is to make people laugh while addressing issues that the Black community often avoids. He believes it will ultimately make it simpler for people to comprehend what is being taught.
While the topic of generating generational wealth has gained popularity among Black people, a lot of misleading and/or ambiguous material is disseminated online, making it difficult to determine whether information is reliable. Mac thinks that setting reasonable expectations is a smart place to start when trying to educate our community about financial literacy.
“So many people are seeking instant gratification in this new social media era in which we live. We all aspire to have financial success but nothing will make you rich overnight. If so, there's probably a problem there, but with enough time, you can become wealthy. You could prepare yourself and your family for the future, if you enter with an open mind and eliminate that preconception,” adds Mac.
The multifaceted educator realizes that many resources are withheld from marginalized communities, but he also understands that today's technology puts education at a person's fingertips via any mobile device.
“Maconomics is all about introducing people that look like me to something they might not have been exposed to otherwise. You are not required to attend the Wharton school. You do not have to work on Wall Street. Those are the steps I took, so you didn't have to,” tells Mac.
Mac refers to financial literacy as the new civil rights movement. "It's the digital civil rights movement. It's huge for me to be able to provide my people access to things they didn't have previously. I'm going to make it into an Instagram reel. I'm going to post it on TikTok. I'll upload it to YouTube, and it'll be up to you to watch it, but I'm offering it to you in every manner possible.”
The Maconomics club offers a variety of resources for its members to learn from every day. Mac has created a community to provide people with the resources they require, to be independent investors. He asserts that he instructs and trains his students rather than blindly aiding them in what to do.
“I've given my community a comprehensive grasp of how to create lasting wealth and how to invest for the long term, as well as a foundational skill set that enables them to trade,” adds Mac.
Members communicate on a daily basis, and he teaches weekly outlooks live. They also teach fundamental analysis, which they use to examine stocks. Mac advises his students to approach long-term stock investing in the same way a person would approach dating.
“In the same way that you wouldn't rush into a relationship, you also shouldn't rush into an investment. I've taught my students everything that I learned on Wall Street. Mac continues, “In order to give them a better entry time to say, ‘I want to buy this stock now,’ I help individuals understand specific indicators to use. Cryptocurrencies are also a topic of discussion. When my students make short-term gains, we advise them to take a portion of those gains and reinvest it in their long-term portfolios while also assisting them in building their entire portfolio. We are merely accumulating wealth.”
In terms of his long term goals. Mac says he is building a legacy for others to follow in his footsteps.
“I want to continue to give everybody access to information I didn't otherwise have. I want people having that same dialogue when it comes to their finances as they would their favorite Netflix series, “explains Mac.
According to a recent study done, the Black net worth will be zero by the year 2053. Mac’s primary objective is to change that. “To me, it equals providing everyone with the necessary tools in order to ensure that their children can inherit something. Parents should practice better money management, maintain better financial standing, and prevent their children from taking on excessive debt. Nobody talks about life insurance when you pass away. I'll explain why you require it. I'll let you know how much you require.”
The goal of Maconomics is to ultimately be a resource in the community, that's gonna help Black people live better lives.
For more visit Maconomics on Revolt TV
