The Life-Changing Power of Credit Scores with John Hope Bryant

Summary

Episode Summary: The Life-Changing Power of Credit Scores with Dr. Boyce Watkins

Podcast: Earn Your Leisure
Hosts: Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings
Guest: Dr. Boyce Watkins
Release Date: February 16, 2025
Episode Title: The Life-Changing Power of Credit Scores with John Hope Bryant

---

Introduction to Financial Literacy and Credit Scores

In this episode, hosts Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings delve deep into the transformative impact of credit scores on individuals' financial lives. Featuring insights from renowned financial expert Dr. Boyce Watkins, the discussion emphasizes the paramount importance of maintaining a strong credit profile as a cornerstone for economic empowerment and wealth building.

The Critical Importance of a 100-Point Credit Score Increase

Timestamp: [04:15]

Troy Millings initiates the conversation by highlighting the profound effect a 100-point increase in one's credit score can have, likening it to life-altering events such as finding love or faith. This analogy sets the stage for a comprehensive exploration of how significantly a credit score can influence various aspects of life.

Notable Quote:

"Nothing changes your life more than God or love than moving your credit score a hundred points."
— Troy Millings [04:15]

Economic Foundations and the Role of Credit in Society

Timestamp: [04:45]

Dr. Boyce Watkins expands on the societal and economic implications of credit scores. He asserts that creditworthiness is as pivotal as moral and ethical standing in a capitalist democracy. According to Watkins, the very fabric of economic progress and societal stability is interwoven with individuals' credit health.

Key Points:

• Capitalist Democracy: Emphasizes that economic dealings underpin societal structures.
• Historical Context: Draws parallels from historical events to illustrate the long-standing importance of financial acumen.
• Marriage and Economics: Discusses how personal relationships, such as marriage, are deeply influenced by financial compatibility and credit status.

Notable Quote:

"The number one cause of divorce? Money. The number one cause of domestic abuse? Money. The number one cause for stress? Money."
— Dr. Boyce Watkins [04:45]

Credit Scores as a Tool for Self-Empowerment

Timestamp: [12:18]

Watkins highlights credit scores as a powerful means of self-empowerment, enabling individuals to take control of their financial destinies. He underscores that improving one's credit score is an achievable goal that can lead to significant economic benefits, regardless of initial starting points.

Key Points:

• Self-Improvement: Emphasizes that credit scores can be improved through disciplined financial behavior.
• Economic Mobility: A higher credit score opens doors to better financial opportunities and lower borrowing costs.
• Community Impact: Strong credit scores within a community contribute to overall economic health and reduce reliance on predatory financial services.

Notable Quote:

"One thing I love about credit scores, you can fix it yourself. That's self-empowerment at its height."
— Dr. Boyce Watkins [12:18]

The Disparities in Credit Scores Across Communities

Timestamp: [10:56]

The discussion shifts to the disparities in credit scores among different demographic groups, particularly focusing on African American communities. Watkins provides alarming statistics that reveal systemic inequalities in credit accessibility and economic opportunities.

Key Points:

• Average Credit Scores: African Americans have an average credit score of around 620, which masks the underlying disparities where a significant portion have much lower scores.
• Consumer Spending vs. Homeownership: Despite high consumer spending, homeownership rates among African Americans lag significantly behind their white counterparts, hindering wealth accumulation.
• Impact on Wealth Building: Lower credit scores contribute to reduced access to affordable loans, homeownership, and overall economic stagnation within affected communities.

Notable Quote:

"The number one group being declined for credit? Black people. Lowest credit score. Black people."
— Dr. Boyce Watkins [10:59]

The Interplay Between Credit Scores and Economic Power

Timestamp: [12:55]

Watkins concludes by illustrating how credit scores are intrinsically linked to economic power and societal standing. He asserts that in today's economy, credit is not just a number but a fundamental component that determines one's ability to thrive economically.

Key Points:

• Economic Power: Credit scores are a reflection of one's economic reliability and potential for financial growth.
• Societal Influence: High credit scores correlate with greater societal influence and access to prestigious opportunities.
• Future Implications: Without addressing credit disparities, economic inequalities will persist, limiting overall societal progress.

Notable Quote:

"In a world you've never had a global economy that wasn't there, there’s never been a major economy that didn’t do it on the back of good debt and a great credit rating."
— Dr. Boyce Watkins [12:55]

Conclusion

The episode underscores the indispensable role of credit scores in shaping financial futures and societal structures. Dr. Boyce Watkins provides a compelling argument for prioritizing credit health as a means of achieving economic empowerment and bridging existing financial disparities. Listeners are encouraged to take proactive steps in managing and improving their credit scores to secure a more prosperous and stable financial future.

---

Note: This summary excludes promotional segments and focuses solely on the substantive discussion between the hosts and Dr. Boyce Watkins.

Transcript

[Rashad Bilal]

Earners. What's up? Look, you know how every new year we set these big goals like saving more money, but somehow life just gets in the way? I mean, how many times have I told myself I'll stick to a budget only to see random delivery fees and subscription services eating away in my wallet? It's like the world is designed to spend our money. That's why I love Acorns. It makes saving and investing automatic so you can stick to your financial goals without even thinking about it. This episode of Earn your Leisure is sponsored by acorns. You've probably heard me talk about Acorns before and I'm excited to share more about how it can help you too. Acorns makes it easy to start automatically saving and investing so your money has a chance to grow for you, your kids and your retirement. Here's the best part. You don't need to be an expert. Acorns will recommend a diversified portfolio that fits you and your money goals. You don't need to be rich. Acorns lets you invest with the same spare money you've got right now. You can start with $5 or even just your spare change. You don't need a ton of time. You can create your own Acorns account and start investing in just five minutes. Basically, Acorns does the hard part so you can give your money a chance to grow. For me, Acorn Acorns has been a game changer. I remember looking at my bank statements and realizing I wasn't making any progress toward my long term financial goals. With Acorns, it was like flipping a switch. Now every little bit of spare change I spend is automatically invested. Over time. Those small steps have really added up and it feels good knowing I'm working toward a better future without stressing about it every day. So head to acorns.com or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today. Paid client Endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns Tier 2 compensations provided investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor view important [e-mail] UIL Earners what's up? Look, life's expensive. Whether it's extra fees at the movies, hidden airline charges, or surprise concert ticket fees, it feels like every step forward comes with a setback. But what if your bank actually helped you move forward? That's where Chime comes in. With a Chime checking account, you get tools designed to make financial progress easier, like no maintenance fees, fee free overdraft up to $200 with SpotMe and even early direct deposit up to two days early. Imagine how much smoother things could be with extra breathing room like that. Now let me tell you about SpotMe. We've all been there. Checking your balance, realizing you're short and then getting hit with an overdraft fee. I've had it happen and it is frustrating. But with chime overdrawing your account doesn't come with a penalty. You can overdraft up to $200 and Chime will spot you. No fees, no stress. Your next deposit automatically covers the negative balance. Chime's not just a bank, it's a community. You can give or receive boosts from friends to temporarily increase your Spot Me limit when you're in a pinch. And with over 50,000 fee free ATMs accessing your money won't cost extra either. Here's the best part. Chime has already spotted ITS members over 30 billion in financial support helping millions of people make progress. So why not join them? Make progress towards a better financial future with Chime. Open your account in just two minutes at Chime.com earn that's Chime.com earn banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank NA or Stride Bank NA members. FDIC SpotMe eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Boosts are available to eligible CHIME members enrolled in SpotMe and are subject to monthly limits. Timing depends on the submission of the payment file. Fees apply at out of network ATMs. Chime feels like progress.

[Troy Millings]

Talking about wealth, building financial literacy. You said before, nothing changes your life more than God or love than moving your credit score a hundred points. God love and moving your credit score 100 points. So can you explain why moving Your credit score 100 points is so, so important? Because yeah, a lot of people, most people wouldn't think that 100 points in the credit score is going to be equal to finding God or your wife.

[Dr. Boyce Watkins]

I mean, look, I'll go further than that. If the Vice president Harris had listened to what you're saying and what, and what I'm saying more intently, she'd be president. Because that election was ultimately not about red or blue or black or white. It was about green. It was about everybody making, cutting an economic deal. Whether that deal is going to work out or not, you know, we're about to find out. But everybody basically cut a deal, you know, that says I'm going to do better. You've told me I'm going to do better economically, not morally, not ethically, not, not Societally, not environmentally, not human rights, not civil rights. Economically, we live in a capitalist democracy. People forget this. They don't remember this. We live in a free enterprise democracy on a good day. We live in a capitalist democracy on a rough day. But it is unfortunately true that going back to the time of Jesus, we had a choice to make. We could have put our culture inside of. We could have put our economy inside of our culture, which is what we should have done. But actually, we put our culture inside of our economy. So almost everything is economic in nature. You can't run a church without money. You need tithe and offering, you know, in fact, one of the biggest churches in the world, one of the biggest banks in the world, is the Vatican church. The Vatican bank. So answering your question, and I've said this as a joke, but I'm serious, you go to the club today's Monday. You go to the club on Friday after you worked all week. Oh, man, she's fine. Lady's like, oh, he's handsome. What's your name? And then what's your credit score? Because that's your business partner for life. The looks are going to fade. The. The rear end is going, then the breast is going to drop, right? The dude's gonna get a. The. The big chest will turn into a big belly at some point. But after 20 or 30 years, that's still your business partner. And those who marry well do the best economically as a. As a side point. But marriage was ultimately even an economic. Before God endowed marriage with spiritual principles, marriage would be, went, was, was present 3,000 years before that as a business principle. So, I mean, slavery was about money. Nobody brought us 3,000, 6,000 miles, 6,000 miles away from home. Went all through all that trouble because they didn't like us. They did it because we were geniuses of the land. When you take dead, dead soil and bring it back to life. Well, what's the Southern soil, which is where all the cotton was, the tobacco, all the gold crops of that time, it was in the southern soil. It was very hot, very humid, whether it's here or the Caribbean. And poor white folks couldn't work it. They're like, oh, we good. We can't handle this. And so they went and found somebody who could not only handle it, but who could take dead soil and bring it back to life. The genius of agricultural excellence, which is what we were in that era. So whatever conversation you want to have, it comes down to money. What's the number one cause of divorce? Money. What's the number one cause of domestic abuse? Money. What's the number 1 cause for stress? I mean heart attacks. I'm sorry, stress. What's the number one cause for stress? Money. What's behind politics? Money. I mean whatever conversation you want to have comes back that. So in a world you've never had a. Now I'm about to drop the mic on your question because you like the people. Like this guy's rambling. Those have to do with my question about credit scores. There's never been a global economy that wasn't there. Wasn't there ever been a superpower that wasn't the economic power. At the same time in the history of the world, there's never been a major economy, including the US or major city like the city of Atlanta where I'm at now. That didn't do it on the back of good debt and a great credit rating. I was on the phone with Tony Wrestler this morning who's. I don't want to tell his net worth but it's public information. He's like the 200 richest man in the world. He did it on the back of good debt. No billionaire has become a billionaire except through good debt. No multi millionaire times whatever has done it without good debt. So if you're, if your, if your credit score is toe up from the flow up, those who, who make the lease pay the most. If you're in a 500 credit score neighborhood, I mean the only way to survive that neighborhood is to be in a legal, in a legal economy business because the cost of debt is so high, the cost of credit so high from the, from Pookie and them and Jojo and them that you're paying such a high rate. The only way to profit is to do some illegal stuff, right? The underground economy. So you have a check casher next to a payday loan lender next to a rental owned store next to a title lender next to a liquor store next to a pawn shop, fast food restaurants, you know, all praying on financial illiteracy. 500 credit score neighborhoods. And you live to 61 years of age. As a sort of the insult on top of insult. You live in that neighborhood to 61, 15 minutes away. You live to 81 years old, 20 year difference. And that's a 700 credits per neighborhood. 500 credit score neighborhood. You live to 61. Crime, murder, mayhem, drugs, depression, single parent household. So I over answered your question, but it was, it was like the question like we have got to get our credit right. The number one lowest credit rating in America group are African Americans. It's like an I, I think it's.

[Troy Millings]

Like what's the average, what's the average credit score for African Americans?

[Dr. Boyce Watkins]

I think it's like 620. Now that sounds like not so bad, but that means that you, you Dudes have a 780 or 800 credit score and our cousins Jojo and them have a 5:20 or 480 credit score. And it, and it, it, the balance out the average is that our great credit score combined around all of our friends toe up credit score averages out to 620. So it's, it actually sounds better than it really is. It's actually much worse unfortunately. And the number one cause of folks, sorry, number one group deep being declined for credit. Black people. Lowest credit score. Black people. You know, you know, one of the biggest economies in the world is, you know, bigger than. You guys talk about this all the time. Our, our consumer spending is 1.7, 1.8 trillion bigger than as big as Mexico and Canada. But 92% of that's consumption. Okay, so, so you, you just combine, you combine all these and our homeownership rate is 41 to 44% compared to 75 of our white counterparts. Well, number way you build wealth is home ownership. I mean, you know, again, this ain't complicated. Then you say, well, what's our Net Worth in 2053? You combine all these things. Zero.

[Troy Millings]

Yeah.

[Dr. Boyce Watkins]

I mean, so you don't need races to come after you anymore. You know, you don't have to worry about the clan. You don't have to worry about, you know, what the man's doing to you. We, we didn't knock them back. Say we've been bamboozled. We've been tricked, we've been fooled, we've been hoodwinked. Right? So, but this is stuff. One thing I love about credit scores, you can fix it yourself. That's what I love about it. It's self empowerment at its height. And, and you do that. And once you have an 800 credit score, you're not black anymore. You're green. That computer says yes at midnight. Whatever you want.

[American Express Ad]

When you're with Amex Business Platinum, you have the card that works just as hard as you do. You give 150% to your business as and so does Your card. With 1.5 times Membership Rewards points on select purchases, you earn rewards that can take your business further. And with complimentary access to more than 1,400 lounges globally, including the Centurion Lounge, you can stay up to speed no matter where your business takes you. That's the powerful backing of American Express terms and points Cap applied. Learn [e-mail] AmExBusiness There are some things.

[Verizon Ad]

You wouldn't mind being stuck with, like a large unexpected inheritance. An always on the verge of death phone that has to be plugged in just right so it charges is not one of those things. Switch to Verizon and we'll pay off your old phone up to $800 via prepaid MasterCard so you can get a new one. Just trade in any phone from our top brands on any unlimited plan with new line on my plan. Additional terms apply for trade in and pay off your phone offer. See verizon.com for detail.