BC Holdings has a passion for financial education
Saundra Curry, co-founder and COO of BC Holdings, moved from the role of investment advisor to offer financial advice to Nashville’s elite as a senior lending officer. In a pivotal session with the Tennessee Titans, she spoke on 401ks.
“At that time, the NFL matched three to one,” Saundra remembers. “I thought it would be a short presentation. Who wouldn’t already be enrolled in a retirement plan like that?”
When Saundra opened her training session by asking how many players were taking advantage of their employer’s three-to-one match, she was floored to see only three hands. She abandoned her presentation, removed four dollars from her wallet, and said, “If you put one dollar in, they put in three.”
Her simple message hit home. From then on, Saundra took every opportunity to educate her clients about the importance of building financial wealth.
The husband-wife team behind BC Holdings
One of Saundra’s favorite case studies happens to be her husband and fellow co-founder of BC Holdings, Sidney Curry, the company’s president and CEO. The pair met three decades ago on the ragged side of Sidney’s “rags to riches” story.
“I had just joined the military to pay for my education and was thoroughly smitten by this banker with a calling to educate,” Sidney remembers. “Like Saundra, I wanted to start a business and excel financially. When she revealed that the only things holding me back were exposure, education, and discipline, I was all in.”
After 30 years of marriage and now 23 years as business partners, Sidney and Saundra demonstrate that financial stability creates healthy relationships. Unfortunately, statistics show that the inverse is also true, with relationship stress due to finances among the top reasons for divorce in the US.
“Saundra innately wants to help others succeed,” says Sidney. “I know because I am one of the people she helped. There’s this presupposition that you have to come from money and wealth, be advanced in your career, or have a college degree to build wealth. But just like me — a poor kid from lower Alabama — you too can be a part of this. We’re changing the world by building wealth one person, one family, one organization, one community at a time.”
Lifestyle vs. wealth style
“Since the beginning of time, we have been conditioned to spend, but spending should also include intentionally becoming a multi-millionaire in the US,” Saundra notes. “We have to shift our mindset from 100% lifestyle spending to a balanced diet of a healthy life and wealth style. Every time you earn two pennies, you have a decision to make: one should be allocated to your lifestyle and the other to your wealth style.”
Lifestyle spending is rampant in the US. Unfortunately, lifestyle investments such as houses, cars, electronic gadgets, vacations, and restaurant dinners do not build wealth.
“The majority of Americans have no trouble making money,” Sidney remarks, “After all, we live in the land of opportunity and abundance. The problem is that most disagree on how to best spend it. Therefore, a solid financial plan will increase your likelihood of staying together while also setting your children up for long-term financial success.”
How kids join the family’s financial plan
Sidney and Saundra advise households to hold family monthly budget committee meetings. “When you talk finances with your kids, you’re not stressing them out; instead, you’re setting them up to be financially independent. It’s not about your debt situation, but your wealth situation.”
The Currys prove that kids can understand lifestyle versus wealth style, or “balanced abundance.” They can have Nike shoes, but probably not the $300 pair. A buck saved is a buck earned. If they put that savings into Nike stock, they’ll have more than worn-out Nike sneakers in 10 years; they’ll also have Nike wealth. That’s having our cake and eating it too.
“Our son owns Nike shoes, but he has a lot of Nike stock,” says Saundra. “He’s set to be a multi-millionaire in his early 40s and our daughter in her early 50s.“
“Giving kids this vision is about changing how they think,” Sidney says. “They can own the same companies that Bezos, Gates, and Buffett own. As parents, we must educate, not dictate. That’s what Saundra did for our family. Instead of saying, ‘I’m a banker, and I know best,’ she gave us our why.”
Destination: Financial Wellness
Destination: Financial Wellness (DFW) is an award-winning training program available to employers, agencies, and colleges worldwide. It began as a three-day on-site or virtual program but is now offered as a self-paced online learning management system encompassing 23 modules.
“We begin at the end. What is your desired financial destination?” Sidney asks. “How much wealth do you need to live your desired lifestyle? Then, we determine your starting point — where are you currently, financially — to determine how far you have to travel to reach your financial destination to close your wealth gap.”
Sidney compares the DFW program to a football field. “So many families are running around on the football field without knowing where the goal line is,” he says. “When you establish your North Star or the total amount of investable assets that you need to have the financial freedom you desire, you can put all your energies into working your way down the field towards your end zone to score! Every financial decision has meaning and purpose designed to advance the ball down the field.”
DFW participants learn to close their wealth gaps and build wealth by establishing budgets, getting rid of debt, learning about credit, setting aside emergency funds, discussing depreciating assets, preparing for retirement, and learning how to invest. After participants learn to build wealth, they’re taught how to secure it through wills and trusts.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, or how many letters are in front of or behind your name,” Saundra concludes. “Everyone can build wealth, and DFW provides you a safe, unbiased, and non-judgmental place to learn how to build wealth the right way.”
