Welcome to 2015! (A message from the CEO)

Dear Dreamers,

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2015! On behalf of the entire D.R.E.A.M. Team I want to wish you another year of health, wealth and prosperity.

I would like to thank all of you for your continued support of D.R.E.A.M. and our mission to empower youth through financial literacy. Our organization could not operate without the endless support that you provide.  In 2014, we continued to reach hundreds of students, families and spread the message of financial literacy. Notably, the first cohort of students of our hallmark Invest-in-Success program graduated and went on to matriculate, a major milestone for our organization.  As proud as I am of our many accomplishments, I know the work does not stop here. I  look forward to increasing our impact and doubling the amount of lives we touch in 2015 compared to 2014. It's an ambitious goal, but we can do it!

Pictured: (from left to right) Jaleni Thompson (Co-Founder), Charlie Dominguez (Class of 2014, Invest-in-Success Scholar), Sylvester Rembert (Advisory Board Member), Femi Faoye (Co-Founder & CEO)

 FINANCIAL FITNESS

Annually, I unveil a new theme which guides our programmatic efforts for the calendar year in addition to the content of our blog.  Today, I unveil our 2015 organizational theme: Get Financially Fit.

Each year, many of us have New Year’s resolutions that include increasing how much we exercise. We promise ourselves that we will start attending the gym regularly, running in the mornings, and cut back on that consistent chocolate craving at night. As difficult as these lifestyle changes may seem, many of us choose (knowingly or unknowingly) to address our fitness over our finances because we view fixing our finances as even tougher than forcing ourselves to exercise. We aim to get in physical shape and trim the extra pounds from our mid-sections, all the while there is tons of “fat” waiting to be trimmed from our personal finances.

So the call to action for 2015 is simple, stop avoiding your finances and take on the challenge. Get financially fit! Examine your spending habits, budget, and savings. Identify the “fat” - unnecessary expenses that you really don’t need - and then start to eliminate them. Use that excess cash to increase your savings or start investing in stocks for the first time (or continue investing if you are an experienced investor). Your goal for 2015 should be to establish (or fortify) a healthy financial foundation for yourself and begin taking the steps to start building wealth. You may be young, but there is no better time to start than now.

Make 2015 special and start down the road to financial prosperity. Peace and blessings in this New Year.

About the Author:  Femi Faoye is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of D.R.E.A.M. He’s a staunch and passionate financial literacy education advocate. 

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