An Interview with Money Master and Financial Literacy Pro, Rashad Bilal

Feb 25, 2021

Rashad Bilal provides VALUE. As a financial advisor and partner at the Bilal Group, the native New Yorker is keen on empowering the urban community with information and case studies relevant to the culture. Rashad offers a wide variety of solutions to meet the financial needs of families and businesses while providing an inside look at pop culture through the lens of a financial maven focused on creating generational wealth (just look at how he breaks down the HUGE brand, Fashion Nova). We had a chance to interview Bilal, and he delivered.

Rashad, how did you get into financial literacy and management? I did a bit of research and found that you played ball at the University of Hawaii? Tell us your story!

I always had a passion for business and investing for as long as I can remember. I only had plans on going into business and being an athlete as a child. Growing up I played basketball, sports was my first love. My athletic career led me to different schools in different states. I left my public high school in 11thgrade to attend IMG academy in Florida to finish my high school career. After graduating from IMG, I received a basketball scholarship to the university of Maryland Baltimore County. I spent two years at UMBC and transfer to the University of Hawaii at Hilo to finish out my college career. After graduating college, I tried my hand at playing professionally in Europe but that didn’t work out, so I came back home and began working as a financial advisor in 2008.

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What’s the best way to build WEALTH?

There are probably a few different answers to this question, but for me it all starts with education. The first step in the journey of wealth creation is education. Regardless if its real estate, stocks, or business you must first educate yourself in the respected field you’re interested in, so you can know what your doing. If you’re educated-on money you will be able to make money.

If you had to start from scratch, where would you allocate your resources to start saving?

Personally, I would allocate most of my funds into stocks.

How important is it to own a home?

Its extremely important to be a home owner, You can own a home to live in or as an investment property, but I strongly believe that home ownership should be a part of everyone’s wealth building strategy.

If you could talk to your 18-year-old self, what advice would you have for increasing financial literacy?

To be honest I wouldn’t have much advice to give myself at 18, because I was educating myself at that age. At 18 I read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”, after reading that book and watching the videos I became obsessed with leaning about money. I took my financial education serious at a young age.

What are the best resources you’ve found for financial tips?

The best resources to me are people. I try to talk to smart and successful people as much as I can. I also ask a lot of questions, I enjoy learning from real world examples.

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Do you advocate for credit cards and/or other forms of debt?

I wouldn’t say I advocate for credit cards, but I do believe that credit cards are a powerful tool that can provide a lot of leverage. You must handle credit cards correctly because they can be extremely dangerous as well but if managed correctly credit cards can be a powerful.

How can the urban community increase our wealth?

Three steps in increasing wealth is to have life insurance, purchase a home, and fund a retirement account.

As an entrepreneur, what are some of the best ways to monitor your spending and stay profitable?

As a business owner one of the most important aspects is to keep expenses low. I personally write my expenses down on paper every month and track all my spending online from my card’s websites. There are websites like QuickBooks that are effective as well.