This podcast is sponsored by PayPal.Keeping track of your budget is key, and that's why I love the PayPal debit card.
You earn 5% cash back in a monthly category of your choice, gas, groceries, restaurants, and more, on up to $1,000 of monthly purchases.On top of that, you can get cash back offers within the app from brands like DoorDash, Sephora, and Instacart.
Check this out.I'm all about dining out.Knowing I get 5% cash back on my Tex-Mex meals makes the food taste even better. Download the PayPal app and earn cashback with the PayPal Debit Card today.
Small business owners, did you know you don't have to sell on Amazon to advertise with Amazon ads?You heard right.Amazon ads can match your service with new customers who want you just as much as you want them.Who doesn't want that?Here's how.
Amazon ads taps into insights based on what people buy, browse, and stream. so your ads may reach the right customers.And that's how matches are made with Amazon Ads, ads that work as hard as you do.
Visit advertising.amazon.com forward slash start now and get $500 in ad credits when you launch on Amazon Ads Sponsored TV.Terms and conditions apply.
Shop Dell Technologies Early Holiday Savings event for their lowest prices of the year.The future is on sale today with limited time deals on select PCs like the XPS 16 that accelerate AI with Intel Core ultra processors.
Early Holiday Savings is their biggest sale of the year and the best time to upgrade, but it's only here for a limited time.Shop now at dell.com slash deals.That's dell.com slash deals.
If you like bacon, you'll love Oscar Mayer Thick Cut Bacon.It's smoked for 12 hours.That's a really long time.So for that delicious, smoky flavor, keep it Oscar.
It's time for that once-a-year event, Truck Week, where you stay big on America's biggest trucks, including the 12-ton, 12-liter, 12 hours of Oscar Mayer smoking thick-cut bacon.For half the day, they're still smoking that bacon.
If you're driven by your love of smoky, thick-cut bacon, keep it Oscar.
The holidays are here at the Home Depot, so let's get to decorating.
Find your perfect tree in our huge assortment of shapes, sizes, and styles, like the easy-to-assemble Jackson Noble Fir, with pre-lit branches perfect for styling with all your favorite ornaments.
Or the flocked Starry Light Fraser Fir, with over 1,900 pre-lit memory wire branches that keep their shape so it's ready right out of the box. Find the perfect tree now at The Home Depot and enjoy free delivery on most holiday decor.
Subject to availability.See homedepot.com slash delivery for details.
Welcome to the show.I am Rashawn McDonald, the host of Money-Making Conversations Masterclass, where we encourage people to stop reading other people's success stories and start planning their own.
Listen up as I interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities, and ask them how they are running their companies, and speak with non-profits who are making a difference in their local communities.
Now sit back and listen as we unlock the secrets to their success on Money-Making Conversations Masterclass. My guess is Sonya fears of the Morgan Stanley group is right within Morgan Stanley.
She's one of the leading financial experts in discussing stocks, saving programs, compounded interest portfolios, name, image, and likeness, as well as lines of credit.
Sonja built her career and her family practice at Morgan Stanley, along with her two daughters.They provide alternative investment opportunities, retirement plans, and entertainment and sports financial consultations.
Please welcome to Money Making Conversation Masterclass, Sonja Fears.
Good evening, good evening.Thank you so much for having me on your show, Sean.It's always a pleasure.
Well, I appreciate you being on the show.Appreciate you being on the show.Now tell me, being on the show, you have a family and you got together and it's nothing greater, I have to assume, than to be in business with your family.Tell us about that.
You're right.Nothing greater.It is the
greatest accomplishment I must say of my career, my adult life, my career, to be able to build a legacy, build a business, and I have to say this industry is one of the few industries that you can build up a practice and turn it over to your children.
And, you know, just create a legacy that at one day they can then turn it over to their children, hopefully, if they can get one or two interested in being in the financial services industry.
Well, you know, one of the reasons, you know, I brought you on the show, Sonia, is about that legacy that you're talking about, that knowledge, that information that you're talking about. that's so important to, I feel, the Black community.
And in conversations, because we've talked about this a lot, about Blacks, you know, we're the last hired, first fired, or first laid off.
You know, we're the last to get the information on the housing, or we're the last to get the information on economic opportunities.In your world, you're in that financial sector.
What is stopping the Black community from moving to the front of the line?Or can we move to the front of the line?
Absolutely, we can.All it takes, and we know that, is for one of us to get in the door.And once you're in the door, you know, you prop it open and let others through.It's all about getting the information about the education.
For years, decades in this industry, you see many people that look like you and I attain immense wealth. And many people that look like you and I end up losing that.Well, education to get the information.That's what keeps you in the door.
That's what helps our community understand that this is an incredible industry and an incredible way to build a legacy. financial education and it's out there, Rashawn.It's not...
banned or it's not relegated to the people who have high degrees and multiple degrees.It's out there for all of us.This wonderful thing called the internet makes it more available today than it's ever been before.
And I dare say financial advisors in this industry also make it more available and able to disseminate it to the masses more than ever before.
Okay, I mentioned the fact that the Fears Group, which is your last name, Sonya Fears, is at Morgan Stanley.How does that work?So my audience can understand that you built your business inside of the Morgan Stanley brand?
That's exactly how that works.So I've been doing wealth management now for 17 years.I was at Merrill Lynch for 15.
At Merrill Lynch, my oldest daughter and I started the very first African-American mother-daughter team that Merrill Lynch has ever had in its history.I moved over to Morgan Stanley.I've been with Morgan Stanley
two and a half years now, and I now have two daughters that joined me at Morgan Family.It's, you know, it wasn't the easiest thing, but again, I can't say it enough times.
I've been blessed, and it's the greatest accomplishment that I've had to date in my career.
So how can one get in touch with you?
Call me.My number is 470-449-0812.And my email, sonia.fears, F-E-A-R-S. at morganstanley.com.Call or email me, I will respond.
Absolutely, thank you.Now let's get into telling people how this business works from a financial situation.
There's a couple of programs I want to bring to everybody's attention that I found out about and I felt that these are the type of programs that needed to be heard on my show.
You have what you call a preferred savings program over at Morgan Stanley that you oversee, the Fierce Group does, where your mortgage, the savings interest rate, which to me I think is ridiculously low, that's just my thought, but you're saying that it can be offered at a higher interest rate at Morgan Stanley.
Can you explain that to my listeners?
Absolutely.And I dare say that Morgan Stanley Preferred Savings Program offers one of the highest rates out there for cash.
So in most banking accounts that you have, even your preferred banking account, if it's sitting there in a traditional banking account, in a savings account, you may be earning 0.05% on your money, even in high interest times like this.
In our preferred savings program, we pay 4.6% on cash.Your money is safe.
There's a lot of people- Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.Since you're dealing with numbers, you could say something like that.Maybe you said the going rate is what out there and what is Morgan Stanley offering?
In your traditional bank account, and again, the internet is there, you can Google it. you will get 0.05% on your savings account in your bank, your traditional bank and our preferred savings program.
We offer 4.6% on cash savings account right now, today.
Uh, the next question, I guess someone would say, how is that possible?
And that's a great question.Thank you for asking.In our community, you know, we talk about it all the time.And, you know, people know it and they say it, but they don't really realize it's real.
So the banks are using your money and it's called overnight sweep. So most banks are part of the Federal Open Market Commission and they're member banks, right?
So there's an overnight sweep where your money that's deposited is being loaned and the banks are being paid to lend your money at a much greater rate than they're paying you.
So if you don't need that daily liquidity, you know, if it's not in a checking, or a savings account, especially a checking account, that you're using that money every day, we suggest you put it in a savings program.
And what we're hoping is that this is money that you're going to leave in there, right?Right.It's available to you at any time, any minute, any day.But if you leave it in there, then we are betting that, okay, it'll benefit us.
So why not give you the benefit that you deserve on that money?Because again, If it's in the bank, they're going to be using it.Whether or not you think they are, they are.
Fantastic.I'm talking to Sonya Fierce of the Fierce Group within the Morgan Stanley brand.
Sonya is one of the leading financial experts in discussing stocks, savings programs, which she just discussed right there, compounded interest portfolios, which we will go to in a minute, name, image, and likeness, which we will discuss later on the show, as well as lines of credit.
I just popped out the big word, compounded interest.I hear that a lot. Can you tell my listeners what exactly does compounded interest means?Because that's used a lot in the stock market game, especially.
Compounding interest.So I'm going to first tell you what it is, and then I'm going to give you an example of how it works, right?Right.So compounding interest is, say you save $1,000, and you're earning 10% on the $1,000.
That 10% gets you to $1,100, right? you continue to earn that 10%.So you're now earning 10% on $1,100, which gets you to be $1,210.10% on that, $1,331.So that's how compounded interest works.Now, for an example, if you had two people, um,
Two people, right?20 years old each.Same age.
Same age.20 years old each.
OK.20 years old.We have a young woman who she said she can't afford to save for retirement.She has an apartment, new car, starting out is challenging.So we say, OK, just save $250 a month.That's $3,000 a year.And we talked to her.
She said, OK, I'm going to do it. And she saves $3,000 a year for 10 years.We have a young man, Terry.
And she stops.She stops right there, I'm assuming.OK.At 10 years, she stops.
She stops.She stops after 10 years.But it's still compounding, though.
It's still compounding.The interest is still compounding.
It's still compounded.Example I just gave you is doing that, right?And so we have someone else, Terry. He said, I'm going to wait because I want to live my best life.And I'm going to buy that brand new car.And I'm going to travel a little bit.
And I'm young, so I'm just going to take advantage of going to Dubai.So he started saving at 30 years old.And he did the same thing.He saved $250 a month, a year, so $3,000 a year.
And instead of saving for 10 years, he's financially savvy, he understands the market, he's gonna save for 30 years.So he does that.So Terry saves from 30 till he is 60.They both retire at 65.And the question is,
At 65, after Terry saved his $90,000, and Ashley saved her $30,000, who has the most money?
Drumroll, please.And the answer is, our dear darling Ashley has the most money.How much?At 65, she has $718,473. The estimated rate of return, 9%, at 65, Harry, who saved $90,000, has $489,111. same estimated rate of return of 9%.
He has almost doubled the money that he had, and he tripled the amount of money she saved.
Because she started early, because she started early, compounded that 10, stopped at 10 years.He started after her and did 30 years, but his compounding started later. and now she's at 700,000, he's at 700,000, she's at 400,000.
Again, I'm talking to Sonya Fields.Sonya, before we go to break, what's your contact information so we can go to break after that?
Please don't go anywhere.We'll be right back with more Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
Hi, I am Rashawn McDonald.As the host of Money Making Conversation Masterclass, did you know that Amazon ads can help your small businesses grow by connecting you with Amazon customers who want what you are offering?
And did you also know they go for services that don't sell products on Amazon too?So now your gym, painting service, car dealership, your restaurant or food truck can use Amazon ads to help find new customers that want your product or business.
Whatever you sell or do, match with the right customers, right now with Amazon ads.If you don't believe me, listen to a friend of mine from Amazon who is here to speak the truth about Amazon ads.Lucia, how you doing?
I'm good, Ushaan.Thanks for having me.
Great, great.What exciting advertising solution is available to advertisers on Amazon ads?
I'm glad you asked.I want to talk about our exciting new ad solution available to local businesses, even if they don't sell on Amazon.It's called Sponsor TV.
Awesome.Sponsored TV.And why should small businesses care about sponsored TV?
Well, TV has long been considered a marketing channel reserved exclusively for large brands.But streaming TV has really changed the game.
It is a transformative opportunity for brands to have the unmatched brand recall of television advertising and the insights of digital marketing.
That's why, to bring TV within reach for brands of any size, Amazon Ads has launched Sponsored TV, a self-service ad platform with no minimum spend, simple setup, and zero hassle.
Love the no minimum spend and simple setup.Fantastic.Where can these type of ads appear?
Small brands can now deliver their message with full screen, non-skippable ads on the largest screen in the home in premium content like Twitch and Prime Video.Streaming TV advertising is a digital medium.
Local businesses can experiment with shoppable ad formats like QR codes and a remote control interactivity.
You have said everything you needed to say about Amazon ads.Let me tell everyone how to get started.Visit advertising.amazon.com forward slash start now to learn more.Get $500 in ad credits when you launch on sponsored TV.Terms and conditions apply.
Whether you're starting or scaling your company's security program, demonstrating top-notch security practices and establishing trust is more important than ever.
Vanta automates compliance for ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, and more, saving you time and money while helping you build customer trust.
Plus, you can streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing trust center all powered by Vanta AI.
Over 8,000 global companies like Atlassian, FlowHealth, and Quora use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Our audience gets a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta at vanta.com slash special.
That's V-A-N-T-A dot com slash special for $1,000 off.
Welcome to AutoZone.What are you working on today?Ah, sounds like wipers.If your wipers are streaking, skipping, chattering, or even worse, Loud?You need to visit AutoZone and get some fresh new blades.
We've got basic wipers to get you back on the road, as well as premium blades from Bosch and Rain-X.So if you're hearing this, just head to your nearest AutoZone or AutoZone.com.
Shop Dell Technologies Early Holiday Savings event for their lowest prices of the year.The future is on sale today with limited time deals on select PCs like the XPS 16 that accelerate AI with Intel Core ultra processors.
Early Holiday Savings is their biggest sale of the year and the best time to upgrade, but it's only here for a limited time.Shop now at dell.com slash deals.That's dell.com slash deals.
You hear more and more about identity theft in the news every day.
Maybe that's because so much of your personal information is out of your control, like your insurance provider that has your social security number and your favorite retailer that has your payment details.
If they get breached, your information is vulnerable. Fortunately, there's LifeLock.LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points every second for identity threats.
If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US-based restoration specialist will help solve identity theft issues on your behalf, guaranteed, or your money back.
Plus, all LifeLock plans are backed by the Million Dollar Protection Package, meaning LifeLock will reimburse you up to the limits of your plan if you lose money due to identity theft.
You might not be able to control how others handle your personal information, but you can help protect it with LifeLock.Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash iHeart.That's 40% off your first year at LifeLock.com slash iHeart.
Welcome back to the Money-Making Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashawn McDonald.
Money-Making Conversations Masterclass continues online at MoneyMakingConversations.com and follow Money-Making Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Ms.Fears, thank you for coming on Money Making Conversation.Why are you on the show today?Why are you coming on talking about finances and talking about what you can do and engage in my audience?What's the bigger picture here?
The bigger picture.So my daughter, one of my daughters at 25 years old, bought her first home.She bought a townhouse. My oldest daughter, at 27, she bought her first home.She is now 29 and just bought her second home.It's about being empowered.
It's about starting and building a legacy.And it's about our community being able to participate in all the wealth that's surrounding us. And how do you do that?You have to be educated that we can do it too.And how do we do it?Let's talk about it.
Let me share the knowledge that I've attained to help others do the same thing.
Well, we have a caller who wants to hear the knowledge, Ms.Fierce.Please welcome to the show, Jeannie.Jeannie, thank you for calling Money Making Conversation Masterclass.
You're speaking to Rishon McDonald and Sonya Fierce from the Fierce Group of Morgan Stanley.What's your question?
uh... first of all i want to take this is absolutely a great show today because i've actually been looking for or uh... someplace to actually say money so i think that the uh... uh... uh... needs that i'm raising and she's had monies coming in that are from you know her dad from his social security so i want to make sure that she's financially set up in a in a really good way
And she's 14 right now.So, and it's about, let's say about maybe six to $800.What would be the best way?
to say would it be to put it in the compound interest or the savings account but 4.6 is like amazing because everything I've been finding has been online has been you know definitely less than that but what would be the best way so when she does get out of high school or and she you know wants to go to school or whatever that she has
Again, compounding interest, if she's saved, now she has four years to college.So we could start, I'd rather her start earlier for a 529 plan, but a 529 plan in which you can save for college.
And what a lot of people don't know, these days, a 529 plan with the new secure Act 2.0
If your child is brilliant, which we know many of our children are, they get scholarships and they have money in a 529 plan, which is a college savings plan, and they don't use it, this is an opportunity to roll that money into a Roth IRA.
That money, you put $600 in there.We just gave the example of $250 a month for 10 years.You start with the $600, you add $100 to it, you get to $1,000 for the year, or whatever you want to get to.But that $1,000 will grow
tax-free until she retires if it is turned over into a Roth IRA.And that's the beauty of a Roth IRA.
Again, if $30,000 is going to grow to be $700,000 approximately, right, that's $670,000 that you would not pay taxes on if that money was sitting in a Roth IRA.Now, that's a powerful thing.
Yeah, so if we just sit, say, $1,000 in the Roth IRA, just sit there until she's at retirement age.So what about, say, we set the $1,000 there, and then what about another $1,500 place else?
Hey, Jeannie.Jeannie, how you doing?Jeannie, you're breaking up.Can you give her your number so she can call you at the office, Sonya?Because Jeannie's breaking up.
Absolutely.It's 470-449-0812.Please call me, Jeannie, but I would start with the 529 plan again, because that's saving for college.And if she doesn't use it, then we would convert it to, say, a Roth IRA.But there are many options.
Would love to discuss them with you.
Absolutely.Thank you, Jeannie, for calling.I always tell people knowledge is everything.If you're quiet about this information, we're trying to give you on this show.Every week I'm trying to bring guests on.
I'm not trying, I am bringing guests on that I believe can change your life, put you in a position where you can have a better life.That's what we're doing today with this interview.We're doing this interview.She's reputable for Morgan Stanley.
You know who they are. and she had built with her daughters a business within that, a respected business within that.And that's what we're talking about, her knowledge being transferred to you.
Because if someone calls you, you're not charging them a fee, are you Sonia?Let these people know.Absolutely not.Okay.
I'm not.I will talk to anyone for an hour, two hours, whatever you need, because I want the information to get out there.
We need to be educated financially on how to set ourselves up for success, how to leave a legacy, how to set an example for our children.
Let's have one thing before we get out of here.
I wanted to talk about something that's dancing out there a lot in the athletic world, and we have a lot of listeners I know who may have a nephew, maybe their own child, a grandchild, who in this world of sports, name, image, and likeness, they call it NIL for short, where young men coming out of high school can now get sponsorship dollars, whether from major Fortune 500 companies or local businesses, and make money.
You guys, in your organization, the Fierce Group, you guys are in the NIL game, correct?
Yes, we are.So, I'm a global sports and entertainment director with Morgan Stanley, have a lot of clients in the sports and entertainment sector, along with other sectors.And with the NIL, a few things that's really important.
These are young men and women, middle school, high school that are now being offered a great deal of money, right?
And so a few things that they need to know, this money that they're getting can help fund their vision, family vision, can help start a business even at that age, can start saving so that they can have that compounding interest when they get older.
Because again, some of them will make it to be in the NFL or NBA or even to drive a NASCAR, but many Most will not, because the percentage of athletes that truly make it to be professionals are very, very small.A lot of people don't realize that.
And so these young men and women, they have an opportunity to capture. that wealth now and use it.But again, they need to be educated and their families need to be educated to make sure that they hold on to this wealth.
And not get it into contracts that is not really profitable or beneficial for them.
Yes, so you're under the FEARS group at Morgan Stanley.You provide financial education.I'm reading here, financial education for the athlete, provide financial education for the family, and then educate them both about the NIL opportunities.
Exactly.That's exactly what we do.
Let's hear that.A little inside information about when young people are offered scholarships to attend college for their athletic skills.A scholarship is only, it may seem like it's four years, but it's not. It's a one-year scholarship.
And every year they renew it.So you can get a scholarship to go to the University of Georgia or Alabama.That doesn't mean, that doesn't say that you'll be there for four years under a scholarship.It's at the option of the school.
They can take that scholarship away from you.They can renew it.So the NIL program is put in place to help young men and women to be able to earn income, just in case that does happen.
Or if it doesn't happen, you're still in a position to work with a reputable company.
It's not your cousin, not your homeboy down the street, but a company that has relationships and also the financial know-how in order to tell you what to do with the money when the opportunities come.Am I correct when I say that, Sonya Fields?
You are absolutely correct.You are absolutely correct.And again, Who's there?You know, you have people who say that they're business managers.
Who's there to advise you and educate you on how to properly manage this money, save this money, make this money last for you?Because we have to make it last.
Absolutely.As we close out this interview, thank you for taking the time to come on Money Making Conversation Masterclass.
What is your contact information and any closing thoughts or advice to people who are considering or looking for financial experts to advise them on their future financial outlooks?
Yes, so number is 470-449-0812.And my final thought here, and again, thank you.It is an absolute pleasure to be on the show.Final thought is planning.So we're certified financial planners as well.And you've heard the saying, if you fail to plan,
then you plan to fail.And so financial planning is the key.You have to put a plan in place.You have to understand where you are, know where you want to go and have a plan on how to get there.And that's what we do.
We help our clients with planning on how to get there.And there are many strategies that we have in our wheelhouse through the breadth and depth of Morgan Stanley to offer to our clients.
Thank you for coming on Money Making Conversation.We will talk soon.Thank you, Sonya Fierce.Thank you.Thank you for listening.Bye bye. This has been another edition of Money-Making Conversations Masterclass hosted by me, Rashawn McDonald.
Thank you to our guests on the show today, and thank you, our listening audience.Now, if you want to listen to any episode or want to be a guest on the show, visit MoneyMakingConversations.com.Our social media handle is MoneyMakingConversations.
Join us next week, and remember to always lead with your gifts.Keep winning. Small business owners, did you know you don't have to sell on Amazon to advertise with Amazon ads?You heard right.
Amazon ads can match your service with new customers who want you just as much as you want them.Who doesn't want that?Here's how.Amazon ads taps into insights based on what people buy, browse, and stream. so your ads may reach the right customers.
And that's how matches are made with Amazon Ads.Ads that work as hard as you do.Visit advertising.amazon.com forward slash start now and get $500 in ad credits when you launch on Amazon Ads Sponsored TV.Terms and conditions apply.
Welcome to AutoZone.What are you working on today? Ah, sounds like wipers.If your wipers are streaking, skipping, chattering, or even worse, loud, you need to visit AutoZone and get some fresh new blades.
We've got basic wipers to get you back on the road, as well as premium blades from Bosch and Rain-X.So if you're hearing this, just head to your nearest AutoZone or AutoZone.com.
Hey y'all, Nimminy here.I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records.Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip hop.
Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records.Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sign in
