Financial BLACK Fitness ENTERPRISE Contest Winner #4 Sondra Helenese.

DECLARATION OF FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT

From this day forward, I declare my vigilant and life-long commitment to financial empowerment. I pledge the following:

1 To save and invest 10% to 15% of my after-tax income

2 To be a proactive and informed investor

3 To be a disciplined and knowledgeable consumer

5 To engage in sound budget, credit and tax management practices

6 To teach business and financial principles to my children

7 To use a portion or my personal wealth to strengthen my community

8 To support the creation and growth of profitable, competitive black-owned enterprises

9 To maximize my earning power through a commitment to career development, technological literacy and professional excellence

10 To ensure that my wealth is passed on to future generations

SONDRA HELENSE DEFINES WEALTH IN SIMPLE DIRECT terms: "To me, wealth is having the financial flexibility to do whatever I want to do in life."

Hers may not fit the strict definition as outlined in principle No. 4 of the SLACK ENTERPRISE Declaration of Financial Empowerment--to measure my personal wealth by net worth, not income-but the 22-year-old has the time to achieve her goals.

A graduate of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, Helenese still has financial hurdles to clear. For one, she has to pay off $35,000 in student loans--S334 per month--as well as another $1,100 in credit card debt. Commuting from her home in Brooklyn, New York, Helenese works as a legal assistant for Sherman & Sterling, a New York taw firm, earning $30,000 a year (gross) plus overtime. "Right now, I'm not in the position to do much of anything." she says. "Even with overtime, I still live paycheck to paycheck."

Aside from covering $308 a month in living expenses (she lives with family friends), a sizable chunk of Helenese's money has gone to fueling her passions. Her interest in international relations led her to take a $3,200 trip to South Africa, on which she still owes $460, and a $4,000 excursion to London, which she paid off. "I've always wanted to travel and see different cultures," says Helenese, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad.

Her interest in music has come with a price as well. She spends about $207 a month for voice lessons--$69 per session. Another $77 a month goes to pay for workouts at the gym.

When Helenese found out about our Financial Fitness Contest on the blackenterprise.com Website, she sought to do more than travel abroad or fine-tune her voice. She sought to build assets through investing. "I want to be financially secure by the time I'm in my late 30s," she says. "I know that one of the ways to achieve that objective is in invest in stocks."

With fewer than 20 years to go, Helenese believes she doesn't have another day to spare.

THE ADVICE

To get Helenese started, BLACK ENTERPRISE arranged for her to consult with Darwin Davis Jr., a financial advisor with AXA Advisors L.L.C., based in White Plains, New York. The following are his recommendations:

* Pay down her debt. Even though Helenese is focused on building an investment portfolio, Davis maintains she should place some of her focus on whittling down her long- and short-term debt. By paying the principal on her student loans and reducing her credit card debt, Davis asserts, the amount of interest she currently pays will not eat into the total return on her investments as she starts to accrue assets.

* Begin building an emergency fund. Davis says that Helenese needs to begin creating a rainy-day fund. He recommends she put aside $100 a month in a money market account until she builds a base of $2,000 to $4,000.

* Invest in an individual retirement account (IRA). Because Helenese started her job in September 1999, she is not yet eligible to participate in her company's 401(k) plan. He suggests Helenese use $1,000 of the $2,000 that she received from BE for winning the Financial Fitness Contest to begin her retirement savings. The investment will reduce her taxable 1999 income of $11,000. What should she invest in? Since Helenese is starting her career, Davis says, she can afford to be aggressive and divide her investment in the following manner: 50% in technology-heavy mutual funds and another 50% in large-cap funds.

* Construct a growth portfolio with mutual funds. Davis says Helenese should use her remaining winnings to start an investment portfolio geared toward growth. Before investing directly in stocks with a broker, he suggests that she buy mutual funds and then engage in the practice of dollar-cost averaging-setting aside $100 a month to invest in a mix of technology and large-cap mutual funds. Says Davis of the plan: "She should start investing now because even though Sondra may be investing small amounts of money, time is on her side."

Sondra Helenese

ASSETS

Savings:             $1,000

TOTAL                $1,000

LIABILITIES

Student loans:      $35,000
Credit cards:         1,100
Other loans:            460

TOTAL               $36,560

NET WORTH          -$35,560