Kellie Todd Griffin and Lynn Richardson break down how a home-based business can legally unlock hundreds of tax deductions most people never learn about: turning the tax code from an intimidating obstacle into a tool for keeping more of what you already earn. This episode makes the case that the fastest money you'll find this year isn't a raise, it's the money you're already owed.

• The tax code isn't a fixed burden. It's a system with rules the IRS has made public, and living your life "like a business" unlocks deductions on everyday spending like meals, mileage, and phone use when they're tied to business purposes.
• Everyone needs a home-based business (a sole proprietorship or LLC filed on Schedule 1) to access deductions that W-2 employees and even traditional storefront businesses can't claim, from Uber driving to consulting to selling products.
• A legitimate home office lets you write off a proportional share of your rent, mortgage, utilities, and other home costs based on how much space it occupies.
• Hiring your own children (or grandchildren, nieces, nephews) to work in your home-based business turns money you're already spending into a tax write-off for you and tax-free income for them, echoing Shaquille O'Neal's strategy of paying his mother a salary instead of buying her a house outright.
• Running a business "like a business" means documenting every expense since without real records and profit intent, an activity is treated as a hobby and the deductions disappear.

The Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here.

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Kellie Todd Griffin and Lynn Richardson dig into the affordability crisis facing Black women in California — where rent, childcare, and the cost of "keeping up" often collide with a paycheck that was never built to cover it all. This episode offers real, actionable strategies for restructuring costs and turning freed-up money into wealth, without waiting on a broken system to catch up.

• The crisis is systemic, not personal: Black women in California earn about 60 cents to every dollar paid to white men (56 cents for single mothers), over 80% of Black households are led by women breadwinners, and Black women in LA County are evicted at nearly double the rate of any other group.
• Reevaluating "sacrifice" is key: Lynn shares her own turning point during the 2008 recession when she had to tell her kids there was no money for Christmas toys, and how that honesty gave them a financial education more valuable than presents.
• Rethinking what "the best" costs: private school tuition, elite daycare, and expensive extracurriculars (like $1,400 cheerleading fees) often reflect price, not actual value, and there are strategic alternatives, including hiring your own children in a home-based business as a tax-advantaged way to cover costs.
• Community and communal living is a practical, historically-rooted strategy for closing the affordability gap right now.
• Facing a layoff or income loss requires immediate action, not business as usual: treat potential unemployment like a state of emergency, preserve reserves as a last resort, and consider strategic moves like refinancing before a crisis hits rather than after.

The Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here.

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Kellie Todd Griffin and Lynn Richardson tackle the biggest reason Black women have been locked out of generational wealth, and the biggest way to reclaim it: homeownership. From busting down-payment myths to building family compounds, this episode makes the case that ownership isn't out of reach, it's a decision away.

• Black homeownership has hit its lowest point since 2021: 45% of Black Americans own homes versus 74% of white Americans, and in California only 24% of Black women are homeowners, down from 49% before the 2008 housing crash.
• Estate planning gaps are erasing generational wealth: Lynn shares how her husband's grandmother worked until 84 to pay off her home, only for it to be lost after her passing due to a lack of estate planning.
• Turning rent into a mortgage is the biggest lever available: a $4,000/month rent payment adds up to nearly $200,000 lost over four years, while that same payment as a mortgage builds equity and can qualify buyers for a home well over $1 million in California with less than $30,000 down.
• Strategic real estate investing: buying a multi-unit property, living in one unit while renting the others, then using that equity to fund the next purchase is a realistic path to funding retirement now that pensions and 401(k)s are no longer dependable safety nets.
• Owning together (siblings, friends, multi-generational compounds) and treating fear as "false evidence appearing real" rather than fact are key mindset shifts — homeownership isn't locked away; it's a strategy anyone can build toward.

The Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here.

Follow CBWCEI:

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Follow Lynn Richardson:

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• YouTube: www.lynnrichardson.tv
• Facebook: www.lynnrichardson.info
• Contact: Management@lynnrichardson.com