Three years ago, I attended my first Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting for work and as a guest of Mr. Buffett. My first thought: Warren and Charlie are amazing! My second thought: Where is the diversity?

A year later, The Plutocrats group was born! The Plutocrats are an assembly of African-American women who have gathered to improve their financial literacy with a goal of building generational wealth.

Three years and over 3,000 Plutocrats members later, I invited my six-member advisory board to attend this year’s Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. The Plutocrats advisory board consists of Keyonne Campbell, Tamira Chapman, Rhonda Jackson, Tiffany Shepard, Shola Gaji-Sykes and myself, Ngum Suh.

I designed The Plutocrats in Omaha weekend to include four days of learning and networking with those in the financial industry. I wanted to ensure we did as much as we could this year by attending a private meeting with TD Ameritrade, a lunchtime meet-and-greet with John Rogers of Ariel Investments, a dinner party with high net-worth investors, and the taping of CNBC’s Squawk Box with Mr. Buffett bright and early Monday morning.

The goal was to bring together a group of developing financially savvy women, cultivate relationships and create investment strategies. And boy did we learn some things!

At the end of the weekend, my advisory board came together and shared the following takeaways with the rest of our growing group:

  • Make sure the portfolio you set up is diversified so it can take the ups and downs of the market. One advisor suggested an 80:10:10 which includes a breakdown of mutual funds, S&P 500s, and even those fun, self-directed stocks like the stock tip you received from the random guy/girl at the gym.
  • The financial industry is battling for OUR business. Many companies have new trade offers, low brokerage deposit amounts, and platforms that help to educate investors.  So do your research ladies and find the platform YOU like and inquire about their new investor benefits.
  • Take steps NOW to ensure that your "2017 self" is preparing to take care of your "2050 self." Figure out what it looks like to take care of yourself first, then plan accordingly.
  • Remember: Stocks will ebb and flow so don't treat them like hot potatoes. Once you jump, try to stay in.
  • Know your circle of competence but be willing to acknowledge mistakes. There are bound to be hiccups (with stocks), it's in the nature of the market to have cycles.
  • The Plutocrats is proud to be quickly filling a great void. FOMO is real and The Plutocrats is putting more of “us” in the room. When you're not in the room, you're missing some valuable info. I encourage you to attend the shareholders meeting to not only be present and learn but to remind the world that WE exist.

We are thankful to Berkshire Hathaway and all the companies who hosted us – we can’t wait to explore more investment opportunities, share our learnings with the rest of the group and deepen our relationships next year!

In the meantime, The Plutocrats group is growing by the day and we'd love to welcome new members so please join us via Facebook at The Plutocrats Group

(Please take note: We are not certified financial advisors so the tips are strictly notes/advice we received while in Omaha but remember there is always more than one way to skin a cat.)

Yours in financial literacy,

Ngum Suh, Founder of The Plutocrats