Technology
Devices, accounts, security, and modern tools — including how to actually use AI assistants for paperwork, job applications, and small-business work instead of being replaced by them.
rathetec.com · Community learning hub
The money and tech education we weren’t handed.
Rathe TEC is a community outreach organization teaching technology, school funding, business capital, taxes and generational wealth — built for Black and urban communities. Plain language. No jargon. No upsells. No one judging you for asking.
Built for real neighborhoods
Free intro workshops
In person & online
Why we exist
Most of the gap is information and access — not effort.
Our communities were excluded from the generations of quiet, ordinary wealth-building that happened everywhere else. Federal policy played a part — and so did the fact that nobody ever sat us down and explained the paperwork.
Three pillars
Technology. Education. Community.
Education
How school gets paid for and how it pays off: FAFSA, grants versus loans, apprenticeships, certifications, and the difference between a credential and a debt trap.
Community
Wealth sticks when it’s held together. Family meetings, co-signed agreements written down, local credit unions, and partners who show up after the workshop ends.
What we teach
Six tracks, built to be taken in any order.
Each track is a workshop plus a written guide you keep. Bring your own questions; most sessions turn into real paperwork help by the second half.
Filing status & tax basics
The single line on your return that moves the most money.
Filing status decides your tax bracket thresholds, your standard deduction, whether you qualify for the Earned Income Credit or the Child Tax Credit, and how much of your Social Security gets taxed. Getting it wrong costs people thousands — and “it was easier” is not a legal reason.
| Status | Who it’s generally for | Why it matters | Watch out for |
|---|
This is education, not tax advice. Thresholds and credit amounts change every
year. Confirm current numbers at irs.gov or use IRS Free File. In
2024–2025 the IRS Direct File option was expanding — check whether it’s
available in your state before paying anyone to file a simple return.
Head of household is the one people miss
You may qualify if you paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a qualifying person — a child, sometimes a parent — even if you’re married but living apart under specific rules. Better brackets and a bigger standard deduction than “single.”
“Married filing separately” is usually the expensive choice
It can lose you the EITC, the education credits, the student loan interest deduction and the retirement savings credit. Sometimes it protects you from a spouse’s tax history — that’s the real reason to use it, and it deserves a professional.
Self-employed ≠ “I don’t have a job”
If you drive, contract, sell, barber, cater, or clean for money, you likely have self-employment income. Deductions, quarterly payments, and a retirement account built for it all exist. Not filing them is the actual leak.
How it shows up
Programs we’re building out.
Tell us which ones you’d actually attend. Demand decides what we schedule first.
Money Night Workshop · 90 min
Banking that isn’t against you: how to avoid overdraft and NSF traps, the difference between a credit union and a big bank, how credit scores are actually calculated, and how to build one from nothing or repair one from a hole.
Pay for School Without Selling Your Future Clinic
FAFSA walkthrough, grants and work-study before loans, income-driven repayment, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and how to read a for-profit school’s disclosures before you sign. Includes graduate and trade-school paths.
Capital for the Business Series
SBA loan programs explained, microloans and CDFIs, what a personal guarantee really does, equipment vs. working capital, lines of credit, and the paperwork lenders expect before they will even look at your idea.
Generational Wealth Mechanics Series
Why ownership beats renting over time, how home equity becomes the next generation’s down payment, wills, beneficiary designations, trusts without the mystique, life insurance as a tool rather than a sales pitch, and family money agreements written down.
Tech That Pulls Its Weight Workshop
Phone and computer literacy that matters: email and document hygiene, password managers, spotting scams that target our communities, free cloud tools, and using AI assistants to draft, summarize, and double-check real paperwork.
One-on-One Money Hours By appointment
Sit down with a prepared volunteer over your actual documents — a loan offer, a tax notice, a lease, a collection letter. We help you read it and list your options. We do not charge you and we do not sign anything for you.
Straight answers
Questions people ask before they trust us.
Stay connected
Join the list. Tell us what you need.
We use this to decide what to teach, where to hold it, and who to invite first. One form per person. You can ask us to remove you at any time by emailing info@rathetec.com.
Know someone who needs this yesterday?
Forward this page, or bring them to a Money Night. The first session is always the one where somebody says out loud the thing they were embarrassed to ask about.