American’s Wealth Gap is increasing and COVID-19 has illuminated the stark contrasts between the “haves” and the “have-nots” more than ever. Systemic racism and discrimination plays a significant factor in the increasing wealth gap.
In September 2020, the Federal Reserve reported: “White families are both more likely to have received an inheritance and are also more likely to expect to receive an inheritance: about 17 percent of White families expect an inheritance, compared to 6 percent of Black families, 4 percent of Hispanic families, and 15 percent of other families. Similarly, conditional upon expecting to receive an inheritance in the future, White families expect to receive relatively larger inheritances.” The failure of intergenerational wealth to represent a diverse cross-section of the American population is a socio-economic problem that is concentrated in certain communities.
In addition to the wealth gap impacting communities of color, the wealth gap also persists for people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ communities, women, rural communities, and similarly marginalized communities due to a disparity in access to sophisticated resources and elite networks. In recent years, the gap in economic inequality between urban and rural areas has narrowed, unfortunately, not because the economic equality in rural areas has improved, but because the economic inequality in urban areas has worsened.
Essentially, education and programs targeted towards providing welfare and meeting basic education standards, are not enough – the more nuanced and systemic issue of the disparity between those lacking in access to wealth and the communities of wealth has to be addressed. Our mission is simple – intergenerational wealth is in the hands of the haves and always has been. It is time to bring the rest into the fold. Those who never seem to be able to climb into the ranks of creating inheritable wealth often lack access to knowledge on how to build wealth and protect the things and talents they build. Wealth can be created, grown, and bequeathed – it is not finite.
We are professionals, many of us considered experts in our fields in tax, finance, and law. Our client and community stories sound similar across marginalized communities – the well-established families with fortune have advisors, knowledge, and the resources to ensure they select and seek competent advisors. The ones who don’t – many, exceedingly talented – creatives, athletes and others in communities of color, predominantly, are often led astray by misinformation and exploitative strategies in the competitive industries.
What is the Access Problem
They are the ones maxing their credit cards on courses to teach them fundamentals on investing and finance – without the ability to discern which courses are substantive and which are merely entertaining. They are the ones signing contracts without realizing that most of the revenue they generated will go to their business managers, talent managers, and the conglomerates drafting the contract. They have no idea how much their talent is worth, how to protect it, or how to manage their investments, career, or their money
We believe fundamental industry knowledge – from the basics of financial planning, budgeting, investments, estate planning, asset protection, business formation, and contract law, should be accessible – to everyone. We believe that networks and advanced industry knowledge is sharable. And, so we have come together, under one umbrella – Powerful Progress, Inc. – a Section 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to create intergenerational wealth in marginalized communities through coaching, mentoring, and providing access to sophisticated information and education in finance, investment, tax law, asset protection, and specialized industry knowledge.
