Financial wellness is important for everybody, but within the Black community, building wealth can come with its own challenges. 

This was the topic discussed at a recent virtual event held by Folsom Lake College’s Equity Center, and open to City College students, in honor of Black History Month in February. 

Panelist Allyson Wright, a financial advisor, talked about financial wellness within the Black community, and stressed the importance of financial security and economic prosperity in enabling this community to transcend the systemic challenges that it faces. 

In order to do so, one lesson Wright taught is that there needs to be a paradigm shift that changes how people relate to money. 

The relationship that a person has with wealth has a profound effect on how they engage with opportunities and challenges associated with the process of earning, saving and growing money, according to Wright.

People also need to take responsibility for their financial health and well-being. This involves educating oneself on how to make more money and build on it. Wright noted that there is  a need to ensure that the culture appreciates the value of appropriate resource management.

There is also a need to ensure that a person invests in upskilling, which involves continuous learning to acquire more skills and knowledge that can lead to higher-income jobs. They must invest in both personal and professional development to improve their value in the marketplace. 

When people solve big problems, they are compensated well for them. This calls for individuals to actively seek opportunities to solve big problems and add value to their communities.

Another lesson explored was that every person who wants to build wealth must be intentional about it. This means having a plan and committing to it. This requires a person to start on the wealth creation journey early so they can take advantage of compounding, which is when the value of an asset increases based on the interest it’s earned. There is also the need to harness the diverse tools and platforms that have emerged for use in financial planning and management.

In effect, Allyson Wright argued that wealth creation comes down to having a vision, making an actionable plan and then committing to implementing it while also continuously educating oneself.