Building First-Gen Wealth with Uziel Gomez

Nikita Wolff is joined by Uziel Gomez, CFP®, AFC®, and founder of Primeros Financial, as he shares the personal experiences that inspired his mission to serve communities traditionally left out of the financial conversation. Together, they explore what makes “primeros” such a powerful and overlooked demographic, why advisors should be paying attention, and the importance of grace, celebration, and embracing the strengths that come from a first-gen upbringing. Tune in for a thoughtful, energizing conversation between two changemakers tackling financial inequity from different angles. 

Find Uziel on Social Media:

• LinkedIn
• Website
• Instagram

Transcript

Nikita 0:00

Hey Third Decade community, I'm your host Nikita Wolf, and today I am really excited for this guest. I've been looking forward to this interview for a while now. We have Little Gomez with us. He is a certified financial planner, an accredited financial counselor, and the founder of Commandant Financial South. I am really excited to have you with us today. Thank you for coming to the U.S. I would love it if you would share a little bit more about the work that you do with Premiere Most Financial and just the experiences that led you down this path.

Uziel 0:49

Yeah, absolutely. So I work primarily with first generation wealth builders. What it means to be a first gen is you're typically the first of many things in your family. First to go to college, first to graduate college, first to be in a professional setting. I even like joke around and say first to travel, because so many people in our communities just stay within our communities. Like as a child, going 30 minutes out was felt like four hours. Paycheck to paycheck. So being a first, you're the one to actually go from surviving to thriving, and you're actually the first to start building wealth. So there's so many opportunities, strategies, and so many things that go into working with first gen that happy to share and like get into more of the weeds. But the reason why I um started my practice and work with other firsts is because I'm a first myself. Um, so everything that I just described applies to me. Um, and uh, you know, there's there's this the saying is like your best to serve the person that you once were. So I really resonate with a lot of first gen. I know how they think, I know the obstacles and things that they um that they encounter. So um I really want to give back to my community in that way, and is why I pursued financial planning. I grew up in a low-income household. My parents uh migrated from Mexico to the States. I'm the youngest of four. Being the youngest of four, I thought that my my siblings would have paved the way for me, but that wasn't the case. Um, I'm actually paving the way for my family. Being a first also means that you're typically the leader of the family. People come to you for advice because you are paving the way for your family.

Nikita 2:47

I think we have more um, like I never really thought about that necessarily heading into this conversation, but a lot of what you just said like resonates with me. You know, I'm I'm a first in my family as well. And like you said, you might expect that being the youngest, somebody else older than you, I have one older sibling. But it's like my family is coming to me for advice and it feels weird because I'm like, aren't I the baby of the family? But you realize, like, no, if if you can break a cycle and if you can arm yourself with, you know, a wealth of knowledge and and pay that forward in a loving way, like people want to to follow in those steps or to you know gain insights from you. And it it feels also so rewarding to get to play that role in the lives of the people that we love too. So I relate to some of what you just said. That's awesome.

Uziel 3:32

Yeah, absolutely. And one thing that you also mentioned is um you people are coming to you for advice, people are coming to you for guidance. Um, and as a first gen, you reach a point in your life where you're probably asking those around you, siblings, cousins, family members. And then there comes to a point where you know you're starting a new job in a professional setting or you're almost ending your college career and you don't know what to do next. So there comes to a point where you can't be asking people around you because they don't really know how to navigate certain obstacles. So yeah, um, interesting that you say that. And, you know, I really love working with this demographic because to your point, I know that they're gonna bring that knowledge back into their community, back um into their immediate circle, and they're gonna be sharing it with their loved ones.

Nikita 4:21

Yeah, 100%. So I I definitely today's episode, I want to focus not only on the work that you do, which is definitely like something I'm so excited to share about, but I also want to speak to the part of audience that identifies with what you and I just shared, being a primero themselves, a first in their family, um, as well as there's some of our audience that actually works in the financial advising space. And so I know some of the things I want to talk about today are going to be kind of geared towards that audience too. So I would love, why don't we start by just talking about what makes first generation wealth builders such an important audience?

Uziel 4:58

I think um, again, going back to they're the first in their families to do many things, there comes there needs to be a different mindset that you have to implement being a first. Because again, um a lot of the time you kind of feel so far behind in in where you are in life, but because of life's circumstance, you're actually ahead, right? Like um, I was I would say I was mature by like the age of 14 or 15 because I had to navigate so many different obstacles in my household. So, you know, I needed to be there for my parents, needed to be there for my siblings. So um it's very very rewarding because you see like a lot of the grind, the hustle, um, and the perseverance working with these individuals. That's one thing I would say, and then another thing um is that there's a common theme around uh amongst first gen, and that's that they want to bring back um their work, they want to bring back the knowledge, they want to bring back that hard work into their community. So a lot of my clients work in what I call uh purpose-driven careers, so that's careers that that that are immediately or indirectly working within their communities and enhancing communities, so making an impact in the lives of others. So that's always very rewarding to see. Um, and you know, I'm I'm only one person. I'm only one person and I can only work with um as many people. I'm still in the early stages of my practice, but I know I'm gonna be capped out at one point. So by working with one first gen, I know that I'm really impacting more lives indirectly because as a first gen, you're also part of the sandwich generation, right? Caring for maybe the previous generation, your parents, and the future generation, your children, siblings. A lot of the times you're also caring for your siblings, um, nephew, niece, maybe an aunt or uncle back home. So I know that way I'm indirectly also making an impact in the lives of others by just working with one first gen. So it's always a fulfilling um feeling, knowing that they are bringing back the knowledge that they are trying to make an impact in their communities as well.

Nikita 7:14

Yeah, it's like a ripple effect for every person that you serve. You're like you said, it's like you're serving several basically for each each one. Absolutely. It's amazing. I also I I love that about our generation. I have so many friends that are just not interested in having meaningless work. Like we want to have work that feels like it matters. I don't have interest in sitting at a desk and and you know, pretending to do something meaningful. That's why I love the work that Third Decade does, and I know you love the work that you do is like you know you're really actually making significant life change for people, even if it is teaching them how to use their money. I actually want to talk a little bit about your perspective on how you empower people who are primeros. You know, what does what does it mean to like guide somebody through like how to manage their money or how to set themselves up for retirement? I don't know that I'm asking that question in the best way, but I'm I'm sure you I I I understand you got you.

Uziel 8:10

Um I have one philosophy in my practice, and um I I let clients know even before they come become clients, is that everything that I explain or everything that we go through, it's with an educational lens because I want you to feel empowered and walk away, not only knowing what you need to do, but why you need to do it. Because there's a sense of if I make a recommendation to my client, and chances are they might go on out and implement it. But if I empower them with the knowledge and the skill sets of like, hey, this is why exactly we're doing it, they're walking away feeling more confident, not only in my recommendation, but also in the decision they're gonna take, whether or not they're gonna implement it. I I find that very powerful. And there's a study that that that as a human, as human beings, we have um we all desire a form of autonomy, right? So if I'm able to give them the skill sets and project that empowerment, and ultimately they're gonna understand, okay, now I know how to navigate the financial ecosystem, I feel more comf comfortable in actually making this decision that recommended because I know that it's in one in my best interest, as well as now I feel that sense of power that I'm actually doing it and deciding for myself as well.

Nikita 9:39

Yeah, yeah, totally. I think um this is where I I love seeing the way that our work overlaps. Uh, I think so much of the time when people think financial advising or financial industry, generally speaking, it's like you're serving people who already have the money. Um really we're trying to serve, both of us are trying to serve people who are usually left out of the conversation. So people who might be either lower income or you know, moderate income or first generation, like I actually have money to play with and I need to like know what to do with it. Um, and you know, a lot of these people don't meet the requirements for assets under management that a lot of these big traditional advising firms um would require in order to work with you. Um, they don't have trust funds, all of those things. Like, we really want to work with these people who are traditionally left out of that conversation. Um, and yeah, it's just it's neat seeing the way that we're we're tackling financial inequity basically through different angles uh in the work that each of our your business and our organization um does. So what do you feel like this generation needs to hear? If you, you know, could say anything to the audience or to anybody in, yeah, I don't know, their 30s or first generation, anything?

Uziel 10:56

Yeah, um well, one of the things that I that I already mentioned is you know, we f often feel like we're so far behind. We feel like maybe um maybe we shouldn't be in the room. We feel like that imposter syndrome kind of shows up a lot of the time. Um, and I'm I mean I'm speaking to myself four years ago when I first entered the industry as to like do I really belong in this room because I did not grow up with wealth. I I do not know and I'm not in the shoes of those higher net worth clients. So how how could I be advising them on their money? When in reality, it's like I did go out and get the credentials, I got the education, and I do have the skill sets to guide them. But most importantly, um, what I failed to realize is that I'm actually ahead in terms of the experience that I have because you know, I didn't get to travel abroad, I didn't get to study abroad, I didn't get to do so many of the other aspects of life that a college student does when they um when they come from a wealthy background, because I was working already, I was juggling, you know, a a full-time job while also working college, um, and you know, contributing to the household and you know, setting up an emergency fund because I knew growing up, emergency after emergency happens. So as a 19, 20 year old, I was navigating so much so many of these things already that you usually don't navigate um at that age. Um, so one of the things that I go back to is you might feel so far behind, but you're actually ahead because of your life's experience. That's one thing. Another thing is giving yourself grace is very important um and allowing yourself to take a step back because we're so caught up on the daily grind, the goalpost is always moving. By the time you actually reach that goal, you don't even feel that satisfaction a lot of the time because you're already striving for the next thing. So it's important to take a step back and celebrate your wins. First thing I ask my clients when they come and we reach a major goal or they just tell me about a major milestone, I'm like, how are you gonna celebrate? Because I'm their reminder of like, hey, this is very important to you. And in order to continue with the momentum, you need to take a step back and celebrate those big wins as well.

Nikita 13:30

Yeah. I think that also a lot of the time we if if you're living with like a scarcity mentality, it's like you don't think to pause and be like, great, I achieved that goal. Awesome. Cause you're already like, okay, that wasn't enough. I need to like keep pushing forward and try for the next thing. And so yeah, I I love that you really take that time to set down, it's to sit down and and say, like, let's like appreciate the fruits of our labor for a second.

Uziel 13:58

Yeah, exactly. Um, so I I implement a lot of that and upfront I have a conversation about values with clients um because ultimately, you know, what what's the power of money? The power of money is using that money to design the life that you want. So when I see them completing major live um live goals, um, or even if they're struggling and they're going through a rocky time, I remind them, like, hey, have you done what you enjoy to do in life? Because we get so caught up in the grind and um and a day-to-day basis. So that's a lot of what I um what I implement and I would say to this generation, specifically first gen. And I've worked with people all over the spectrum in terms of wealth, in terms of age as well. Um, so you know, I've worked with a 70-year-old who just retired and was struggling with that as well. So um I I've seen it all. It's just not this age because I primarily work with um older Gen Z, younger millennials, but it it I've seen it, you know, all over.

Nikita 15:02

Yeah, yeah. So, like I mentioned earlier in the episode, you know, the financial advising space oftentimes kind of overlooks people who cannot already afford the services. When speaking to the advisor part of our audience right now, what would you say advisors are missing out on by overlooking first gen wealth builders?

Uziel 15:24

Well, I think we touched upon a lot of the of the things that you know is very rewarding with working with first gen. There's a lot of fulfillment. Um, that it's very uh you see that grind, you see the perseverance, you see them being very hardworking um class. Um, and you know, one of the things I do want to mention is because you know, immigrants are by far the hardest working people, right? So we take, we observe that, we see that, and we implement it in our lives. So we we because a lot of the those people are blue-collared workers, right? They're working in the fields, they're working in construction. So we take that and we apply that into our careers, right? Um, one of the things that I mean going through college and even going through my career is whatever you decide to do, be the best at it, give it your awe. Um, so working with this demographic, you see that firsthand and is just so inspiring to see. Um, and uh besides also working with this demographic and knowing that they're gonna be impacting various lives by working with them, I would say it's also a growing population. First gen is starting to to um enter the workforce more and more than than ever before. Um, so it is a missed opportunity in terms of like business development and tapping into um a demographic that is really not um you know tapped into. So when a prospect comes and says they want to work with me, a lot of the times is oh, I saw your website, I saw that you work directly with this um demographic, and there's not a whole lot of people doing that, like you understand me. Um, and it's not even a sense of like um I resonate with you, so I want to work with you because a lot of the times it is that, but it's also like this is you're making it accessible for people like us.

Nikita 17:18

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I I know that I would be more inclined to work with somebody who you know understood what it was like to, you know, we can never know exactly what it's like to be each other, but you know, to have some of those those common elements in our background is it's like a comfort and uh a source of trust uh to some extent. So now I want to talk a little bit about your credentials because it is unusual to see both the CFP and the AFC credential next to the same person's name. For our audience who doesn't know the difference, uh certified financial planners, the CFP credential typically focuses on I'd say higher net worth individuals, and that's like the gold standard for the financial advising space. But then accredited financial counselors, AFCs, typically are, and correct me if I'm wrong, but they're known to work with more modest means or lower income even sometimes. And um I I think you see that credential sometimes more with like financial coaches and and things like that. So I would love to talk about why you chose to pursue both, maybe which one came first, and just sort of some of the thought behind that.

Uziel 18:24

Yeah, absolutely. Um, it's funny because I just spoke about this at the AFC PE symposium yesterday with with Jamar, the the CEO of Third Decade. So um, yeah, perfect timing. Um honestly, when I was in college, my biggest fear was not being able to get a job in my career. So when I heard about the CFP, I just knew that it was a golden standard. Um, and my professor told me, like, if you get this, if you guess this designation, you're almost guaranteed a job in the industry. So for me, I was very um determined to get into the industry and determined to get a job as well. So it came out more out of necessity than anything else. Um, ultimately, as I was going through the coursework, I more and more understood this is exactly what I wanted to do in terms of pursuing a career in finance. Um, so it kind of all aligned and I just kind of fell into place because I completed the CFP coursework in my undergrad. So it's like I got my bachelor's degree and I got my and I completed the CFP coursework at the same time. Um, so you know, I understood that in order to be the best and in order to to try to enhance my resume, I needed to go after this this designation. And ultimately, like I said, it was what I wanted to pursue without knowing exactly that I wanted to pursue because I really love the financial planning side. I want to make sure that I'm able to plan for people's future. Um, and ultimately people are actually growing wealth. And then to your point, yes, the CFP works with, I would say, like maybe the top 4% of the wealth spectrum. So very people, uh people that are ultimately already wealthy. Um, and you usually don't meet people where they are. People or clients usually come to you already with like excess cash flow, already good spending habits, typically a good relationship with their money already. So you're more of helping them more future, future focus, right? Long term. You're helping them prioritize goals, you're helping them prioritize whether they do whether they stay for retirement, you essentially help them build upon the wealth that they already have and help them preserve it. Now, in my first job, I saw that my my mentor and um the advisor I was working under as a pair planner, she had her AFC. And I saw the phenomenal work that she was doing in terms of the different strategies that she was implementing because she was an AFC. Um, and we it was a planning firm, right? But there's a lot of overlap and so many great strategies that every human being could benefit from the different strategies that you do learn as an AFC. So I was very, very fascinated by it. And um, I looked into the AFC even more, and I learned that this is this designation is made to work with people in my community. Yeah. Like people around me don't have wealth. My family, friends, people in my community in my neighbor neighborhood, I really can't take what I learned in the CFP and really apply that in my community. Of course, there are some overlap that would help them out, but ultimately is like I'm not helping people out with like the very complex of estate planning. I'm not really helping them out in um even investing. So with the AFC, I understood that my long term goal was to work. With this demographic first gen and ultimately also be able to help out people in my community and also volunteer with um with different organizations like Third Decke and do pro boner work as well. So that's when I was very fascinated and I ended up pursuing the AFC. And um it has been one of the best decisions I've made because I do apply that into practice um where I'm meeting my clients where they are. Because kind of like you mentioned earlier, that scarcity mindset when you go from surviving to thriving because you've been on survival mode your entire life, and now you're thriving, you're still in that survival mode. So a lot of the tendencies come with scarcity tendencies, and clients need to be met where where they where they are. And I need to ultimately I had to learn how to empower the clients to um again walk away with the education, with the knowledge, um, and a better understanding of the financial ecosystem. So long-winded answer, but that's why exactly I pursued it. Um actually, you know, my employer at the time, you know, didn't see a value of pursuing the AFC, um, but ultimately I knew where my career was gonna end up and that it was gonna bring value to um the firm I wanted to build.

Nikita 23:17

I love that. I I appreciate the long-winded answer, honestly. Um and I think it's really cool that you I think a lot of the time if somebody were to hold both credentials, I would almost assume that they started with the AFC and then got the CFP because they, you know, wanted the uh I forget how you worded it, but your professor basically being like, it's like a guaranteed ticket to being able to, you know, find a job in that field. Um I think it says a lot about your intentions and the heart behind your work that you had the CFP and you were like, I'm gonna get the AFC now because that's like that's the heart behind who I want to serve. Um so that is really cool. And I appreciate you sharing some of the logic around that.

Uziel 23:56

Yeah, thank you.

Nikita 23:57

So, what made you decide to pursue the entrepreneurial route rather than working for a traditional advisory firm? Since the instructor said you could get a job no matter what. So uh what made you decide this route?

Uziel 24:10

Um honestly, the my biggest fear going into the space is like I don't want to sell insurance. I don't want to um be that person that does the business development just because I don't see myself as a person that could sell anything, right? Um related so when I first yeah, exactly when when I first started in in my role, it was like more of that support role, right? Support role being in in in the room as well. So I was I was very happy and um the goal of that firm was to work with first gen Americans, which is exactly what I signed up for. Slowly started turning, and the mission went from that to working with people in the tech industry. So I completely respect that, but it wasn't what I signed up for. Then I um went to another firm and ultimately um although I was working with a segue of the demographic that I wanted to work with, it wasn't doing it the way I wanted it to do. So um I I really sought out other firms that are serving first gen and it's not a whole lot. Um, and they weren't ready to hire someone because honestly, Nikita, if someone else is doing this, I would just join them because um if I'm able to build something alongside someone else, it's we're able to make a bigger impact that way. Um, but unfortunately, a lot of the firms are not in a place where they could hire or build out their their team. So ultimately, um I knew that this was a route that I wanted to take in order to work with the demographic that I wanted to work with. Um, and as well as build out something that I truly believe in. Um, a lot of the times uh, you know, I I am mission-driven. So I I lead with with intention and purpose, a purpose beyond beyond me, um, and seeing how can I make a positive impact in the lives of others. Um, so I I knew that if I wanted to work with this demographic, I needed to start my own practice.

Nikita 26:16

That's awesome. It's also interesting to hear you say that you know, if somebody else was doing this already, you would just join them. Um I I wish that, I don't know. I was gonna say I wish that financial advising firms as they are today, the the guys with the big money already that could afford to hire people, would just like have a little branch off or something that they're like not selling commissioned products and and just working with the demographic that you and I are trying to work with. Um, I think that would be such a a neat shift to see. Uh, I don't know that we're gonna get it. I don't know that you know they would necessarily be the best hands to manage those projects, but um yeah, I I really I have hope that the passion behind the work that our generation wants to do is is gonna lead to more businesses like yours basically popping up and and seeing the value in working with these folks. And um yeah, I I think I don't know, I just it brings me joy seeing what you're doing, the heart behind your work, and um it's it's cool getting to be a part of it in our own way too. And I will say to our listeners, I just learned literally right before starting this recording that uh Uziel is going to be signing up as a volunteer financial mentor with third decades. So look at that.

Uziel 27:29

Yeah, thank you. I'm I'm really excited for that. It'll start uh first quarter of next year.

Nikita 27:34

That's awesome. Well, is there anything else you wanted to talk before we talk about before we wrapped up today's recording?

Uziel 27:40

No, uh, I mean, just to kind of wrap up that thought that you just mentioned, um, is there's so many different organizations that are doing good work, so many different segues of like, hey, you know, we're we're trying to make a difference through finance, we're trying to make a difference through um through these different organizations and trying to make a difference ultimately in people's lives. It's like, how can we better collaborate with one another to um make sure that dream is is built out in a in a good way and that we are able to make that impact?

Nikita 28:11

Yeah. Yeah, and I will say as well, uh, when we were talking about how when you impact uh one person in it who's a Primero themselves, uh, that it impacts multiple people. But not only that, if if we can support these people into growing wealth of you know substantial amounts into their retirement, these end up becoming some of our best philanthropists too. Um because we all care about the world and about, you know, giving back to causes that are important to us. So there's just so many reasons to invest in this generation. Yeah. I really appreciate you sharing your time with us today. Um, I will make sure to share your social media handles in the show notes of this episode, but thank you so much for coming on and I'm excited to continue our relationship with you in the coming years, Uziel.

Uziel 28:59

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.