Empowering African-American Clients Through Financial Literacy

Many of us pick up the Wall Street Journal every day without a second thought, but most of the people who attend advisor James Veal’s financial literacy classes in Philadelphia have never even opened the newspaper.

That’s no surprise, though, for Veal, founder and managing member of JRV Wealth Management Group, who has been teaching financial education and wealth building courses for students and adults at Philadelphia’s Temple University and at Mt. Airy Learning Tree for over a decade.

“Most of these people come from a community where they’ve never been exposed to finance and financial planning of any kind,” he says.

The Wall Street Journal is far removed from the world of most African-Americans, he says, “because we have such a long history behind us and it’s going to take us a long time to get out of the status quo.”

Veal, however, considers it his duty to help open up new worlds for African-Americans and to “switch their mindset.”

“I want people to know that they can and they need to achieve certain goals in life and education is a very important part of that. I want to bring along people who have not had any exposure to any kind of financial education before,” he says.

Veal’s courses are so popular that people come back to attend the same class three and even four times, he says. Whether it’s to learn how to properly read the Journal or get the basics of financial planning and wealth building, “I feel that people go away more empowered and more confident about themselves,” he says.