The first of everything — with Uziel Gomez

Uziel Gomez describes himself as “a first-generation everything.”

“My parents migrated here from Mexico. I’m a first-generation American,” he said.

Life in the U.S. wasn’t easy for Gomez and his parents. His father worked a number of physically demanding jobs for low wages, but his mother encouraged Gomez to pursue higher education, believing it was the way to success. Gomez became the first person in his family to graduate from college, earning a degree in financial planning from the California State University, Northridge.

Today, Gomez is the financial planner at Primeros Financial in Los Angeles, a wealth management firm he founded in May 2024. He also is a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.

At Primeros Financial, Gomez aims to empower first-generation Americans to establish a deeper connection with their finances and to show them how to harness the power of money to create a life of abundance and fulfillment.

He is active in the Financial Planning Association of Los Angeles, where he serves as the president-elect and director of DEI and NexGen and is an active mentor through initiatives such as the BLX Internship Program, which supports aspiring financial planners from underrepresented backgrounds. FPA named him one of its 2025 diversity scholarship recipients.

Taking note of disparity

When Gomez started college, he knew he wanted to study something in the business field. But he worked as a bank teller while attending classes, and that job solidified his desire to create a career in which he could help people with their finances. 

“The location of the bank was unique because of the demographics of our customers,” he said. “We were next to Sherman Oaks, which is more of a higher-income community, but we also had a lot of lower-income people coming into the bank. I was able to see the disparity — the gap in financial literacy — between people of both groups.”

Gomez said it was “devastating” for him to witness that the lower-income bank customers — people like his family and his community — “didn’t have the resources that other people did.

“I was able to tell that they were typically living paycheck to paycheck, while there were other people who didn’t have the financial knowledge but still had more resources to help them stay afloat,” he said.

Gomez said his banking experience inspired him to seek a way to use his interest in business to make an impact on his community. He looked at different majors available at Cal State Northridge (CSUN) and decided on financial planning, even though he wasn’t entirely sure what all it entailed.

“But once I started taking my core classes for financial planning, I knew it was what I wanted to pursue,” he said.

The immigrant experience inspires him

His family’s immigrant experience also fueled his interest in planning.

“My parents are immigrants and I come from a lower-income household, but my parents were good at strategizing, at staying afloat and saving money for life’s unpredictable events,” he said. “I always said that my Finance 101 class was my witnessing my parents do all those things. I was an observant kid, and I saw their financial struggles and planning firsthand. So, I would say a lot of my interest and passion in financial planning stems from my childhood.”

Knowing how his parents took a leap into the unknown in moving from Mexico to Los Angeles has made Gomez grateful for their sacrifices. But he said that gratitude comes with responsibilities.

“It’s a common theme among minorities that your parents work until they die,” he said. “So, I am carrying the weight of knowing that I am my parents’ retirement plan. It’s a lot to carry, but it’s also my biggest motivation. I always say that although I’m not going to inherit any monetary assets, what I am inheriting from my parents are their work ethic, etiquette, gratitude and — more than anything — their culture.”

Gomez said that he recently visited his parents’ Mexican hometown, where a sugar mill went bankrupt, leaving the community without its only income-producing business.

“It was astonishing to me, hearing the stories of where my parents grew up and following in their footsteps,” he said. “It made me feel more grateful because I realized how rough their upbringing was. I’m grateful for their immigrant experience, and more than anything, I’ve learned to appreciate my cultures both here in America and in Mexico.”

Hitting the ground running

After earning his degree from CSUN, Gomez soon found work in a financial services practice, where he began sitting in on client meetings his very first day.

“That was a defining moment for me because I was able to observe first-hand how the planner would talk to clients. I was able to observe clients and their reactions. I was so fascinated by all of it. I would look at the notes and play around with the software. I was so excited because I was doing what I had learned about and I was putting it into practice. 

“To this day, I’m still excited about learning about clients’ backgrounds and listening to them, because it’s true what they say — that personal finance is 99% personal and 1% finance. I love helping clients navigate toward their goals, understanding their values and — more than anything — crafting a deep relationship and friendship with them.”

Gomez started his own practice by focusing on serving first-generation Americans — “people like me.” But he is expanding his client base by working with those who are in the technology field.

He said his first-generation wealth-builder clients need more financial literacy and education than a typical financial client does.

“Compared with the typical financial planner, I spend more time in front of my clients helping them understand the financial system or whatever financial topic we’re talking about. Again, we lack financial literacy in our society, but I would say as a first-gen that it’s because our families are not exposed to a lot of these things. When you’re a first-gen, you’re often the first one who is navigating these different things. You’re the one opening the new doors, encountering the obstacles, and you need someone who can answer your questions.”

Making a difference through his clients

Gomez said he wants his clients to feel empowered to make the right decisions and understand his recommendations.

“I always tell my clients that my mission is to make a difference in my community, and that’s through them,” he said. “My being able to touch more lives is by my clients passing on that knowledge to the people that surround them and the people they love. So, I hope to be able to touch those lives, not just directly by making an impact in my clients’ lives but also with what my clients spread to those around them.”

Outside his practice and his FPA responsibilities, Gomez recently took up boxing.

“I’ve been a boxing fanatic for a very long time, and I just started boxing recently. So when I’m not working, I’m usually at the boxing gym,” he said. “I’m a big food person as well, so I love trying out new dishes, trying new restaurants, as well as traveling the world and learning more about my culture here and in Mexico.”

Gomez credits much of his success to mentors and friends.

“My friends have always taught me the best way to pay it back is by paying it forward. So I try to help out the next generation as much as possible.

“If you lead with a purpose and intention that’s beyond you — a purpose and intention of giving back to the greater good of your community or of the world — then everything else falls into place. That’s what I learned at an early age. And I feel like because I’m leading with intention and purpose, everything else has fallen into place for me.”

Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].