We often speak of America as a melting pot in which cultures and nationalities are not assimilated but rather are able to retain their identity. This forms the basis of Multiculturism

Assimilation versus Acculturation
Assimilation and acculturation are often used interchangeably. Assimilation refers to the replacement of one’s birth culture by another. Acculturation refers to the preservation of one’s birth culture and the addition of another culture, becoming in fact, multicultural.  Multiculturalism will be part of the United States forever. It is critical that Financial Services Practices adapt.

Yes…it is true that the U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse and the 2010 U.S. Census figures will support the multicultural boom over the past decade. Demographics trends certainly point to the reality of this new paradigm. The United States Census Bureau, which tracks changes in the U.S. population, predicts that America ‘former’ minorities will account about 50% of the population by the year 2050.

The U.S. Census Bureau states that by the year 2050:

Hispanic Buying Power In Billions
There will be approximately 38.8 million Hispanics in the United States with approximately 10.7 million households. It is estimated that by the year 2020, the Hispanic population will more than double. If we put a dollar amount to these faces, it would be to the tune of $500 billion-plus in annual buying power.

The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States is expected to grow 41.8 percent in the next six years to 4.3 million, with total revenues surging 39 percent to more than $539 billion, according to new estimates by HispanTelligence. Spurred by growing entrepreneurial trends and affluence among the nation's largest minority population, the increase is expected to come at a robust rate of 8.5 and 8.7 percent, respectfully, over the next couple years.

African American Buying Power in Billions
There are approximately 36.6 million African-American people in the United States, with 9.3 million households. By the year 2020, the African-American market is estimated to increase by 30 percent. If we put a dollar amount to these faces, it would equal $520 billion-plus in annual buying power.

Asian American Buying Power in Billions
The number of men and women of Asian descent is expected to grow by 27 percent by the year 2007. There are approximately 12.7 million Asians in the U.S., with 4.1 million households. If we put a dollar amount to these faces, it would be to the tune of $260 billion-plus in annual buying power.

America’s Wealth Advisors New Opportunity
This, in turn, changes the landscape of American wealth as well as American wealth advisors as a more a more diverse community is created. There are many opportunities for Financial Services Professionals to serve their own ethnic or cultural markets… as well as others in America. There is a growing need for Financial Services Professionals to serve all ethnic backgrounds…not just the typical Caucasian client.

The New American Marriage
A glimpse of this change is the Pew Research Center’s analysis of demographic data about new marriages in 2008 from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) and the Pew Research Center’s analysis of its own data from a nationwide telephone survey conducted from October 28 through November 30, 2009 among a nationally representative sample of 2,884 adults.

Key findings:

• A record 14.6% of all new marriages in the United States in 2008 were between spouses of a different race or ethnicity from one another. This includes marriages between a Hispanic and non-Hispanic (Hispanics are an ethnic group, not a race) as well as marriages between spouses of different races – be they white, black, Asian, American Indian or those who identify as being of multiple races or some other race.
• Among all newlyweds in 2008, 9% of whites, 16% of blacks, 26% of Hispanics and 31% of Asians married someone whose race or ethnicity was different from their own.
• Gender patterns in intermarriage vary widely. Some 22% of all black male newlyweds in 2008 married outside their race, compared with just 9% of black female newlyweds.
• Among Asians, the gender pattern runs the other way. Some 40% of Asian female newlyweds married outside their race in 2008, compared with just 20% of Asian male newlyweds.
• Among whites and Hispanics, by contrast, there are no gender differences in intermarriage rates.
• Rates of intermarriages among newlyweds in the U.S. more than doubled between 1980 (6.7%) and 2008 (14.6%).
• However, different groups experienced different trends. Rates more than doubled among whites and nearly tripled among blacks. But for both Hispanics and Asians, rates were nearly identical in 2008 and 1980.

The Pew Research findings highlight the need for Financial Services Professionals that are sensitive to the Insurance, Investment and Estate planning that arises in Interracial and Multicultural marriages.