Expanding opportunity through wealth building and preservation

The American Dream has always been rooted in the idea that people should have the opportunity to build a secure future and a lasting legacy for themselves, their families and their communities. But building wealth is only part of the equation. Families can only create lasting wealth if they also have the tools to preserve and transfer their assets across generations. Yet rising costs and limited access to good jobs, homeownership, business ownership and other opportunities to build assets—and too few systems to preserve them—are making that promise harder to realize.

When more people can build assets and withstand financial setbacks, families are better positioned to invest in their futures, creating stronger, more resilient communities. That is why, each October, we mark Wealth Building Month: an opportunity to highlight the strategies, partnerships, and investments that can advance wealth building and preserve assets for the long term. This year, we are sharing how our work is helping families build and preserve wealth for future generations and announcing more than $9 million in new philanthropic funding to further this work.

Strengthening the financial foundation for wealth building and preservation

A strong financial foundation enables families to meet today’s needs while preparing for the future. Over the past several years, we have seen how targeted investments in financial tools, guidance and support systems can help people make informed decisions, build savings and take greater control of their financial lives.

That is why JPMorganChase supports strategies that expand access to savings, workplace benefits and trusted financial guidance; strengthen the financial health of entrepreneurs and small business owners; and help people protect their assets from fraud and scams. Together, these efforts create pathways to lasting financial security and long-term wealth building.

• Spotlight: Through our support of POAH's POWER initiative, more than 14,000 renters have gained access to financial coaching, rent reporting or the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program designed to support wealth building. Participants improved their credit scores by an average of 52 points, with approximately 580 moving from subprime to prime credit, while also reducing debt and accumulating an average of $7,300 in escrow savings.
• Spotlight: Our support for Compass Working Capital helped scale FSS programs serving 7,500 households, with thousands of participants improving credit scores by 71 points on average, reducing debt by $5,400 on average, and increasing savings by $9,300 on average. In a historic win, Congress also recently passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which includes a national pilot of an opt-out FSS model supported by JPMorganChase and many stakeholders.

These outcomes show how access to the right tools, guidance and opportunities can help families strengthen their financial footing and make meaningful progress toward building and preserving wealth.

Helping families preserve homeownership opportunities

Homeownership is one of the most important ways families build wealth, but preserving that asset across generations can come with unexpected challenges. One is heirs property, which occurs when a home or land is passed down without a clear legal title, often because there is no will or estate plan.

An estimated 444,170 heirs property parcels across the United States encompass 9 million acres valued at more than $41 billion. Without clear ownership, families may be unable to access home equity, qualify for disaster assistance or make needed repairs—and can ultimately lose a home that has been in the family for generations, along with the wealth it represents.

JPMorganChase is helping families resolve heirs property issues and preserve ownership titles and wealth across generations through philanthropic investments, research and policy advocacy. Since launching this work in 2023, we have provided more than $16 million in philanthropic capital to support solutions such as free legal clinics, estate planning and title resolution services, research to identify new approaches and advocacy for laws and policies that better preserve homeownership.

• Spotlight: Our support helped establish Howard University’s estate planning and heirs property clinic, which has provided free legal services to 45 households and trained 58 student attorneys. Through 24 fully executed estates, the clinic estimates it has preserved $18 million in generational wealth while saving participating families more than $190,000 in legal fees and nearly $653,000 in probate costs.

Supporting business ownership and long-term business preservation

Building and transferring wealth is not only a household challenge. It is also a business challenge.

For many small business owners, their business represents years of hard work and is one of their most valuable assets. But as millions of Baby Boomer owners prepare to step away, many lack a plan for what comes next—even though much of their financial security in retirement may depend on the business they’ve built. A successful ownership transition can help owners realize the value they have built, preserve businesses and jobs and create opportunities for a new generation of owners.

That is why JPMorganChase supports organizations helping business owners understand their succession options and expanding access to pathways such as entrepreneurship through acquisition and employee ownership.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, buying an existing business can offer a path to ownership, but navigating the process can be difficult without the right resources, guidance or connections to business owners searching for their next owner.

• Spotlight: New Majority Capital supports both sides of that transition, helping existing owners prepare to sell their businesses and helping aspiring entrepreneurs become the next generation of owners. With JPMorganChase’s support, the organization has expanded its programming to Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles and helped approximately 50 entrepreneurs successfully acquire businesses since 2024. 
  • New Majority Capital estimates that the average acquisition creates approximately $3 million in net-new wealth for an entrepreneur over a seven-year period. To date, the organization has helped generate more than $140 million in new wealth for these entrepreneurs.
  • One is Dustin Haywood, an experienced pediatric home health care executive who acquired THG Health Capital and is using the business to expand access to home-based pediatric care, building on his experience leading operations that served nearly 1,500 pediatric patients each day.

JPMorganChase also supports efforts to help more business owners explore selling their business to their employees as a succession option that can preserve what they have built while giving employees a meaningful stake in the company’s future.

• Spotlight: Through our support of the Iowa Center for Employee Ownership (IA-CEO), thousands of Iowans have gained access to education, assistance and resources to help them explore employee ownership and plan for business succession.
• That includes the owners of Hometown Restyling, who turned to IA-CEO as they considered how to preserve the company’s culture and local roots while giving employees a stake in its future. Within a year of first connecting with IA-CEO, Hometown Restyling became 100% employee-owned, giving its more than 65 employees the opportunity to share in the company’s long-term success. 

Together, these efforts help owners preserve what they have built while opening new paths to ownership.

Creating pathways to good jobs

Access to a good job is one of the most important building blocks of financial stability and long-term wealth. Reliable income, benefits and opportunities to grow can help people meet everyday needs, save for emergencies, invest in their futures and build assets over time. Good jobs can also strengthen local economies and help communities become more resilient.

But access to a job is only part of the equation. People also need the skills and training that connect them to these opportunities. That is why JPMorganChase supports education, workforce development and career pathways that help people gain in-demand skills, increase their earning potential and adapt as industries evolve. This includes programs that allow people to earn while they learn, helping make training more accessible and putting people on a path to greater financial security.

• Spotlight: As demand for workers in the construction industry grows, HIRE360 is helping Chicagoans gain the skills and experience needed to pursue careers in construction and other skilled trades. With philanthropic support from JPMorganChase, more than 140 individuals have earned non-degree credentials, nearly 260 have been placed into full-time jobs and nearly 70 have entered apprenticeships.

This support helps people gain skills, connect to good jobs, increase their earning potential and build greater financial security over time.

Announcing more than $9 million to advance wealth building and preservation

The firm’s philanthropic approach focuses on advancing wealth building and preservation by supporting people at different points along the journey, from establishing financial stability to building and preserving assets over time. The new funding puts that approach into action by supporting organizations that help households strengthen savings, preserve assets and navigate business ownership transitions.

New philanthropic support includes:

• $3.5 million to SaverLife to help more households strengthen savings and improve financial health through personalized digital tools and financial guidance.
• $1.5 million to Inclusiv to equip community development credit unions with legacy planning and asset preservation resources that can help families preserve wealth across generations.
• $3.02 million supporting heirs property and estate planning initiatives led by Howard University, Community Partners of South Florida, LISC VA, LISC Jacksonville, SOS Fund, and Louisiana Appleseed helping families preserve homeownership, resolve title issues, access legal services, and preserve assets for future generations.
• $1.15 million supporting business ownership transitions through the Cooperative Development Institute’s Northeast Transition Initiative and renewed support for the Iowa Center for Employee Ownership, helping business owners plan and finance succession strategies, including employee ownership, that can preserve local businesses and jobs while giving employees a meaningful stake in their companies’ futures.

This work extends beyond supporting individual programs. We also invest in research, policy advocacy and organizational capacity so that effective approaches can reach more people and endure over time. By connecting what we learn from our work in communities to broader policy and market solutions, we can help remove structural barriers and strengthen the systems that shape families’ ability to build and preserve wealth.

A long-term approach to expanding opportunity

Building wealth takes more than a single intervention. It requires a connected set of supports that help families build and preserve wealth across generations. Progress also requires collaboration across the public, private and nonprofit sectors to strengthen the policies, market infrastructure and organizations that make this support accessible and sustainable.

Wealth Building Month is an opportunity to recognize that progress and continue the work. By expanding access to financial tools, housing, business ownership and career pathways, we can advance wealth building and preservation for more families and communities.

That is central to expanding opportunity and keeping the American Dream within reach for more families and communities.

The metrics cited herein are derived from a variety of public and private sources, including data that were self-reported by JPMorganChase grant recipients. JPMorganChase has not independently verified these data and makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, completeness, accuracy or fitness for a particular purpose. The metrics as reported are not directly tied to funds or other support provided by JPMorganChase but rather are a result of a variety of factors.