http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...n-retirement/?tid=HP_business?tid=HP_business
Much has been said about the racial wealth gap and how the financial crisis widened that disparity, especially as minorities have had a harder time keeping their homes and rebuilding their portfolios. But there’s another side to those challenges that doesn’t get as much attention — the retirement savings gap.
If minorities are less likely to get an inheritance from a family member than a white person is, or to have wealth to fall back on when they want to buy a house or start a business, they are likely to have less money to save for retirement, too. And if they are saving, the weaker safety net makes it more likely that they’ll have to raid that reserve or take on debt when things go wrong.
White families had over $100,000 more in average liquid retirement savings in 2013 than African American and Hispanic families, according to an analysis done by the Urban Institute, which released a series of charts illustrating wealth inequality in America. That difference has quadrupled since 1989, when white families had $25,000 more in average retirement savings than minorities.
In terms of ratios, white families went from having five times the average savings held by minorities, to having between seven and 11 times the average amount.
Much has been said about the racial wealth gap and how the financial crisis widened that disparity, especially as minorities have had a harder time keeping their homes and rebuilding their portfolios. But there’s another side to those challenges that doesn’t get as much attention — the retirement savings gap.
If minorities are less likely to get an inheritance from a family member than a white person is, or to have wealth to fall back on when they want to buy a house or start a business, they are likely to have less money to save for retirement, too. And if they are saving, the weaker safety net makes it more likely that they’ll have to raid that reserve or take on debt when things go wrong.
White families had over $100,000 more in average liquid retirement savings in 2013 than African American and Hispanic families, according to an analysis done by the Urban Institute, which released a series of charts illustrating wealth inequality in America. That difference has quadrupled since 1989, when white families had $25,000 more in average retirement savings than minorities.
In terms of ratios, white families went from having five times the average savings held by minorities, to having between seven and 11 times the average amount.
