为何美国家族间的财富差距，越拉越大？
两家独立理财咨询公司的最新研究称，种族对家庭财富的积累会产生连锁效应。两家公司预测，到2064年，今天的普通黑人家庭积累的财富，将比普通白人家庭少约70%。
研究报告称，造成这一差距的原因包括工资不平等等因素。理财咨询公司Abacus Wealth Partners的首席执行官布伦特•凯塞尔说：“私营企业可以做出的最大贡献就是缩小薪酬差距。”Abacus Wealth Partners的规模达到37亿美元。凯塞尔是该份研究报告的作者之一。另外一位作者卡米拉•埃利奥特现任理财咨询公司GRID 202 Partners的总裁。她将在2022年成为美国最大的理财咨询师认证机构金融理财师标准委员会（CFP Board）的首位黑人女性主席。
他们的研究预测了一个可怕的趋势：尽管过去五十年美国在社会和经济方面持续发展，但黑人家庭与白人家庭之间依旧存在终生都难以缩小的巨大财富差距。
输在起跑线上
在财富积累方面，黑人的起点远远落后于白人，原因包括收入、房屋升值、按揭利率、继承和401（k）计划养老金账户余额等方面的差距。
两家理财咨询公司的预测显示，如果一对白人夫妇和一对黑人夫妇都取得学士学位，在401（k）计划投入相同金额，将相同比例的收入作为储蓄，但黑人家庭最终的财富依旧将比白人家庭少51%。该预测采用概率加权财务假设，考虑例如助学贷款余额和利息、房屋升值率等指标，预测家庭的净资产。
造成这种差距的许多不平等现象，从学术上能够追溯到“红线”政策等，或者导致非洲裔美国人社区的财富被毁于一旦的历史事件，例如“黑人华尔街”大屠杀事件。埃利奥特指出，入狱服刑不仅减少了黑人家庭的收入，反而还增加了家庭支出，比如电话费和狱中的食品杂货费等。
她说：“我们所看到的种种不平等现象，都源自数十年乃至几百年来的财富分配不均。”
缩小财富差距
研究报告称，普通白人家庭每增加1美元财富，黑人家庭只能增加13美分。
报告中引用的经济政策研究所（Economic Policy Institute）的研究称，不同教育水平的黑人劳动者的收入低于白人，尽管在教育程度更高的领域收入差距确实在不断缩小。例如，如果白人女医生收入1美元，黑人女医生只能收入73美分。
埃利奥特和凯塞尔指出，公司可以在缩小财富差距方面发挥作用。凯塞尔认为，如果黑人员工与白人员工能够做到同工同酬，财富差距就可以缩小59%。公司还能够为黑人员工提供更多支持和发展的机会。
埃利奥特称：“你会倾向于提拔和培养与你境遇相同的人。”她补充说，关键在于不仅要招聘黑人员工，还要保证有有色人种为他们提供支持、辅导和为他们争取利益。她表示，这将对员工绩效产生显著影响。
他们指出，理财咨询公司还可以推荐一些缩小财富差距的措施。报告称，每个人的状况不同，但有一些措施有助于积累财富，比如从学费更低的非营利性大学完成学业、开立支票账号、避免发薪日贷款或支票兑现服务等。尽早开始投资低成本基金至关重要，因此开立一个退休账户，尽量将10%的税前收入存入该账户，避免取款或贷款，都能够产生显著影响。另外，选择固定利率按揭贷款，而不是可调利率或次级贷款，也可以帮助人们积累财富。
埃利奥特说：“我希望这份报告能够帮助企业和从业者或理财咨询公司，真正着手解决这些问题。”（财富中文网）
翻译：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
两家独立理财咨询公司的最新研究称，种族对家庭财富的积累会产生连锁效应。两家公司预测，到2064年，今天的普通黑人家庭积累的财富，将比普通白人家庭少约70%。
研究报告称，造成这一差距的原因包括工资不平等等因素。理财咨询公司Abacus Wealth Partners的首席执行官布伦特•凯塞尔说：“私营企业可以做出的最大贡献就是缩小薪酬差距。”Abacus Wealth Partners的规模达到37亿美元。凯塞尔是该份研究报告的作者之一。另外一位作者卡米拉•埃利奥特现任理财咨询公司GRID 202 Partners的总裁。她将在2022年成为美国最大的理财咨询师认证机构金融理财师标准委员会（CFP Board）的首位黑人女性主席。
他们的研究预测了一个可怕的趋势：尽管过去五十年美国在社会和经济方面持续发展，但黑人家庭与白人家庭之间依旧存在终生都难以缩小的巨大财富差距。
输在起跑线上
在财富积累方面，黑人的起点远远落后于白人，原因包括收入、房屋升值、按揭利率、继承和401（k）计划养老金账户余额等方面的差距。
两家理财咨询公司的预测显示，如果一对白人夫妇和一对黑人夫妇都取得学士学位，在401（k）计划投入相同金额，将相同比例的收入作为储蓄，但黑人家庭最终的财富依旧将比白人家庭少51%。该预测采用概率加权财务假设，考虑例如助学贷款余额和利息、房屋升值率等指标，预测家庭的净资产。
造成这种差距的许多不平等现象，从学术上能够追溯到“红线”政策等，或者导致非洲裔美国人社区的财富被毁于一旦的历史事件，例如“黑人华尔街”大屠杀事件。埃利奥特指出，入狱服刑不仅减少了黑人家庭的收入，反而还增加了家庭支出，比如电话费和狱中的食品杂货费等。
她说：“我们所看到的种种不平等现象，都源自数十年乃至几百年来的财富分配不均。”
缩小财富差距
研究报告称，普通白人家庭每增加1美元财富，黑人家庭只能增加13美分。
报告中引用的经济政策研究所（Economic Policy Institute）的研究称，不同教育水平的黑人劳动者的收入低于白人，尽管在教育程度更高的领域收入差距确实在不断缩小。例如，如果白人女医生收入1美元，黑人女医生只能收入73美分。
埃利奥特和凯塞尔指出，公司可以在缩小财富差距方面发挥作用。凯塞尔认为，如果黑人员工与白人员工能够做到同工同酬，财富差距就可以缩小59%。公司还能够为黑人员工提供更多支持和发展的机会。
埃利奥特称：“你会倾向于提拔和培养与你境遇相同的人。”她补充说，关键在于不仅要招聘黑人员工，还要保证有有色人种为他们提供支持、辅导和为他们争取利益。她表示，这将对员工绩效产生显著影响。
他们指出，理财咨询公司还可以推荐一些缩小财富差距的措施。报告称，每个人的状况不同，但有一些措施有助于积累财富，比如从学费更低的非营利性大学完成学业、开立支票账号、避免发薪日贷款或支票兑现服务等。尽早开始投资低成本基金至关重要，因此开立一个退休账户，尽量将10%的税前收入存入该账户，避免取款或贷款，都能够产生显著影响。另外，选择固定利率按揭贷款，而不是可调利率或次级贷款，也可以帮助人们积累财富。
埃利奥特说：“我希望这份报告能够帮助企业和从业者或理财咨询公司，真正着手解决这些问题。”（财富中文网）
翻译：刘进龙
审校：汪皓
Race has a cascading effect on how families accumulate money throughout their lifetimes, according to new research from two independent financial advisory firms. Their forecasts project that by 2064, today's typical Black family will have accumulated approximately 70% less wealth than a typical white family.
This gulf is driven by wage inequality as well as other factors, according to the research. “The biggest thing the private sector could do is to narrow the pay gap,” said Brent Kessel, CEO of the $3.7 billion financial advice firm Abacus Wealth Partners. Kessel coauthored the report with Kamila Elliott, president of financial advisory firm GRID 202 Partners, who in 2022 will become the first Black woman chair of the CFP Board, the largest certifying organization for financial advisers.
Their research presents a dire trajectory of how, despite social and economic progress in the past five decades, Black families still face extraordinary wealth disparity compared with white peers that compounds over a lifetime.
Starting behind
When it comes to wealth accumulation, Black individuals tend to start further behind than white peers—on account of income disparities, differences in home appreciation, mortgage interest rates, inheritance, and 401(k) balances.
Even if two couples—one white and one Black—earn bachelor’s degrees, invest identically in their 401(k)s and save the same percentage of their income, the Black family will end up with 51% less, the financial advisory forecast shows. The forecast uses probability-weighted financial assumptions, such as student loan balances and interest and home appreciation rates to project family net worth over time.
Many of the inequalities that lead to the disparity have been academically traced back to policies such as redlining, or historic incidents that destroyed wealth in the African American community, such as the burning of Black Wall Street. Incarceration has contributed not only to reduced income for Black families but also additional expenses for those families, such as phone calls and commissary expenses, Elliott notes.
“The inequity that we see—it stems from decades, if not hundreds of years, of the distribution of wealth,” says Elliott.
Addressing the gap
The median Black household holds just 13¢ for each dollar the median white family has, according to research.
At every education level, Black workers still make less than white counterparts, though the disparity does shrink in more educated fields, according to an Economic Policy Institute study cited in the report. For example, Black female doctors earn 73¢ for each white male dollar, the report shows.
Companies can play a role in eliminating these disparities, according to Elliott and Kessel. If Black employees earned the same wages as their white counterparts, that alone would narrow 59% of the wealth gap, said Kessel. Companies can also help by providing more support and development for Black employees.
“You tend to promote and develop people that look like you,” said Elliott, who added that it’s critical to not only hire Black employees but also guarantee there are people of color who are supporting, mentoring, and advocating for them. That can have a significant impact on performance, she said.
There are also steps financial advisers can recommend to help bridge the wealth gap, they said. Every individual’s situation is different, but potential contributors to building wealth could include graduating from a nonprofit university, which tends to be more affordable, as well as opening a checking account and avoiding payday loans or check-cashing services, according to the white paper. Because it’s important to start investing in low-cost funds early on, opening a retirement account and striving to save 10% of pretax income and avoid withdrawals or loans can have a significant impact. Taking out a fixed-interest-rate mortgage, rather than an adjustable or subprime loan, could also help.
“I hope that this paper helps businesses and practitioners or financial advisers to really assess how they can create solutions to address these issues,” said Elliott.
