Originally published in the Stock Savvy Dad newsletter on August 11, 2026

The racial wealth gap continues to widen despite the increase in wealth among all racial groups. As of 2022 the median wealth for Black households was $44,890 compared to $285,000 for white households.

This gap doesn’t exist by chance. Specific institutional policies got us here and ensure we remain. Two in particular stand out.

The GI Bill of 1944 promised every returning veteran access to home loans, college tuition, and job training. In practice Black veterans received only about 40% of the benefits their white counterparts did.

The other is redlining, a federal policy that started in the 1930s that literally drew maps of neighborhoods and blocked Black families from obtaining mortgages in them. Homeowners in redlined neighborhoods gained on average $212,000 less in home equity than those in other areas over the following decades. Both policies denied Black families access to the two most powerful wealth building tools of that era. Homeownership and education.

Because wealth compounds, a dollar invested or a home purchased in 1945 looks completely different 80 years later than one purchased after those barriers were partially lifted. Being denied access at that critical moment didn’t just hurt one generation. It meant the compounding that should have started never did, which helps explain why the median white family has 6 times the wealth of the median Black family today. The gap didn’t just persist. It multiplied.

And the data makes it even more specific. Stock equity makes up nearly 30% of white household wealth but only 4% of Black household wealth. Stocks appreciate faster than almost any other asset class over time. Being underrepresented in the stock market isn’t just a missed opportunity. It’s a compounding disadvantage that grows wider every year the gap remains.

That’s exactly why I’m intentional about building assets now and passing them down. Custodial accounts for my daughters. Stock ownership. Real estate. The goal isn’t just to build wealth for myself. It’s to start a compounding cycle for the next generation that wasn’t available to the ones before us. I’m tired of getting it out of the mud in a world full of skyscrapers.

However, this is one step, not the final solution.

The systemic barriers haven’t disappeared. School funding tied to local property taxes still means children in lower income neighborhoods receive fewer resources. Documented appraisal bias still means Black homeowners see their homes undervalued in ways their white counterparts don’t. The system didn’t end with the Fair Housing Act of 1968. It evolved. Owning stocks and other assets won’t fix all of that. A structural solution is needed for a structural problem.

But what it can do is put you and your family in a fundamentally different position than where you started. The compounding that was denied to previous generations is available now. Using it intentionally is one of the most powerful things you can do today.

— Stock Savvy Dad
​Invest smarter, build wealth, be a savvy dad.