■ The view that wealth accumulation is determined by a mix of choices and ability is incomplete; other factors (outside of individual ability and choices) contribute or constrain an individual’s wealth and income.

■ Children are born into the wealth and income of their parents. The more wealth their parents have, the higher their economic starting point.

■ The effects of differing parental income and wealth do not stop when childhood ends and an individual becomes an adult. Arguably the most direct effect of parental wealth on adult children’s wealth (though not necessarily the largest) is in the pace and shape of wealth accumulation during early adulthood.

■ Evidence from investigations of intergenerational mobility in the United States has found that parents’ economic status is highly predictive of their children’s economic status.

■ The available choices, realized shocks, and systemic barriers faced by individuals are not the same; they also vary by race. Critically, shocks and barriers can be reinforcing, and forms of discrimination can interact.

■ Because of the cumulative effect of various factors, the amount of accumulated wealth that remains after an individual dies—a bequest—is not solely based on an individual’s savings or consumption behavior.

■ Hence, the effect of differential economic treatment or investment in one group of people could persist for generations. The multigenerational component of wealth accumulation enables disparities to persist, and in the case of Black Americans, the legacy of disparity is reinforced by ongoing systemic barriers, such as discrimination, that curtail economic success.