Households of color accumulate less wealth than non-Hispanic white households, and they own less taxable investment accounts, according to a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education study completed in September.

"A Snapshot of Investor Households in America" found 60 percent of U.S. households own security investments through taxable accounts, IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans. However, that percentage drops to 30 percent when looking at taxable investments. Households that claim ownership over taxable investments tend to be led by individuals who are college-educated, affluent, older and white.

Hispanics are less likely to own taxable income and more likely to be unbanked. Approximately 48 percent of U.S. Latinos are without an account, 27 percent only have retirement accounts and just 25 percent have taxable accounts. Those figures are nearly inverted when looking at the investment status of Asians in the U.S. Approximately 46 percent of Asians own taxable account, 28 percent only own retirement accounts and 26 percent don't own accounts at all. Non-Hispanic whites are second to Asians -- the numbers showing that 36 percent of whites own taxable accounts, 29 percent only own retirement accounts and 35 percent don't own accounts.

According to the FINRA research, whites own 73 percent of taxable accounts in the U.S., compared to Hispanics (11 percent) and blacks (8 percent), who also have fewer retirement accounts than whites. Of those who only hold retirement accounts, 67 percent are white, 14 percent are Hispanic and 12 percent are black. Regarding those without an account, whites (61 percent), followed by Hispanics (18 percent) and blacks (15 percent) are unbanked. When all things are equal, Hispanic households are four percentage points less likely than white households to own taxable investments.

African-Americans and Hispanics households are underrepresented in the retail investment world because many in this group live paycheck to paycheck. Also, they have lower levels of financial literacy, lower risk-tolerance levels and they have lower account balances for any given level of income. A report published by the National Institute on Retire Security also showed employees of color are significantly less likely to have access to workplace retirement plans, racial disparities in workplace retirement plan access persist across age groups, households of color tend to lag behind white when it comes to defined benefit pension, and households of color are less likely to have retirement savings equal to or greater than annual income.

The cause for the gap in wealth ownership was not addressed in the report, but other research suggests that investment behaviors are often determined by race. Non-Hispanic whites tend to be more trusting of financial institutions; also financial illiteracy among non-white populations plays a part.

Additionally, the financial pressures are different in U.S. Latino households than Non-Hispanic white households, where the breadwinner is more likely to be income secure and more likely to have the financial backing of wealthier parents. For many U.S. Latinos obligations to friends and family is more important than long-term savings, retirement funds and investment.

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