Women and people of color often struggle to build wealth in the U.S.–but those who have access to plans that give them easy access to company stock do much better. Building wealth in the U.S. today is difficult–especially for people of color. Over the last 30 years, adjusted for inflation, the average wealth of white households rose by 33% (buoyed by the fact that almost all of the wealthiest Americans are white), while the average wealth of black families in the U.S.