Abstract. What mechanisms best account for Black-White wealth differences? We quantify proposed channels in a life-cycle model calibrated to White wealth profiles. The model reproduces 87% of mean and 99% of median wealth differences. Employment dynamics, including incarceration, account for two-thirds of the differences at the bottom of the wealth distribution, while wages and education contribute half at the top. Other factors—initial wealth, transfers, taxes, medical expenses, portfolios, and demographics—collectively explain at most a fifth. Rate of return scale effects amplify wealth inequality, while consumption floors and bequest motives matter far less.