THUS, THE OWNERSHIP SOCIETY:

Generational wealth refers to any kind of asset that families pass down to their children or grandchildren, whether in the form of cash, investment funds, stocks and bonds, properties or even entire companies.

One of the most common ways that people inherit and pass on generational wealth is with real estate, which is what motivated Halstead to start Black Women Build.

"You enter the middle class through homeownership, right? That's the leap. You're able to understand that you're building equity," she says.

And equity makes a difference: When you sell or refinance your home, you can draw on your equity and leverage it to grow your wealth more or improve your life in other ways. This could include moving to a more expensive house, making home improvements, padding your retirement, paying for your child's college tuition or investing in a business venture with the potential to increase your income. This allows for a kind of social mobility and risk taking that people without wealth simply can't afford.

Halstead, who between the age of 30 and 35, bought and rehabbed four homes, also believes that generational wealth comes in the form of education, too. Her parents taught her about budgeting and helped her understand borrowing and credit so she was confident when she set out to build her own wealth through homeownership. She also considers her carpentry skills a form of wealth to pass along to others, as they can save a person thousands in renovation costs and quickly help increase a property's value.

Baby Boomers hold the majority of U.S. wealth, Bloomberg reported in October, citing Federal Reserve data. Their share of the pie equates to $59.6 trillion, or twice Generation X's $28.5 trillion and more than 10 times than millennials.

Millennials, who are the biggest generation in the workforce, control just 5.19% of U.S. wealth and would have to quadruple their wealth in order to match what Baby Boomers had at their age.

In addition to age-based wealth disparities, the racial wealth gap in the U.S. is larger today than it was in 1960 due to the legacy of redlining, a practice in which banks impose obstacles like higher APRs, fewer loan approvals and higher risk profiles for mortgage applicants in historically Black communities.

While homeownership is on the rise among across the board, Black Americans still have the lowest rate of homeownership compared to other racial groups. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, White Americans have a homeownership rate of 76%, Hispanic Americans have a homeownership rate of 51.4% and Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have a homeownership rate of 61.4%. That's compared to the 46.4% homeownership rate for Black Americans.

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