While the share of whites at risk in retirement was 48 percent, for black people it was 54 percent and for Hispanic people, 61 percent. (Photo: Shutterstock)

How well people prepare for retirement varies substantially by race and ethnicity, which leaves some groups considerably farther behind others when it comes to retirement risk.

Overall, it's not a pretty picture, according to a brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Among its findings are the “enormous” earnings and wealth gaps between whites and minorities, as well as the ways in which those disparities translate into retirement preparedness.

Data on wealth and earnings, the report finds, indicate that white households now hold approximately six times as much wealth and earn almost twice as much as minority households.