Throughout this book, I have occasionally discussed the processes that account for wealth mobility, that is, movement among segments of the wealth distribution over the life course. In Chapter 3, I presented survey estimates of wealth mobility and pointed out that such estimates are rare because longitudinal data on wealth ownership is rare. I also included estimates from the simulation model to demonstrate that the model produces mobility estimates that are comparable to estimates available from survey data. In subsequent analyses and subsequent chapters, I used the simulation model to estimate patterns of mobility where survey data have not been available. I compared the mobility patterns of baby boomers and their parents, examined the effects of aggregate processes such as demographics on patterns of upward mobility, and explored how individual and familylevel processes affect mobility. In previous chapters, I combined discussion of mobility patterns with other discussions. In this chapter, I focus exclusively on patterns of mobility and the processes that underlie those patterns. I explore movement into the top segments of the wealth distribution, movement out of poverty, and movement into the bottom segments of the distribution. I use the simulation model to estimate mobility patterns and to examine the effects of aggregate processes and microprocesses on this movement. I end the chapter with a discussion of a related process: inheritance.

Although the study of wealth distribution dates back to the writings of Smith, Mill, and Ricardo, discussions of wealth mobility are relatively rare.