In business news, a new study reports some segments of the population are not doing so well with their 401(k)s. You know, those mine-orr-itt-eeess.

Much was made out of the fact that African Americans and Latinos are less likely to participate in 401(ks), contribute less and are more likely to make hardship withdrawals or loans against the savings.

But what about all those other folks who aren’t black or white or latino?

Well, it turns out that one of those mine-orr-itt-eees is doing okay.  Guess which one?     (.pdf report here) Why, Asians are putting a larger percentage of their earnings into their retirement plans.  They are less likely than any other group to make hardship withdrawals or loans.  And yet, most articles completely ignore this fact, focusing instead on blacks and latinos who compare so poorly to white folks.

(Interestingly, although Asians put a larger percentage of their earnings away, they have lower average savings than white folks.  This probably reflects less tenure, less stability in employment and lower salaries.  Asian Americans typically need higher education levels to achieve the same income levels as whites.)

Take a look at the numerous articles written about this study on the web, and you’ll see that they are written from the perspective of “blacks and latinos don’t keep up with whites.”  I haven’t found one yet that comes from the perspective of “Asians in the lead, everybody else including white folks can’t keep up.”