The amount of wealth millennials and Gen Xers stand to inherit from their parents and grandparents almost defies comprehension: According to Cerulli Associates, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, $84.4 trillion in wealth will be transferred between 2021 and 2045, primarily from baby boomer households to younger generations.
Inheritances aren’t just for the rich: Less than half of the total volume of transfers is expected to come from high-net-worth households.
“It’s a really unique point in history because of the amount of wealth,” says Chayce Horton, senior analyst on the wealth management team at Cerulli. “It’s something we haven’t seen before.”
As a result of that magnitude, inheritance recipients might not know what to do with one, and whether to count on the windfall before it arrives.
In Kimberly Palmer’s latest for the Seattle Times, learn how to plan for a potential inheritance.