Only 27% of millennials feel prepared to manage wealth
Millions of people are preparing to receive capital they were never fully prepared to manage.
Against the backdrop of the largest wealth transfer in history, families are increasingly facing not the question of inheritance itself, but what happens after it is received.
For decades, inheritance was often perceived as something distant, something that happens later: after death, after a crisis, after the moment when meaningful conversations become difficult. Today, that dynamic is changing. Older generations are beginning to transfer wealth more intentionally, earlier in life, and increasingly through direct conversations with their children.
The scale of this shift is gradually changing the broader approach to family wealth management.
According to Cerulli Associates, approximately $124 trillion is expected to transfer between generations by 2048, more than at any previous point in history. Around 81% of this wealth is currently held by individuals aged 60 and older.
At the same time, millennials are already building wealth at a historically unprecedented pace. According to the latest available estimates from Equitable Advisors, millennial wealth has increased nearly fourfold, growing from $3.9 trillion to almost $16 trillion.
Wealth is transferring faster than knowledge about it
In many families, conversations around inheritance continue to be postponed despite the scale of the coming transition.
“If you have a nice shiny red Ferrari, would you want to give your kids the keys to it without teaching them how to drive it?” — Gerald Grant III, Financial Advisor at Equitable Advisors
Northwestern Mutual highlighted another important contradiction in 2025: the number of people planning to leave an inheritance has increased, while the number of people expecting to receive one has declined.
Wealth is being prepared for transfer, but in many families there is still no clear conversation about how that transfer should actually happen.
The complexity of modern assets adds another layer to the issue. While 80% of millennials believe they make sound financial decisions, only 27% feel truly prepared to manage more complex assets such as real estate, retirement accounts, and investment portfolios.
What this means in practice
Wealth transfer is not a single event. It is a long-term process that requires preparation on both sides.
For those transferring wealth, conversations around asset structures, tax implications, and long-term intentions are increasingly important to begin early. According to MDRT, only 22% of people have discussed inheritance planning with their families. Many either do not have a clear plan or prefer not to speak openly about it.
For those receiving wealth, lack of preparation creates a separate risk. Research from Citizens Bank found that 72% of people do not feel prepared to manage a significant financial asset, even if they generally consider themselves financially literate.
The Great Wealth Transfer is already underway. In the long term, success will depend not only on how much wealth is passed on, but on how well the structure behind it has been prepared in advance.
Trust structures remain one of the most effective tools for this process. They allow wealth owners to formalize their intentions during their lifetime, protect assets from external risks, and ensure capital is transferred according to clearly defined conditions, with greater continuity, fewer disputes, and more efficient long-term planning.
A trust does not replace financial literacy. But it can provide structure, clarity, and time while that literacy is still being developed.
At Wise Wolves, we help families build the right trust structures for their assets, jurisdictions, and every generation involved.
A trust does not replace financial literacy. But it can provide structure, clarity, and time while that literacy is still being developed
