The Great Wealth Transfer: $124 Trillion and Who Gets Left Behind
The Great Wealth Transfer: $124 Trillion and Who Gets Left Behind
Jennifer's parents gave her $80,000 for a down payment when she turned 30. She bought a townhouse in Austin. Five years later, she has $140,000 in equity.
Marcus saved for eight years to scrape together a $30,000 down payment. He bought his first home at 38. After two years, he has $22,000 in equity.
Jennifer and Marcus work at the same tech company. They earn identical salaries. Jennifer's wealth is growing six times faster.
The difference? Her grandparents owned property in the 1970s. His didn't.
Between now and 2048, $124 trillion will move from one generation to the next. Cerulli Associates tracks this transfer. They update projections quarterly. The number keeps climbing.
Most people think this transfer will spread wealth across younger generations. The data tells a different story.
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In This Article
- Where the $124 Trillion Lives
- The 10% Who Control 42%
- What People Expect vs. What They'll Get
- The Property Your Grandparents Couldn't Buy
- Home Equity: The Only Wealth Most Families Have
- The Early Money Advantage
- Two Paths Forward
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Where the $124 Trillion Lives
Americans born between 1946 and 1964 control $78.55 trillion. That's 51.8% of all wealth in the United States. Add the generation before them—those born before 1946—and you're looking at $94 trillion held by Americans over age 60.
By 2048, every dollar passes to someone else. Spouses inherit first. Then children. Then grandchildren. Some goes to charities—about $18 trillion according to Cerulli's models.
Adults in their 30s and 40s will receive $46 trillion. Adults in their 40s and 50s will receive $39 trillion. The youngest adults—those in their 20s—will receive $15 trillion.
The problem isn't the total amount. The problem is the distribution.
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The 10% Who Control 42%
Wealthy families don't just have more money. They have most of the money.
The top 10% of American families will transfer $35.8 trillion among themselves. That's 42% of the entire transfer. The top 1%? They hold as much wealth as the bottom 90% combined.
When you run the numbers on inheritance, you see the concentration. Families in the top 10% pass down homes worth $800,000, stock portfolios worth $2 million, and business equity worth another $500,000.
Families in the bottom 50% pass down medical debt.
USA Today surveyed younger adults about inheritance expectations. Eight out of ten expect more than $100,000. The average expectation sits at $320,000.
Those expectations crash hard against Census Bureau data showing median household wealth at $192,900. Half of American households have less than that. A quarter have less than $50,000. One in six has negative wealth—more debt than assets.
Someone expecting a $300,000 inheritance from parents with $40,000 in total assets is doing math that doesn't work.
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What People Expect vs. What They'll Get
Urban Institute analyzed Federal Reserve data on expected inheritances. They separated the analysis by race because the numbers split dramatically.
White renters under age 58 who expect to inherit something: median expectation is $200,000.
Black renters under age 58 who expect to inherit something: median expectation is $48,000.
The reason traces directly to who owns property now.
Among white Americans over 58: 83% own homes. Among Black Americans over 58: 59% own homes.
You can't inherit a house your parents never owned. You can't inherit the appreciation on property your grandparents were denied the right to purchase.
Urban Institute ran projections on how the wealth transfer affects homeownership rates over the next 25 years. The models show white homeownership climbing by 7.7 percentage points. Black homeownership climbs by 3.4 percentage points.
The gap widens. Inheritance makes inequality worse.
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The Property Your Grandparents Couldn't Buy
Let's trace two families from 1970 to today.
The Robinsons applied for a mortgage in 1970 to buy a three-bedroom house in Cleveland for $48,000. The FHA-backed their loan. They paid 7.5% interest. The house needed work—new roof, updated kitchen, basement waterproofing. They spent weekends fixing it. By 1985, they'd paid off the mortgage. By 2000, the house was worth $180,000. Today it appraises at $420,000.
Their daughter received the house when they passed. She sold it, paid off her student loans, and used the remaining $380,000 as a down payment on a house in Denver. She now has $290,000 in equity.
The Washingtons applied for a mortgage in 1970 to buy a similar house three miles away for $46,000. The bank denied them. The stated reason: "neighborhood risk factors." The real reason: the neighborhood was 60% Black and banks had redlined it.
They rented for 55 years. Their monthly rent started at $320. By 2025, they were paying $1,400 for a two-bedroom apartment. Total rent paid over 55 years: roughly $550,000 when you adjust for the increases.
Their daughter inherited nothing. The estate had $8,000 in savings and $15,000 in final medical bills. She paid for the funeral and walked away with negative $7,000.
One family built $420,000 in wealth. The other spent $550,000 on housing and ended with nothing.
The difference wasn't income. The difference wasn't work ethic. The difference was a bank decision in 1970.
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Home Equity: The Only Wealth Most Families Have
For homeowners, the house represents everything.
Federal Reserve data shows home equity makes up 50-70% of total wealth for most American families. For Black families specifically, the house represents 53% of wealth. For white families, it's 39%.
Black families depend more heavily on homeownership for wealth. They also have less access to it.
Current homeownership rates: 73.2% for white households, 46.3% for Black households.
The median home value today sits at $426,000 for existing homes. For families who bought in the 1970s and 1980s, that means $300,000 to $400,000 in appreciation they never earned through wages. They earned it by owning property while prices climbed.
When those homeowners pass away, their children inherit decades of appreciation. When renters pass away, their children inherit nothing—or debt.
The wealth transfer amplifies this divide. Families who own property pass down property. Families who don't pass down nothing.
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The Early Money Advantage
Wealthy families don't wait for someone to die.
The IRS lets you gift $18,000 per person per year without tax consequences. Married couples can gift $36,000. Do that for three years and you've transferred $108,000—enough for a 20% down payment on a $540,000 house.
Parents with money help their kids buy homes in their early 30s. Those homes appreciate for 20-30 years before the kids even receive their formal inheritance.
Parents without money can't help. Their kids rent until their 40s, watching home prices climb further out of reach every year.
Take two people born in 1990, both earning $75,000 per year:
Person A receives $100,000 from parents at age 32. Buys a $400,000 house with 25% down. By age 50, the house is worth $620,000. Equity: $420,000 (appreciation plus paydown).
Person B rents until age 44, finally saves $60,000 for a down payment. Buys a $480,000 house at 44. By age 50, the house is worth $530,000. Equity: $110,000.
Person A has $310,000 more wealth. The income was identical. The difference was parental money arriving 12 years earlier.
That early money compounds. It doesn't just buy a house. It buys time for that house to appreciate.
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Two Paths Forward
The $124 trillion will transfer over the next 24 years. Nobody's stopping it. The money exists. The wills are written. The transfers will happen.
What matters is what happens to everyone who receives little or nothing.
Path One: Families with inheritance
They receive $200,000 to $500,000 in their 30s and 40s. They buy homes. The homes appreciate. They invest in index funds. The funds compound. By retirement, they have $1.2 million in home equity plus $800,000 in retirement accounts. They pass this to their children. The cycle continues.
Path Two: Families without inheritance
They rent through their 30s and into their 40s. Rent consumes 35-40% of income. They can't save enough for down payments while prices climb 5-8% annually. They buy their first home at 45 if they buy at all. By retirement, they have $180,000 in home equity and $220,000 in retirement accounts—if they're lucky. They pass down less than they received. The cycle continues.
Jennifer and Marcus started at the same tech company. They earned the same salary. Jennifer received $80,000 from parents. Marcus received nothing.
Five years later, Jennifer has $140,000 in equity. Marcus has $22,000.
In 20 years, Jennifer will have $420,000 in equity. Marcus will have $160,000.
By retirement, Jennifer will be wealthy. Marcus will be comfortable if everything goes right.
The difference wasn't income. It wasn't skill. It wasn't work ethic.
It was grandparents.
That's the Great Wealth Transfer.
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Data Sources
All projections and statistics from:
- Cerulli Associates, "The Cerulli Report: U.S. High-Net-Worth and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Markets 2024" (June 2025)
- Fortune, "The $124 trillion Great Wealth Transfer is bigger than ever" (July 2025)
- Urban Institute, "Why the Great Wealth Transfer may widen U.S. racial homeownership gap" (June 2024)
- Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances (2022)
- Citizens Bank, "The $84 Trillion Great Wealth Transfer Survey" (2024)
- U.S. Census Bureau, wealth and homeownership data
- Bankrate, "An $84 trillion wealth shift is underway" (June 2025)
For detailed data tables: Housing Investment Access Data
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Analysis by Shaela Beard | Follow @shaelabeard on TikTok