Intergenerational Wealth Transfer to Reach Trillions in US, Australia

Analysts project that the global Great Wealth Transfer will move about $124 trillion by 2048, with roughly $105 trillion passing to heirs and $18 trillion to charitable causes. In the United States, research by Cerulli Associates and Bank of America shows younger investors are shifting toward private equity, venture capital, private credit, cryptocurrency, real‑estate and other alternative assets. Eighty‑eight percent of surveyed Gen Z and millennial investors plan to increase alternative allocations, already holding about 15 % of their portfolios in such assets and 58 % owning digital assets. Advisors currently manage about $2.2 trillion in private‑capital investments, a figure expected to grow by another $2 trillion over five years.

In Australia, the Baby Boomer generation is driving the nation’s largest intergenerational wealth shift. Inheritances rose to $150 billion in 2024, up from $55 billion in 2002, and are projected to total between $3.5 trillion and $5.4 trillion over the next two decades. The average inheritance is about $125 000, typically received at age 50, and is more likely to boost existing wealth than to fund first‑home purchases. Trusts, family businesses and farms are key conduits of this wealth, with discretionary trusts now concentrated among the top 0.4 % of earners.