A huge wealth transfer means millennials are poised to become ‘the richest generation in history’

We're not talking peanuts, but a whopping $90 Trillion which the Boomers will pass on to the Millennials in the coming 10 or so year. Much of the money will remains invested in stocks, but no doubt lot of money will be spent on houses, renovations, cars and everything else, which will boost the economy no matter who is in charge. Just another reason to feel optimistic about the future of the US.

A huge wealth transfer means millennials are poised to become ‘the richest generation in history’
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/29/wea...-to-become-richest-generation-in-history.html
The annual Wealth Report, which will be released publicly in its detailed format next week, examines the latest trends in property and economics across the globe.

It found that, over the next 20 years, the so-called silent generation — those typically born from 1928 to 1945 — and baby boomers — born between 1946 and 1964 — will “hand over the reins” to those born from 1981 to 1996 when they pass on their property- and equity-rich assets.

In the U.S. alone, Knight Frank said the shift would see $90 trillion of assets move between generations, “making affluent millennials the richest generation in history.”

 

Yes, but are millennials good enough with money to keep it? And will they keep enough of it to pass it on to future generations? Or are we about to see the biggest wealth in history go away, poof? Just what percentage of the population lives below the poverty line? You know what they say about people who win the lottery. They spend it all and run out of money, becoming poor.

 

Inheritance is a noble form of wealth transfer. Government wealth transfer is always the problem. Government will get a share of this transfer for itself. No surprise there.

 

That's a nice way to put lipstick on pigs. In other words, baby boomers are the richest generation and millennials are waiting for them to die.

 

It happened with the generation before too:
Pres. Ronald Reagan was popular and was down on younger people,
Reagan appealed to the retired and older in general, and his basic
message was: 'eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die'.

 

I can see that. My parents home is worth ~5x what they bought it for. Not looking forward to working that out with my sister ...or, you know, my parents dying.

 

There are 72 million of them, many of which are in their 40s, so it doesn't make sense to assume they'll just throw it all away. Many will use it to put their kids through college, pay off a mortgage, save for retirement etc. Some, of course, will piss it away.

Those who live below poverty line today, probably should not expect to inherit much, since the chances are that the parents are poor too

Fed Govt does not have inheritance tax, and only 6 States have it ( Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) and even they kick in only when a certain amount it exceeded

Who said they are waiting? There is a strong odor of projection in your post.

 

The only trouble is that many baby boomers' money is indeed in their homes. And yes, the values of said homes has increased. But you have to have buyers with the money to pay you. In large part, property is "worth" only what you can get for it.

Right now we have a perfect storm. Many existing homeowners would like to sell since their home since it is valued so high, and buy a better one. But the better homes are also super high priced right now so they still have to get a loan. And with interest rates what they are, they're better off just staying with their current mortgage. Plus the young people hoping to buy their first home can't, with the skyrocketing vales/prices coupled with the high interest rates.

 

No Bill, that's just how you see the world.

 

If you don't mind me asking what's there to work out? Just split it in half.

 

And hopefully thats the way it goes. When my grandpa died, he left an estate in the low millions. His daughters have always been very close friends with eachother ...except for the 6 months or so during which they were dividing up his estate. He had a will, but it didn't encompasse everything, and there was a lot of very different and strongly held ideas of what should be done with the rest. They got past it, but it wasn't pretty for a while. I hear tell this is common. Disagreements over money (especially lots of it) are the primary complicating factor in family strife. Add to it the grief of recently deceased loved ones... I fear when its my turn, it may come down to how much am I willing to give up to avoid a grudging feud with my sister. But I hope not.

As an aside, my grandpa's rather large gun collection was part of the controversy, and instead of deciding who got what, they decided to compromise and auction it all ...at a famous auction house in the south ...which ended up taking place during hurricane Katrina. Almost no one showed up and it all went for peanuts.

 

Fascinating story. We've been through this several times. Watching my father and his siblings. And now me and my siblings. The reason my father kept friends with all the other siblings is he was the compromiser. People love to get attached to silly things...

My half sister inherited the lot from her (our) father, through her mother who inherited everything from my dad, but died shortly after as well. All went to our sister. But my brother and I got everything from Mum, who got two thirds from my dad when they broke up years ago. So it kind of works out.

Or not. Because my dad did pretty well in this last 20 years and she's going to be wealthier than my brother and I. But she's only 21 and has lost both parents. So we see it that the extra leg up is fine because we love her.

 

My grandpa had most of his wealth in the stock market, invested in the company where he started literally cleaning toilets and retired as Director of Human Resources (man, weren't those the days...). It was a well known pharmaceutical manufacturer. When he died, much of it stayed in the stock market because it had been doing so well. This was a bit before 2008. Its mostly gone now, and may be a big part of the reason why I havn't tried to get into stocks.

 

Good plan.

I have successfully held off from investing in stocks for the entirety of my life: just properly, gold and cash.

 

Inheritance tax is a tax on the recipient of an inheritance. It is basically an income tax on but, as you say, no longer exists. Estate taxes do exist but come into play only with large estates. Estate taxes tax the estate that is bequeathed. Only rich people face estate taxes when they die. Government will get a share of it - not from all but from some inheritances.

 

Me too. I have always invested in myself as a small business owner. That way I succeed or fail based on what I do, not what someone else does.

People fail to see that stocks don't have nearly the kind of growth people think they have. Much of it is inflation caused by devaluation of the value of money. The dow jones rises while the purchasing power of the dollar declines as government increases the money supply to spend what it doesn't have to spend. I don't think the stock market is much more than a means to protect the devaluation of the currency. There are lots of ways to do that with less emotion and craziness. Real estate is pretty reliable, gold doesn't keep up with true inflation and cash falls prey to inflation every day. Collectibles are pretty good as well.

 

S&P 500 index beats inflations with ease, not to mention we have had inflation only few years in the past 25 years.

DOW was 6000 in 2009, and now its nearly 40 000, so it does more than just protect against devaluation. Having said that, everyone agrees that one should not rely on the stock market alone, but diversify.

Yes, and can provide steady income.

 

I say much of stock prices results from devaluation of the dollar. Then someone responds as though I said all or most. I can't fix that. I can only write what mean and mean what I write. You said exactly what I said but made it seem as though it was in opposition.

 

A huge wealth transfer means millennials are poised to become ‘the richest generation in history

and also get a huge amount of debt

 

No, I did not say what you said, - that its from devaluation of the dollar. We'll have to agree to disagree.

That's cool. Their spending will keep the economy humming / expanding and the stock market rising. It means jobs and its a positive thing overall.

 

Then you would be wrong for not saying it and we certainly disagree on what inflation means. To you it means prices which are not managed by government and to me it means inflation of the money supply which is.

 

Why? There is no requirement to take on debt because of an inheritance.

 

No, it does not mean that to me, and nor did I try to define inflation.

I said what I said, and that wasn't it. If anyone is interested what I said, they can read my earlier comments about stock market gains.

 

One thing will be certain — The world will drastically change. Just what will change politically will be vast.

If you remove people over 70 from the voter pool then the vast majority suddenly support public healthcare, restrictions on firearms, abortion rights, ending the electoral college, legalization of weed — not to mention it will clear out the swamp and corruption we see in congress.

 

Millennials are also inheriting the largest portion of the national debt. Where are the Gen X in this?