Overlooked generation stands to gain the most from the $84 trillion wealth transfer

Much has been written about the wealth that millennials and Gen Z will inherit in the coming years.

But there is another generation that is largely overlooked.

Over the next decade, GenX will be the biggest beneficiary of the $84 trillion that will be inheritedaccording to a new study.

Those under the age of 43 are more likely to receive a windfall from their grandparents during that period. Such inheritances will be smaller than if they were from their parents.

Instead, it will be Generation Wealth-X.

Just over 46 is the average age at which wealthy Americans will inherit fortunes from their parents worth $5 million or more.

When it comes to the ultra-wealthy, Americans who are on track to inherit more than $30 million will receive this money at an average age of 47.6.

Most of the so-called $84 trillion Great Wealth Transfer that will take place over the next 20 years will belong to the wealthiest families.

Separate figures from the Federal Reserve and asset manager Cerulli Associates earlier this year estimate that 68 percent of wealth transferred between 2020 and 2045 will come from U.S. households with at least $1 million in investable assets.

Only 6.9 percent of U.S. households have this kind of wealth to begin with.

According to Wealth-X, 1.2 million people worldwide with a net worth of $5 million or more will pass on more than $31 trillion to their families.

Of that total figure, 64 percent will come from the ultra-wealthy, meaning those with a net worth of $30 million or more.

Those worth more than $100 million, whom it defines as the “super-rich,” will account for almost half of the total wealth transfer.

Billionaires, meanwhile, will pass on about $5 trillion in inheritances, it found.

The research suggested that while asset managers and real estate firms have largely focused on people in their 20s and 30s, they should consider looking for Gen X clients.

“Much is often made in the media about Millennial and Generation Z heirs, but in fact Generation X will be the first to inherit from their wealthy parent(s),” the report said.

Not only this, but it also suggests that asset managers need to take into account the differences in the priorities of younger generations when it comes to investments – who, for example, have a greater focus on the environment and healthcare.

Baby boomers, the people who are now over 60, are known for benefiting from great social mobility when housing prices were low and working conditions were good.

According to Cerulli Associates, American households own $159 trillion in assets.

Of this, boomers own $78.1 trillion, while Generation X owns $46 trillion, and millennials own $13.3 trillion.

Over the next twenty years, there will be a massive wealth transfer in the US and globally

Baby boomers, the people now over 60, are known for taking advantage of high social mobility when housing prices were low and working conditions good

This wealth disparity is largely attributed to rising property prices, which have increased by around 500 percent since 1983 – when boomers were in their 20s and 30s and just getting onto the property ladder.

This has meant that people over the age of 60 have been able to build significant wealth by owning a home.

But for the average household, the overwhelming costs of health care for the elderly could mean that many families do not inherit as much as they might expect, even if their relatives appear to be well off today.