The greatest wealth transfer in history is underway. Trillions of dollars built by people who clipped coupons and reused aluminum foil will soon belong to people who pay $18 for oat milk.
Boomers spent fifty years accumulating assets. Their kids plan to spend it on things the Boomers specifically told them were stupid. Solar panels. Nonprofits. Impact investing. Therapy.
The heirs say they'll use the money differently. They mean worse.
Grandpa bought index funds and died rich. You're going to buy a ceramics studio in Portland and die forwarding your calls to a Google Voice number.
The article says the next generation has different values. Different is doing a lot of work in that sentence. So is values.
They want to give it away. Fund social causes. Divest from fossil fuels. Build community gardens. Erase student debt. All the things that definitely won't result in them being broke by fifty.
Every financial advisor in America is currently updating their LinkedIn with phrases like holistic wealth strategy and values-aligned portfolio management. They know what's coming. You don't.
The wealth transfer is estimated at $84 trillion. That number will be $62 trillion by the time it reaches the third generation, and $11 trillion by the time it reaches the fourth, most of which will be tied up in a timeshare outside Sedona.
Your grandfather survived the Depression by eating lard sandwiches. You're about to inherit his fortune and immediately spend it on a kombucha franchise.
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