I wonder if the investment advisors who have been waiting twenty years for the "great transfer" understand that the great transfer will take place in two stages and that by the time the older women start passing on that the RIAs themselves will be retired?
From CNBC, March 14:
- An estimated $54 trillion is expected to pass on to spouses during the so-called great wealth transfer, with $40 trillion of it going to women who are baby boomers or older, the research shows.
- This is largely because the average life span for males in the U.S. is 76.5 years as of 2024, compared with 81.4 years for females.
- Older women whose spouses have traditionally handled investments and long-term planning may want to make sure they at least know some basics, financial advisors say.
For many married women, one of the biggest financial transitions of their lives will come when it’s least welcome: after the death of their spouse.
Women, on average, live longer than men — a longevity gap that means many wives will outlive their husbands. At birth, the average life span for males in the U.S. is 76.5 years as of 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For women, that average is 81.4 years.
The gap shrinks once you reach age 65. At that point, life expectancy for men is another 18.4 years, or to age 83.4, according to the CDC data. For women, that average is 20.8 years, or age 85.8.
That difference in life span means women are expected to receive most of the spouse-to-spouse wealth that gets passed on during the so-called great wealth transfer. That’s a period between 2024 and 2048 when an estimated $124 trillion will be passed on largely by baby boomers — those born 1946 to 1964 — and older generations, according to research from Cerulli Associates.
Of that amount, an estimated $54 trillion will get passed on to widowed spouses — 95% of which will go to women, according to Cerulli Associates. And, $40 trillion of it will go to widowed women who are baby boomers or older, the research shows....
....MUCH MORE
