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Overlooked generation stands to gain the most from the $84 trillion wealth transfer
Much has been made about the wealth that millennials and Gen Z will inherit in the coming years.
But there is another generation that has been mostly overlooked.
Over the next decade, GenX will be the biggest beneficiaries of the $84 trillion set to be inherited, according to a new study.
Those under 43 are more likely to get a windfall from their grandparents over that period. Such legacies will be smaller than if they were from their parents.
Instead it will be Gen Xers, aged between 44 and 59, who will inherit from their parents in the short term, according to a report by Wealth-X.
Just over 46 years old is the average age that wealthy Americans are due to inherit fortunes from their parents which are worth $5 million or more, it found.
Gen Xers, aged between 44 and 59, will receive windfalls from their parents in the short term
When it comes to the ultra-wealthy, Americans who are on track to inherit more than $30 million are due to receive these funds at an average age of 47.6.
The bulk of the so-called $84 trillion 'Great Wealth Transfer,' which is due to take place over the next two decades, will be among the wealthiest families.
Separate figures from the Federal Reserve and wealth management firm Cerulli Associates earlier this year estimated that 68 percent of the wealth transferred between 2020 and 2045 will come from US households with at least $1 million in investable assets.
Only 6.9 percent of households in the US have this kind of wealth to begin with.
According to Wealth-X, 1.2 million people worldwide worth $5 million or more will pass down more than $31 trillion to their families.
Of that total figure, 64 percent will be from the ultra-wealthy, which is defined as those with a net worth of $30 million or more.
Those worth over $100 million, which it defines as the 'super-wealthy', will account for nearly half of the total wealth handover.
Billionaires, meanwhile, will pass on around $5 trillion in inheritance, it found.
The study suggested that while wealth management firms and real estate companies have largely been focused on people in their 20s and 30s, they should consider searching for Gen X clients.
'Much is often made in the media of millennial and Generation Z heirs but, in fact, Generation X will be first in line to inherit from their wealthy parent(s),' the report reads.
Not only this, but it suggests that wealth managers should consider the difference in the priorities of younger generations when it comes to investments - who have a larger focus on the environment and healthcare, for example.
Baby boomers, those aged over 60 today, are famed for benefiting from great social mobility when house prices were low and labor conditions strong.
According to Cerulli Associates, US households hold $159 trillion in assets.
Of this, boomers hold $78.1 trillion, while Gen X hold $46 trillion, and millennials hold $13.3 trillion.
A gigantic wealth transfer is due to happen in the US and worldwide in the next two decades
Baby boomers, those aged over 60 today, are famed for benefiting from great social mobility when house prices were low and labor conditions strong
This wealth disparity is largely attributed to rising property prices, which have shot up 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 up substantial equity through owning a home.
But for the average household, the overwhelming cost of healthcare for older people could mean that many families do not inherit as much as they might be expecting, even if their relatives seem well-off today.