America stands at the edge of the most dramatic shift in personal finance ever measured—a generational transfer of nearly $124 trillion in assets over just 25 years. According to a wealth transfer report from Boston wealth management firm Cerulli Associates, published in June 2025, a combination of demographic and economic forces will see a record amount of wealth move from baby boomers and older Americans to heirs, widows, and charities by 2048. This transformation has profound implications for families, advisors, businesses, and every segment of the financial industry.
Three primary factors have driven up Cerulli’s most recent projections. First is a basic adjustment for inflation: Earlier projections of $84 trillion (in 2020 dollars) become $100 trillion when restated in 2023 terms. Second is the asset price explosion of the pandemic: Equities grew 27%, and real estate surged 39% from 2020 to 2023, and total U.S. household wealth leapt from $108 trillion to $154 trillion during that span. (The report notes that American wealth has grown tremendously over a longer time frame, since the Global Financial Crisis, with the mark standing at $79 trillion in 2011.)
