Boomer wealth transfer will mostly benefit the already rich, report finds
Trillions of wealth passed down by the baby boomers will likely go to younger Americans who are already rich. Here's how much they'll get.
The so-called "great wealth transfer" — the passing of assets from the baby boomer generation to their heirs — will mostly benefit younger Americans who are already affluent, according to a July report from Visa Business and Economic Insights .
And while the wealth transfer will be significant, the value of assets that are passed down could be much smaller than some previous estimates pegging it as high as $124 trillion, according to the report.
"When people throw around $100 trillion, they don't think about all the deductions that have to come from it," Visa chief economist Wayne Best told CBS News. "You have to subtract liabilities, and boomers actually have a lot of mortgage debt."
Here's how much actual wealth Visa's economists expect boomers to transfer to their children and grandchildren.
Baby boomers are sitting on $93 trillion in assets, a sum that will shrink to $36 trillion in inheritable assets after subtracting liabilities, retirement spending, charitable giving and taxes.
The report also expressly excluded the wealth of the top 1% of U.S. households , or those worth at least $13 million, because their spending patterns are not reflective of the population at large.