The Great Wealth Transfer

People who were born between 1946 and 1964, the so called Baby Boomer Generation, is a cohort of 16.8 million people; and due to favourable financial conditions in that time are the wealthiest generation in human history, holding somewhere in the region on 80% of the UK's wealth.
With the older baby boomer now 78 years old, and against a backdrop of an average age of death of 80.7 in the UK, we are about to see the largest transition of wealth from one generation to another ever; in what has become known as The Great Wealth Transfer.
Joining host David Opie on this latest Today's Wills and Probate podcast is Arken Group CEO Dave Newick, to discuss how the wills and probate profession prepares for this responsibility, and opportunity. Dave explores recently produced research undertaken by Arken.legal which surveyed the profession's attitudes and preparedness to take advantage.
The findings show that most firm's clients are aged 51 or over. Indeed millennials and those younger are a very small minority of the client base. And given that around two thirds of professionals believe the value of inherited estate will exceed £200,000 should firms be more engaged with the beneficiaries of the estates they hope to be acting for.
Just 23% of respondents said they had a relationship with the beneficiaries; and with current clients concerned about how their wealth will be passed on, there is an increasing expectation that this inherited wealth should be forming part of beneficiaries' future financial planing.
Inevitably technology has a part to play and Dave moves on to discuss the survey findings which identify a desire on the part of firms and advisors to provide simpler solutions for their clients; indeed post-pandemic there is greater familiarity with technology in the older generations which wasn't there previously.
There will, says Dave, be winners and losers and firms must decide now how they need to tackle the challenge and opportunity that lies ahead.
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