Wealth Transfer Is About More Than Money

Discussions of the Great Wealth Transfer tend to focus on how much money will change hands over the coming decades. Cerulli Associates estimate that more than one hundred trillion dollars will be transferred over the next 25 years, much of it to Gen X and millennial heirs.

But the more significant discussion might be whether people are prepared for the changes that accompany a major windfall. Wealth rarely arrives as a single, orderly transfer. More often, it enters people’s lives through moments of profound transition — after the death of a parent, the sale of a business, a divorce or other unexpected turning points.

Whatever the means of receiving wealth, the transfer often involves reckoning with one’s own identity and newfound financial decision-making. Across generations and demographics, people are assuming financial responsibilities they neither expected nor, in some cases, felt prepared to manage. These recipients are often grappling with some form of the same defining question: How do you make the most of the opportunities that this new wealth can provide? 

Inheritance conversations should begin early in life

Conversations about inheritance often focus on how much wealth will be transferred and how it will be divided. Bill Carroll, Head of High Net Worth Strategy at UBS, argues that the more consequential question is whether families are prepared for the transfer itself.

One story is especially memorable to him. Carroll recalls advising a terminally ill client who was in the midst of deciding how his estate would be distributed. The family hadn’t discussed the specifics of the inheritance. Thus, the next generation had little understanding of the scale of assets involved or the responsibilities that would accompany them, adding a logistical challenge to an already-emotional event.

The experience highlighted a challenge Carroll sees regularly — that wealth conversations frequently happen too late. 

“100% of parents should discuss wealth earlier with their children,” he says. In Carroll's view, these conversations are about more than estate planning; by addressing financial questions before they become urgent, families are better positioned to spend life’s hardest moments supporting each other, rather than making complex — and often life-altering — decisions.

Those early conversations also help create space for reflection. Rather than making difficult calls in the midst of grief or uncertainty, inheritors have time to consider what wealth means to them and how they hope to use it.

“I think there's more of a social conscience associated with inheriting wealth,” Carroll says. For many inheritors, wealth is no longer viewed simply as something to preserve, but as something that can reflect their values, support causes they care about and create purpose beyond themselves.

Financial confidence means defining personal priorities

Wealth doesn't only arrive through inheritance. Women are poised to control $34 trillion by 2030, Bloomberg News reports.² For many, that responsibility arrives through major life transitions, including widowhood, divorce and career advancement. 

Over 40% of high net worth women can expect to inherit between one and five million dollars, according to recent UBS research. In fact, approximately 25% of women inheritors can expect to come into more than five million dollars, making the decisions around investing, preserving and transferring wealth even more consequential.³

One challenge faced by many female wealth recipients begins with a lack of confidence. Carey Shuffman, Head of Women's Wealth at UBS, says that one of the most common misconceptions she encounters is the belief that you need to become an expert before you can make sound decisions about money.

“People don't necessarily know how to get started, or realize that the answers might be right in front of them,” Shuffman says. Instead of beginning with specific investing decisions, she encourages clients to start with simpler questions: “What future are they trying to build? Who matters most to them? What concerns keep them awake at night? What do they want their wealth to accomplish?”

“You don't need to be an expert at all to answer those important questions,” Shuffman says. From her perspective, the answers provide the foundation for financial planning. A client’s priorities and long-term goals often drive the conversations and investment decisions that follow.

Rather than expecting clients to know exactly what they want to achieve right away, Shuffman sees her advisory role as helping them translate their personal priorities into practical financial decisions. Over time, their confidence grows with their knowledge, making bigger decisions less intimidating, Shuffman says.

Planning for more than just an exit strategy

Wealth is also altering the lives of an increasingly diverse set of entrepreneurs, with Bloomberg News reporting that nearly two million millionaires were minted worldwide in 2025 and UBS research projecting five million more by 2029.⁵

“Over the past decade, we’ve really moved from inherited wealth to built wealth,” says James Jack, Head of the Business Owners Client Segment at UBS. More women are creating businesses, a broader range of entrepreneurs are building fortunes and more families are seeing wealth created through enterprise.

For entrepreneurs, that wealth is often built inside their businesses, over years or decades. Whether they sell the company or prepare to pass it to a successor, those transitions can fundamentally change both their financial lives and their roles as owners.

“Selling a business is so much more than changing your balance sheet,” Jack says. “There are significant personal self-identity ramifications at stake.”

Founders frequently discover that preparing for life after the business is just as important as preparing to sell or exit their business. It requires them to contemplate questions around their purpose, legacy, how they will spend their time and what comes after a defining era of their lives. 

That’s why preparation should begin well before an exit is imminent, Jack says — and it shouldn’t stop there. The full arc of the transition should be taken into consideration, whether the goal is to preserve the company or prepare for its integration into another organization.

“Many advisors for business owners are just there for the transaction itself,” Jack says. “But for us, it's really important that we're there for long-term, multi-generational relationships.” The distinction matters because the decisions that follow a business sale often unfold over years — or decades — and continuity is one of the most powerful tools in building business owners’ trust in the direction and actual implementation of their carefully built succession plans.

Readiness is mission critical

Whether wealth arrives through inheritance, business or an unexpected life change, one lesson connects these experiences: Preparation matters most before a transition takes place. The circumstances and emotional mindsets around new wealth may differ on the surface, but the underlying challenges are remarkably similar — taking on unfamiliar responsibilities, making new decisions and figuring out where and how to make an impact.

As trillions of dollars continue to change hands, the most essential conversations are around readiness. With the right professional guidance, moments of transition can become opportunities to align wealth with purpose, ensuring its impact for generations to come.

¹UBS, Next Generation Report, 2026, https://www.ubs.com/us/en/wealth-management/our-solutions/private-wealth-management/family-advisory-philanthropy/articles/global-next-generation-report.html

²Bloomberg News, “Massive Wealth Transfer Will Give Women $34 Trillion by 2030,” Bloomberg, December 9, 2024, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-09/women-will-control-30-trillion-by-2030-in-massive-shift-for-wealth-management

³UBS, Own Your Worth Report, 2025

⁴UBS, Own Your Worth Report, 2025, https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-20250507-own-your-worth-report.html

⁵Bloomberg News, “AI Fervor Helped Mint 2 Million Global Millionaires in 2025,” Bloomberg, June 3, 2026, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-04/ai-enthusiasm-helped-mint-2-million-global-millionaires-in-2025; UBS, Global Wealth Report, 2025

⁶UBS, Global Wealth Report, 2025

Neither UBS Financial Services Inc. nor its employees (including its Financial Advisors) provide tax or legal advice. You should consult with your legal counsel and/or your accountant or tax professional regarding the legal or tax implications of a particular suggestion, strategy or investment, including any estate planning strategies, before you invest or implement.

Important information about brokerage and advisory services. As a firm providing wealth management services to clients, UBS Financial Services Inc. offers investment advisory services in its capacity as an SEC-registered investment adviser and brokerage services in its capacity as an SEC-registered broker-dealer. Investment advisory services and brokerage services are separate and distinct, differ in material ways and are governed by different laws and separate arrangements. It is important that you understand the ways in which we conduct business, and that you carefully read the agreements and disclosures that we provide to you about the products or services we offer. For more information, please review client relationship summary provided at ubs.com/relationshipsummary, or ask your UBS Financial Advisor for a copy.

© UBS 2026. All rights reserved. The key symbol and UBS are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of UBS. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS Group AG. Member FINRA/SIPC.