The largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history is underway, but is this inheritance at risk? Over the next two decades, an estimated $124 trillion in U.S. household wealth will change hands, according to a new DGLegacy report. Yet experts warn that much of this fortune may never reach its intended heirs, not because of poor investments or economic downturns as it happened earlier in history, but because of the silent drift of assets into what some are calling a digital black hole.
In previous generations, inheritance problems arose from missing wills or legal disputes. Today, they stem from technology itself. Between 11 and 18% of all Bitcoin, which equals to tens of billions of dollars, is already thought to be permanently lost due to forgotten passwords, misplaced hardware wallets, or abandoned accounts. Even traditional assets aren’t immune. In 2024, U.S. states returned nearly $5 billion in unclaimed property, including forgotten brokerage accounts, dormant pensions, and old insurance policies.
The same demographic forces driving this historic wealth transfer are also creating the perfect storm for wealth loss, explained Ana Mineva, CEO of DGLegacy. She pointed to the main reasons behind potential loss of inheritance, like digital assets spread across multiple countries, the lack of clear succession plans, and a rising number of childless individuals who leave no clear instructions behind.
A Global Challenge
The risks are not confined to the United States. In Asia, a recent Sun Life survey titled “Passing the Torch: Building Lasting Legacies in Asia” reveals a deep anxiety about the future of family wealth. Sixty percent of respondents fear their wealth will not last beyond their children’s generation, while more than half doubt their heirs are prepared to manage what they inherit. Only one in five respondents feels truly ready for and confident in their wealth transfer.
Despite widespread awareness of estate planning tools, few families have actually acted on them. Many respondents say they understand wills and legacy documents in theory, but have never implemented them in practice. Generational gaps compound the challenge: younger heirs often have different financial priorities and less engagement in long-term planning, leaving wealth management fragmented and vulnerable.
The story is remarkably similar in both regions. We see vast fortunes, but also a growing complexity of transfer, and an alarming lack of readiness to manage the inheritance.
The New Nature of Inheritance
Wealth in 2025 is more fluid, borderless, and digital than ever before. A single individual might hold company shares in Delaware, a bank account in Switzerland, a property in Spain, and several cryptocurrency wallets. Yet estate plans often remain static, drafted years ago when portfolios looked entirely different. Heirs are left guessing what even exists.
The very infrastructure of inheritance has failed to evolve. “Catch-all” clauses, like the familiar “all remaining assets shall go to…” phrasing, sound comprehensive but are powerless if heirs don’t know where or how to look. When information is scattered across online platforms, forgotten devices, and international accounts, even the most carefully written will can’t bridge the gap between intent and discovery.
2025 is a Pivotal Year in Global Wealth Transfer
The convergence of demographic change and digital complexity makes 2025 a turning point for global wealth transfer. As both the DGLegacy and Sun Life surveys show, awareness of the issue has never been higher, but action still lags far behind. Families continue to underestimate how easily wealth can vanish, not through fraud or mismanagement, but through silence and invisibility.
Bridging this gap requires more than paperwork. It demands ongoing visibility into where assets are held, open communication between generations, and an understanding that digital wealth requires digital readiness. A static estate plan drafted a decade ago no longer reflects a life lived across platforms, currencies, and borders.
The Bottom Line
The Great Wealth Transfer is not a distant forecast — it is already happening. But whether it becomes a story of preservation or loss depends on how quickly families adapt legacy planning to today’s reality. Assets now move faster, live online, and span continents; the systems designed to protect them must evolve in kind.
The next generation will inherit unprecedented wealth, as baby boomers, the richest generation in world history, will retire or pass away over the next two decades, leaving numerous assets compounded by decades of rising prices to their heirs. The question is: will they be able to find and manage it?
